Determination

  Mark and I headed to the pier just after daybreak this morning.  As soon as we stepped on the board path that took us down the hillside, we heard a high-pitched shriek and then another.  Our eyes turned toward the old dead Black Gum tree just outside the front door.  This was the same tree that had seen so many tragedies this spring.  The European Starlings had lost their eggs to the Red-bellied Woodpeckers.  Those same woodpeckers took over the nesting hole and then lost their eggs to the Red-headed Woodpeckers.  This did not damper the nesting urge of the Red-bellies so Mama merely laid another batch of eggs.  These hatched and all seemed well with the world until that fateful day that a bad storm rolled in off the Bay.  The winds were terrific and the entire top of the tree toppled into the garden.  It just so happened to have broken right at the very spot that contained the young woodpeckers.  Both young birds perished with the impact of the tree hitting the ground.  Undaunted, Mama once again excavated a hole in the dead tree and laid another batch of eggs.  

  This morning's screeching was none other than the newest juvenile woodpecker.  A lone little one poked its head out of the hole and demanded breakfast.  Mama and Daddy Red-belly worked hard to find bugs for their loud youngster.  It seems that this little one should be out of the nest soon and should be able to find its own breakfast.  Barring any more tragedies, this nesting cycle should be a success...if you can call a single offspring during the three effort try, a success.  

  I will say this about the Red-bellied Woodpecker family, they are determined!  Against all odds, they stuck to their guns and raised this little squirt.  Now, if no hawk decides that the youngster is delicious, the bird should be well on its way to adulthood.