Dinner Time

The Hairy Woodpeckers are busy raising another brood in my backyard again. They appear to be a bit ahead of their pace from last year, probably because they didn't have to excavate a cavity this time. They just moved into the cavity they used last year with just a little cleanup early on. Right now they are at the stage when the parents protest quite loudly whenever we go into the backyard and occasionally when we look out the dining room window. I have to admit it was a bit annoying when it happened last year, but this year I am much more tolerant because I know how much I will miss having them around when the chicks fledge and the backyard becomes relatively silent all of a sudden.
Again this year I am amazed at the variety of food the adults bring back to the nest. Here is a sample from one afternoon.

All Gone

Yesterday when I was able to get back home after being gone all morning, the backyard was very quiet. The last Hairy Woodpecker fledgling had exited the nest and the air was devoid of calling adults and begging chicks. I still find myself glancing at the entrance to the cavity as I walk through our dining room to see who is hanging out the hole or what is being fed but there is just an empty hole in the side of the tree.

They Grow Up So Fast

Today was a bittersweet day. I came home from work and traded hello's with Laura as she headed into town with the boys for Benton's last t-ball game (if you ever want some great entertainment, watch a kids t-ball game!). I foraged in the fridge for a bit and sat down to watch the Hairy Woodpeckers before heading into the blind to get a few more photos before they are gone. As I sat down I noticed that the male woodpecker was foraging on the ground further out in the backyard. "that's interesting" I thought to myself as I prepared to watch him gather his next meal for the kids, "I haven't seen him forage there before". That's when I did a double take and noticed that it wasn't the male but one of the female woodpecker chicks, now fledgling. I went to grab the camera and realized it had just drove off in the van with my family. Due to work schedules, swimming lessons, a meeting for Laura, and daycare I wound up driving the van home from town and left my camera in it when Laura headed back for t-ball. Damn.

At least I still had my banding kit. I gathered up my bands and snagged the newly fledged bird against the backyard fence. It seems kind of a weird coincidence but the smell of the young woodpecker reminded me of the smell of a Giant Petrel, a sweet musty smell. All petrels I have handled have had an interesting smell to them and it was very similar to this young woodpecker.
I released the bird near the nest hole and she didn't even seem to recognize what it was from the outside and she headed right up the trunk past the nest hole. I retired to a chair near the back door and watched the family for a while. After watching for a while the young female launched out of the tree and flew rather strongly for such a new flyer, only to thunk against the side of the fence and attach herself like a tick to the boards. She was there for a long while but when I checked again about 15 minutes later she had moved somewhere else.

I think there were at least 3 young in the nest since one female was still left in the nest and there had been at least one male in there as well.

I watched the pair continue to feed the one last bird in the nest and it seemed that they were working on getting the last nestling out into the world. Even yesterday they would stick their head into the hole to feed the young. Today they would just give the chick a taste then move a bit down the trunk to get the youngster to move even farther out of the hole to get fed. I suspect that by late tomorrow morning I will not longer have the youngsters living exclusively in my backyard.

Here are a few photos from the last few days.

Bringing Home the Bacon...er Bugs.

The male and female Hairy Woodpeckers have been very busy lately. They are continually moving back and forth from the nest cavity bringing all sorts of interesting insects to their brood. We still haven't observed any youngsters at the mouth of the cavity and both parents still disappear completely into the cavity when they bring food but we sure can hear the youngsters making lots of noise when the think someone is going to bring them food.
What an interesting world view they must have right now. Their whole world consists of wood walls and one glowing magic opening where Mom and Dad disappear into the light only to return with more food (and take away the fecal sacs, a membranous bag of bird poop kind of like bird diapers produced by young birds as a way of keeping the nest cleaner).

New Kids in the Neighborhood

After watching the adults trade incubation shifts for a while it appears that we have some new baby Hairy Woodpeckers in the backyard. This evening while tending to the barbecue I noticed both parents delivering food to the nest hole. The photo below shows the female delivering a grub of some sort to the cavity. Neither parent was spending much time in the cavity but both were going all the way in to deliver the food. Soon I suspect we will have little Hairy Woodpeckers peeking out of the hole and begging for food.