Great Spotted Woodpecker

Rainbowsend · 19-03-2009 11:07pm #1

Hear a whisper that a pair of Great Spotted Woodpeckers were seen in the Tinahely area of Wicklow, would be great if they bred and settled here.

Judgement Day · 20-03-2009 12:07am

Irishbirding.com is the place to check for recent sightings of Great Spotted Woodpeckers - and other species - there is increasing evidence that these beautiful birds have bred in Ireland over the last couple of years. The oak woodlands of County Wicklow should be fertile ground for them and I'm hoping that the surviving oak woods just north of Sunny D.G. will also prove enticing to them. Some nice photos of Great Spotted Woodpeckers taken on St.Patrick's Day from Irish Birding.com are at this link.

http://www.irishbirding.com/birds/web?task=Display&sighting_id=10295

Rainbowsend · 20-03-2009 8:26am

Thanks Judgementday, had a look on those sites very informative and fingers crossed that numbers will increase, I dont know if it is that I am taking more notice of birds in general, but there seems to be an awful lot of rarer birds appearing, I know I cant keep the feeders full with the amount of visitors I get on a daily basis. Great to see.

gerky · 04-06-2009 10:01pm

I don't have a link to a story yet but here's a link to an rte news clip.
http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0604/6news_av.html?2556858,null,230

The great spotted woodpecker a former resident and uncommon visitor has been confirmed to be breeding in Ireland again.

Fredrick · 04-06-2009 10:49pm

gerky wrote: »

I don't have a link to a story yet but here's a link to an rte news clip.
http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0604/6news_av.html?2556858,null,230

The great spotted woodpecker a former resident and uncommon visitor has been confirmed to be breeding in Ireland again.

Cool thats great news

Nice looking bird would lake to take some shots in the future. Rte's streaming video is crap or is it just my machine?

OpenYourEyes · 05-06-2009 12:06am

Saw this today aswel! Great news alright! Like the man in that clip, i was disapointed as a kid to learn that we didnt have woodpeckers like this over here! Hopefully in a few years time it will be safe to say thats not the case

Kaldorn · 05-06-2009 9:40am

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/ireland/article5213456.ece

my mate found one of the nests in wicklow..a total of 9 nests where found..give them a few years and they'll be all over the east coast..its crazy that they colonised all on their own..

Judgement Day · 05-06-2009 10:20am

Kaldorn wrote: »

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/ireland/article5213456.ece

my mate found one of the nests in wicklow..a total of 9 nests where found..give them a few years and they'll be all over the east coast..its crazy that they colonised all on their own..

Helloo! It's called nature. Collared Doves did it in the 1950s and Little Egrets in more recent years. It's a hell of a more satisfactory way of increasing bird species than a lot of the reintroduction schemes.

cuddlycavies · 05-06-2009 3:10pm

Judgement Day wrote: »

Helloo! It's called nature. Collared Doves did it in the 1950s and Little Egrets in more recent years. It's a hell of a more satisfactory way of increasing bird species than a lot of the reintroduction schemes.

No need to be a smart ass about it. In the other two cases you mentioned, expansion was due to population explosions elsewhere as with Buzzards expanding from their original Antrim strongholds. This is different. Often(as with eagles,ospreys) suitable habitat exists but things dont just happen.

tricky D · 05-06-2009 3:12pm

There was a pair nesting in my aunt's backgarden in Sutton 3 years ago. There's 2 in the Deer Park at the moment which I'd like to spot. There was a sighting (May 10th 2008) listed in last year's autumn edition of Birdwatch Ireland's magazine Wings.

Judgement Day · 05-06-2009 4:40pm

cuddlycavies wrote: »

No need to be a smart ass about it. In the other two cases you mentioned, expansion was due to population explosions elsewhere as with Buzzards expanding from their original Antrim strongholds. This is different. Often(as with eagles,ospreys) suitable habitat exists but things dont just happen.

Chill out! I was only emphasising my amusement that the poster should think it so amazing that birds could colonise an area of their own volition!

Morganna · 05-06-2009 8:40pm

great news

Judgement Day · 05-06-2009 10:52pm

A visit to the Irish Birding.com website tonight reveals more - the spread is quite dramatic and pics of actual nest holes etc.

http://www.irishbirding.com/birds/web?task=Display&sighting_id=12418

snowstreams · 05-06-2009 11:54pm

How long will they take to recolonise the west of ireland too I wonder?

Judgement Day · 06-06-2009 12:03am

Probably could do with a few trees first.

Judgement Day · 01-12-2009 7:43pm

It's that time of year when the elusive Great Spotted Woodpecker starts to appear on a few privileged garden feeders and becomes more visible to the casual observer so I wonder if anybody on the boards knows where I might be able to see one? I am not a twitcher, not even a serious birdwatcher any more, but I have always wanted to see this bird in the flesh. I heard a woodpecker (species unknown) drumming in Hampshire in 1979 and that's the nearest I've got so I'm getting desperate! I am looking for sightings in the South East but Dublin would also be OK. According to Irish Birding.com one was observed at Courtown Wood near Gorey on the 3rd November so I may try my hand there if nothing else comes in.

Into Everything · 03-12-2009 10:13pm

There was one seen today in Tomnafinnoge Wood, Shillelagh. I caught a glimpse of one here last year. It was flying between the tree tops. Be prepared to spend a lot of time but just to hear the drumming on the trees is fantastic. Will be spending a lot of my free time travelling up to wicklow over the next few months trying to get a good look at them this year.

Best of look:D

recedite · 08-12-2009 11:22pm

Rumour has it that one was knocking around Kilruddery Estate which is near Woodies

in Bray. Nice place for a walk even if you don't see one, but stay clear of the private areas near houses.

Feargal as Luimneach · 29-07-2010 3:49pm

An interesting article for those of you interested in irish birds. An estimated 15-20 pairs in Wicklow this year:) and will hopefully increase further!
Here's the link!

http://www.birdwatchireland.ie/Publications/eWings/eWingsIssue10July2010/GreatSpottedWoodpeckerupdate/tabid/1015/Default.aspx

Birdnuts · 30-07-2010 10:49pm

It will be interesting to find out if these new Irish breeders are of British or Scandanavian origin:)

LostCovey · 30-07-2010 11:06pm

Birdnuts wrote: »

It will be interesting to find out if these new Irish breeders are of British or Scandanavian origin:)

I think they have been DNA fingerprinted and it confirmed these invaders are UK soccer fans (not Vikings)

LostCovey

ThunderCat · 31-07-2010 10:58am

After playing golf last Sunday, I was loading the clubs into the boot of the car and I heard a woodpecker. It was in one of the trees skirting the car park and although I couldnt see it, the noise it made from banging on the tree was unmistakable. Dont ever remember hearing one before. I presume it was the Greater Spotted Woodpecker rather than the lesser spotted.
The golf course was close to Dublin Airport.

Mothman · 07-12-2010 1:12pm

Just had a Great Spotted Woodpecker. Was quite near house at first, but had flown away to near top of oak tree before I got it on camera. No interest in feeders.

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sables2 · 07-12-2010 6:03pm

Mothman wrote: »

Just had a Great Spotted Woodpecker. Was quite near house at first, but had flown away to near top of oak tree before I got it on camera. No interest in feeders.

Well done Mothman! SUPERB stuff. Your one lucky man to spot this beautiful bird. Never knew we had any great spotted woodpeckers. How the hell did you set your camera up SO quick and get a reasonable shot. :rolleyes:.

Feargal as Luimneach · 07-12-2010 7:30pm

Mothman wrote: »

Just had a Great Spotted Woodpecker. Was quite near house at first, but had flown away to near top of oak tree before I got it on camera. No interest in feeders.

That's a mega for the Garden Mothman:)
You should report it to birdwatch Ireland, they are very interested in monitoring the species re-colonisation of Ireland. Putting up a great spotted woodpecker nest box could encourage them to breed at your place. Here is contact detail:
http://www.birdwatchireland.ie/News/GreatSpottedWoodpeckersNewtoIreland/tabid/568/Default.aspx

Mothman · 07-12-2010 7:34pm

sables2 wrote: »

Well done Mothman! SUPERB stuff. Your one lucky man to spot this beautiful bird. Never knew we had any great spotted woodpeckers. How the hell did you set your camera up SO quick and get a reasonable shot. :rolleyes:.

There are quite a few breeding pairs in Wicklow now. There may be vague details on BWI site.
As for camera, just a little point and shoot, but it has a 10x zoom. Amazing camera and a real point and shoot! Panasonic TZ5

The bottom of tree is probably about 40m from house and the bird was about 15m up the tree and the shot was taken through a triple glazing.

My 2nd sighting this Autumn/winter but I had one 5 years ago for a week that twitchers from all over Ireland came to see. This was before of any known breeding and they really were rarely seen.

BTW my brother saw one in his garden couple days ago, 600m from my garden.
Although I haven't reported today's sighting yet, I'm in regular contact with personnel monitoring the recolonisation.

A good idea with regard to nest box

Feargal as Luimneach · 07-12-2010 7:39pm

Mothman wrote: »

There are quite a few breeding pairs in Wicklow now. There may be vague details on BWI site.
As for camera, just a little point and shoot, but it has a 10x zoom. Amazing camera and a real point and shoot! Panasonic TZ5

The bottom of tree is probably about 40m from house and the bird was about 15m up the tree and the shot was taken through a triple glazing.

My 2nd sighting this Autumn/winter but I had one 5 years ago for a week that twitchers from all over Ireland came to see. This was before of any known breeding and they really were rarely seen.

I remember hearing about that bird. You had set hours for viewing of the bird I believe:D

Mothman · 07-12-2010 7:45pm

Feargal as Luimneach wrote: »

I remember hearing about that bird. You had set hours for viewing of the bird I believe:D

What a week!!
Yes I opened garden up for a week. More than 50 twitchers passed through :eek: and everyone who came from a far got a sighting.

It was lucky that although my first sighting was a Friday, it wasn't really confirmed to be still around till Monday and because of work not everyone could come immediately and the visitors were nicely spaced throughout the week.

Trizo · 07-12-2010 7:50pm

Would love to see one , hopefully in a few years Ireland will be full of them , i travelled down to Wicklow earlier in the year to try and get a photograph but didn't see any. they prefer suet feeders i believe.

bogtreader · 07-12-2010 10:27pm

Excellent news on having the Great spotted woodpecker in your garden
Mothman.My friend and i reckon we heard one knocking in Kilmacurragh
arboretum about two years ago but couldnt locate him.I think we are in exciting times in the bird world:D

Birdnuts · 07-12-2010 11:46pm

Well done Mothman - GSW appears to be here to stay which is great news in that it rights a historical wrong.:)

PS: One was seen in the Phoenix park only last week which suggests suburban environments will soon share in the joy:D

Great Spotted Woodpecker

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