He Fledged
I first got to the nest site about 8:44am. I did not see the nestling at the nest cavity but I did see the parents go to the hole with food. I also saw a parent go all the way in and fly out with material (expect the material included a fecal sack). The other non parent adult (possibly last year’s young from this pair) showed up again today and the parents called and drummed and chased him off. There was a lot of activity. There are pictures of the fledgling at the bottom of this page.
I returned at 11:02am and did not see the nestling at the cavity nor did I see a parent go there with food. I began to suspect he had fledged during the short time I was gone. I watched and listened. I then heard him in a tree but could not see him. I also did not see where he went. I watched for the parents to guide me to him but they did not. I watched, listened and waited for a clue, something to tell me where he was. There were many other birds around - eastern bluebirds, an eastern wood-pewee, a pine warbler, a Carolina wren, Carolina chickadee's, ospreys, a downy woodpecker and even a northern flicker showed up. At about 12:15 I finally got a small clue - the parents went to a pine area a few yards away (Hummock Loop). This is part of the core territory where the parents would sometimes go looking for food or to chase an intruder. I decided to go check it out. I walked to the area and watched and listened. The parents were no longer in the area, but I thought I heard a couple short calls from the fledgling. I finally saw movement high up in a pine. I could see with my binoculars that it was him. Of course I wanted to get a picture, but the conditions were terrible - backlit and behind other small branches; nonetheless I did get these pictures.
