Home, Sweet Home!

In the dying Black Gum Tree that sits just outside the front door, I noticed a good bit of activity over the past few weeks.  There has been construction (or destruction) of sorts happening in the very tiptop of the tree!  The Redheaded Woodpecker has been quite busy excavating a new hole.  In and out..in and out..pieces of rotten wood flying everywhere.  Then last week, the activity stopped.  No more pounding or scraping could be heard.  I began to think the bird had cleared the tree of all critters that might have infested the rotten wood.  It was also at about this same time that I noticed one of my pair of woodpeckers seemed to have disappeared.  Only one bird hung around the feeders and in the nearby oak tree.  Not being able to distinguish between male and female woodpeckers, I have come to the conclusion that one of my birds is about to become a mother!  She must be setting on her clutch of eggs in the newly formed hole!

Last evening as I sat outside with Ms. Ez, I saw one Redhead fly into the top of the tree.  No, it did not go into the hole but rather sat just a few feet away. So..Daddy Bird keeps watch over the nest! While I watched the hole, I did catch one glimpse of Mama Bird but nothing more.  She was safe and secure inside her cozy nesting cavity!

As I sat staring at the dead tree, I began to see strange things!  My imagination led me to an entirely different view of the tree.  This was not just a dying tree that was full of holes but a creature!  I could clearly make out a face!  The Redheaded Woodpeckers had carved a likeness of a human..or at least in my crazy imagination it was a human! Perhaps my birds liked me enough to pay homage to me!  Ok...enough of the imagination running amok, it could not be me!  The mouth is far too large!  Still, the tree did bear a striking resemblance to a face.

Today, Mark and I watched the lone woodpecker make his rounds to the feeder and oak trees.  He never strayed far from the Black Gum Tree housing his mate and future kids.  All was right with his world!