Hampshire Lesser Spotted Woodpecker Survey 2022
In 2022 we organised a HOS survey of breeding Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (Dryobates minor) based on a sample of 1km squares (monads) distributed across the whole of Hampshire. Birds were found in 123 of the 197 monads surveyed and we estimated the county population as 314 territories (296 in the New Forest and 18 elsewhere). The species appears to be holding its own in the New Forest, but has clearly declined in the rest of Hampshire. The survey confirms the national importance of the New Forest for Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers.