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Thanks so much for sending this - I’m out now but will have a good look through when I’m home.

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Wonderful to hear. I know Shapwick very well - LSW are supposedly gone from there now sadly, though there are very infrequent records from the Avalon Marshes (every five years or something - and invariably outside of the breeding/territorial season)

I just like trying to ‘weigh things up like that’ (hence why I suggested there may potentially be a short-term benefit) - but if it continues it’ll certainly be very damaging to the ecology of the whole site in a relatively short space of time.

Ah - sorry, think I might misunderstood you before, Philip. I totally agree with you - I’m not saying it won’t be an issue - it definitely will be. And the high levels of deer browsing (I think) will certainly do much more harm than good (if there is any good), in the long-term.

Glad to hear that you have lots of memories of seeing LSW… they really are fantastic birds.

On deer - I think especially in Gloucs and the surrounding counties, muntjac are probably the most damaging deer species - for all the reasons you list, and therefore how easily they can get out of hand if not controlled. But yes, deer damage is certainly challenging to measure on its own.

So many reasons for the decline have been suggested - modern forestry (like you mention), climate change (causing chick starvation etc), general habitat loss, competition with great spots etc.

Very interesting thoughts - thank you for sharing. The decline of LSW certainly is complex, and I think we can say with a lot of confidence that more than one factor is at play.

Really interesting to hear that, Ed. I’ve not found a nest at this site (yet!), so can’t get very accurate data on what the birds are foraging for. It's fascinating stuff...

(Sorry about the thread - I'm finding the word count on here really restrictive!)

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At this site I think that any negative effects to the birds likely won’t be noticeable for thirty ish years (if they are still present at the site then, which they may well not be!), due to the substantial amount of invertebrate prey that can be found that is 'independent' of the understory.

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This is a just whole mix of thoughts... but in essence, I wonder if the seriousness of the effect of the deer will probably vary site-to-site - depending on how solely reliant the birds are on invertebrate resources that are themselves reliant on the woodland understory in some way.

An FE Forest Research study found a huge lack of diversity of Coleoptera (beetle) species in deer-browsed areas, compared to deer fenced ones. Many beetle species are dependent on the understory for stages in their lifecycle - and many are key food species for LSW.

However… it almost certainly won’t be a net benefit to the birds. A healthy woodland understory (which regeneration is a great indicator of) is incredibly important for invertebrates - and for this reason, some studies have actually directly linked high deer densities to the decline of LSW.

There were virtually no broadleaf trees in the 1.2 Large Seedling class (young trees above the field layer, that have not reached a sapling stage - roughly up to circa 1 meter in height). This raises serious alarm bells when looking at the health of woodland understory.

In the long-term though, the loss of young trees in a woodland is a very concerning trend (for obvious reasons!).

So in one sense one could look at it and theorise that this might - in part - benefit the birds in the future (as when mature trees fall no younger trees will replace them in the canopy - creating a more open woodland structure favoured by LSW).

The landowner noted that fallow deer, roe deer and muntjac are present in the area, and that no culling takes place on site (though it does in the immediate vicinity of the site). Indeed, several muntjac footprints were found when out surveying.

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Interesting question. I didn’t set up a motion sensored camera but I did write a bit of field notes on the subject… There was extremely little woodland regeneration - and almost no regeneration of the species currently dominant in the canopy. This points to a concerningly high deer population. 🧵⬇️

Thank you so much to Birds on the Brink, @bristolnats.bsky.social, the Bristol Ornithological Society, the Cameron Bespolka Trust and @tj-focus.bsky.social for their generous support of the project.

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Whilst there is a significant abundance of dead limbs on live trees, the absence of many snags at this site is highly atypical for the species - in the area of this site with the highest number of LSW observations, the deadwood abundance was a mere 2.51m^3 of snag/hectare. (10/10)

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For Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, this site is remarkable compared to all the others I’m monitoring, due to the notable lack of standing dead wood (snags). (9/10)

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Aphid sp. too are a very important food source as we come into the early Summer months, which can be found in both the willow and birchwood areas. Little is known about LSW diet, which will hopefully change in the future thanks to work by @mlivesey.bsky.social and @lesserspotnet.bsky.social. (8/10)

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Therefore, the willow beds may also start to become of higher importance to the birds at this time - as willow is the larval food plant for a great many macro and micro moth species. (7/10)

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Now we are into late May, Argyresthia goedartella will have almost all emerged - so LSW will be foraging for different invertebrates. A large proportion of this will continue to be the larvae of moth species - which will likely include winter moth and mottled umber. (6/10)

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Over the past few months, the larvae of the micro moth Argyresthia goedartella (commonly known as Bronze Alder Moth) have been feasting on the buds, shoots and catkins of the birch woodland. These larvae are one of the main food sources for lesser spots through the early Spring time of year. (5/10)

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I’m here to monitor the resident lesser spotted woodpecker population - where at least two birds thrive on the mosaic of invertebrate-rich habitat that can be found at the site. (4/10)

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At the centre of the site, a brook fragments into several long channels - although this is mostly hidden by the dense beds of Grey Willow (Salix cinerea) and Basket Willow (Salix viminalis). On the west side, a beech wood straddles a steep bank - hiding the few birch snags that lie beneath. (3/10)

A long birchwood strip runs for about a kilometre on one side, interspersed with few but regular mature oak trees. (2/10)