Een territoriale Middelste Bonte Specht Dendrocopos medius op Berkenheuvel

Presumably the same male Middle Spotted Woodpecker was recorded on 22 March and 4-5 May 1997 at Berkenheuvel in Drenthe (near Doldersum, 52’54’N, 6'15’E). The bird was very vocal and extensively foraged on bark, twigs and moulded upperparts of oak Quercus robur. While foraging, the bird covered long distances, i.e. 1650 m in 25 minutes, meanwhile visiting 21 trees (4x beech Fagus sylvatica, I7x oak). The advertising call was uttered frequently; 2-3 sessions per 10 minutes, with 2x 4, 1x5, lx 6 and lx 8 calls per session. The duration of calling sessions varied between 2.74 and 4.96 seconds, depending on the number of calls (N=5). This bird fits the pattern of a steep increase in observations of Middle Spotted Woodpeckers in The Netherlands since the mid-1990s.