Green woodpeckers

[Blaze]

Like Elsie, I looked out of the window and there he was !

[Spectrum]

I don't know about exporting timber around here it all does to a huge papermill about 8klm away, we all know how the French like their paperwork, they are so behind the times And we have lots of woodpeckers here as we are surrounded by woods, never seen a black one but can hear them.

[Doug]

Weve got black woodpeckers here, very rare.

[Blaze]

Weve got black woodpeckers here, very rare.

Not in France, Doug. We saw them quite often where we used to live in Maine et Loire because it was very forested. I believe they're rare in the UK though.

[Doug]

Weve got black woodpeckers here, very rare.

Not in France, Doug. We saw them quite often where we used to live in Maine et Loire because it was very forested. I believe they're rare in the UK though.

Have been in France for 34 years and saw them for the first time three years ago, they nest across the river from the chapel which we are restoring, then this year a neighbour 500 meters away had them nest in their woods this year, first time for them as well.

[Blaze]

The LPO site has a good explanation. It seems that they come from further east and over the years have moved west, thus becoming more common in France. It seems that your area is less favoured by them which would explain why you rarely see them !
https://www.lpo-idf.fr/?pg=sp&sp=31

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[Doug]

Yes [mention]Blaze[/mention] have that site.
Used it when we had ringed ouzels in the garden.

[Blaze]

The map shows the progression west of the black woodpeckers over the years ...

[Char]

We have the black woodpeckers round here - they don't visit the garden though like the green and the spotted ones, they stay in the woods/forests. They're quite difficult to spot as they disappear at the slightest sound, but they can certainly be heard.