Woodpecker Network was honoured to accept the 2024 Marsh Award for Local Ornithology at the BTO Awards Evening hosted by the Society of Wildlife Artists at the Natural Eye Exhibition at the Mall Gallery  in October 2024.

The BTO Marsh Award for Local Ornithology is given to a bird club or group for an exceptional activity that advances our knowledge of birds. 

Gus Robin and Linda and Ken Smith accepted the Award on behalf of Woodpecker Network volunteers who have helped to find and observe Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers & nests & gather data on this enigmatic & fast declining species.

Others in the photo are - from the left -  Megan McCubbin, Gus Robin, Linda Smith, Ken Smith, Juliet Vickery (CEO BTO), Representative of the Marsh Charitable Trust, Penny Williams, Mark Grantham (on behalf of Dirk Raes) and Katie Monk. More about the Awards and the event here Marsh Award for local Ornithology and here Committed volunteers and conservationists win prestigious awards | BTO 

The award comes with a generous cash prize which we put towards the purchase of a high end thermal imager for use by Woodpecker Network volunteers. Thermal imagers are used to help search for woodpecker nests, picking up the heat from nests.

Stu Keenor scored a first for the project when he located an active nest in Devon using his own thermal imager. They clearly have great potential for finding nests, but we are still to work out how to get the best from them.