First Sighting of Nestling
20 August - I saw a nestling today for the first time. It was at the opening of the cavity for about 20 minutes, it then went back in and I didn’t see it during the remaining time of my observation. I have noticed during my visits that one of the parents is the primary feeder, this is the female. After approximately the first 12 days the female does about 75% of the feeding; before that time both parents equally feed.
I am expecting the young to fledge at 27-31 days old. I will estimate the age of this/these young based on the Red-headed Woodpecker nest I monitored in 2021. In that case the one nestling appeared for the first time on 19 Aug, just a day before this one. That nestling fledged on 27 Aug. Based on that I estimate this/these nestlings were hatched on 31 Jul and are now 21 days old and will fledge on or about 26 Aug.
Observation - 1hr, 30min
Partly cloudy 77F SW winds 7mph
I stopped by the second nest to observe activity there. I have included a series of pictures to show how far away the tree is from the road. Luckily I have a zoom lens on my camera so I am able to view the nest at that distance. The area around the cavity is marsh, very open with few trees. There are a couple of snags and utility poles near to the road, the parents perch on these at times scouting for flying bugs. A tree out in the marsh is another popular spot for them, as you can see I was able to see both parents at the same time. I noticed, as I did from the other nest, the time between feedings can be quite long (20+ minutes). Of course I am not there all day to get an approximate time over the course of the day.
22 & 24 August - I continue to monitor the nest. I continue to see only one young; it does not poke its head out very often.
I usually spend some time visiting the juvenile nursery (I like to call it) in an adjacent territory, near the pier.
Observation - 1hr
