Woodie: A New Guy

I did something in Photoshop called "equalizing" to turn a couple of crap photos into these interesting, yet sort of still crap, specimens. This bird is one of this year's golden-fronted woodpecker babies on his way to the hummingbird & oriole feeders that hang from our porch.

The Stuff That Birds' Nests Are Made Of

Woodlets 2010

This little guy and his nestmates are coming out any day now. We first heard the woodlets (presumably more than one, based on noise level) on May 1, Saturday, which was 29 days ago; previous years tell us that they come out after about 30 days, and here they are showing their little heads in the last week, right on schedule. So exciting! I somehow can't remember if I took these photos Thursday or Friday evening.


Dad arriving with food


Dad hopping into the hole with food


Headind up to the top of the tree, post-feeding


Junior looking out, post-feeding


Dad hanging out up top

Feeding Frenzy

It's what the parent woodpeckers are now doing all day, every day. Here we have a beakful of madrone berries.

Woodie. Dad. 2010.

While sitting on the patio Saturday evening with friends, the static-y sound of woodlets was heard for the first time in 2010! There are babes in the nesting tree (I predict 3, or maybe 5) and the parents are working full-time feeding them. Here's Dad just emerging from the hole; you can see his tongue just barely poking out.

A sad note: the cardinal nest outside the kitchen window lost its 2 or 3 eggs last night. I'd just implemented the keeping-in of the cats for the next 3-4 weeks while birds nest, so we know it wasn't them, and besides, there is no trace of the eggs. They are gone—not knocked to the ground, but GONE. Snakes? Um, raccoons? What else takes bird eggs from nests? I feel terrible for the parents, but hope they'll try again soon.

Nesting: Sunday Afternoon

No feeding going on yet....just a lot of visits in and out of the hole. Eggs?

Woodie 2010: A View from the Porch

The Woodpecker Dad, v. 2010

They're starting to get the nest ready; he was pecking away inside the hole for a long time yesterday.

Oh, WOODIE

I love you. All day you and Woodina work so hard at feeding the woodlets. When are they coming out?

Woodie 2009

After Woodina left, Woodie went in....


...and a few minutes later came back out.

WOODLETS, rev 2009!

Woodina leaves the tree

We had noticed the parent golden-fronted woodpeckers being very busy around the tree in the last few weeks and were wondering if there were even eggs yet; then yesterday (May 2nd) we heard the woodlets. It's like static coming out of the tree. Last year, we first heard them on May 1st. Maybe, oh maybe we'll finally get to see them fledge....

Woodie 2009

Here he is...our 2009 woodpecker dad. He is a rather large specimen; I wonder if he's the same as last year's Woodie. He's been sleeping in the tree all winter; these days he is spending a lot of time calling out to the ladies and drumming on our chimney cap to mark his territory. And so it begins again...


This tree is the staging tree, not the nesting tree. He spends a lot of time eating insects from this tree.

Bedtime for Woodie

Bedtime for Woodie is around 5:15 this time of year. Tonight was slightly delayed because of my presence on the patio—here he is leaving the tree, instead of going in, because he saw me; I had to sit on the ground behind my chair before he would come back.

The Woodlets 2008 and What Happened

I am long overdue for talking about the fledging of the woodlets, which happened on Wednesday May 28th and which I, we, both Hugh and I, missed. I have meant to post about it ever since but time is at a premium; let it suffice to say that they were there that morning and then gone by evening. Damnation! I REALLY WANT TO SEE THE WOODLETS LEAVE THE NEST ONE OF THESE YEARS. Anyway, since then, we have seen Woodie forlornly—or so we thought!—hanging about the tree every day, checking the nest hole, going to the birdfeeder outside the bathroom window, and so on, sadly casting about for activities to fill his empty days, now that there are no woodlets to feed.

But yesterday, Sunday, as we sat inside working and movie-watching, Hugh suddenly gave a shout-out that there were two birds over on the Woodie tree, and what was going on? It turned out that one of the woodlets came back home, and there was fighting. The parent bird was chasing the little one away from the tree! He swooped at him and pecked his head! We don't know for certain that it was actually the dad's young...but highly likely, I think. Birds are very cruel, very cruel. Don't these photos just break your heart?

All About Woodie

A candid post-grooming shot: the final shake


A woodlet head can be seen at the lower left of the trunk


Despite the grayness, you can see the little woodpecker's striped back in this photo!


More food. The dad often lands in this spot and places something (a nut? acorn?) on the tree, then pounds it open to get food for the babes (and himself). For some reason, the dad's been doing all of the feeding this morning.