Black-backed Woodpecker

This male has been excavating a cavity for the last week and he must be nearly done. This seems really late for them to be nesting, but surely that is the plan. Incubation is 12-14 days and the nestling period is about 25 days. They should provide great photographic opportunities later in July as the snag is right out in the open near a gravel county road.

Fantastic series. I can not wait for you to share their progress!

Glad you got more pictures of him! Hope he's not like our Yellow Bellied Sapsuckers that prepare lots of nesting sites, then choose the one that is the hardest to photograph!

Nice Shots, Al.

The first one is great with the chips flying... from a head shake?

This should interesting to follow.

butterfly2937 wrote in post #18046933
Fantastic series. I can not wait for you to share their progress!

Thank you very kindly, Carol. These guys will keep me busy during the otherwise mostly dead time of July.

SJC from VT wrote in post #18047109
Glad you got more pictures of him! Hope he's not like our Yellow Bellied Sapsuckers that prepare lots of nesting sites, then choose the one that is the hardest to photograph!

I think this is the one. They're running out of time and he just spent the last whole week working on the cavity.

EyeSpyEagle wrote in post #18047177
Nice Shots, Al.

The first one is great with the chips flying... from a head shake?

This should interesting to follow.

Thank you very much. Yes, what he'd do is disappear into the cavity for quite a while; we could hear him chipping away. Then periodically he'd stick his head out the hole and broadcast the chips with a quick flick of his head. We kept trying to capture the moment, but it was very difficult.

Lovely head shots Al.

Great shots as always!

2n10 wrote in post #18048318
Lovely head shots Al.

Beekeeper wrote in post #18048553
Great shots as always!

Thanks, guys; I'm glad you liked them.

Really like the second image.

Well done Al, I agree with Marty that #2 is especially good.

cerett wrote in post #18048727
Really like the second image.

Red Dexs wrote in post #18049380
Well done Al, I agree with Marty that #2 is especially good.

Thanks, guys. I posted the first one mainly to show the sawdust flying from his excavations.

Don't know what happened with last post. Sorry. Just wanted to say nice shooting and I'll be waiting eagerly for future progress and updates

Very cool shots Al!

Wow. Great shots Al.