Woodie ruffles feathers on east coast

IN the past couple of months there have been some developments in the story of the attempt by greater spotted woodpeckers to re-colonise this country after an absence of several hundred years.

Reports of sightings of individual woodpeckers in eastern counties have been increasing in number since about 2004, but now there is official proof that the birds have bred successfully.

Dick Coombes of BirdWatch Ireland assembled a team of helpers to look for nests in May and June of this year. The greatest numbers of reports were of birds in mature deciduous woodland in Co Wicklow, so that’s where the team concentrated its efforts.