Determination, Patience & a Stiff Neck pays off

[AZWhitefeather]

I was puttering on the patio yesterday morning & heard this unusual noise coming from the palm tree up where the pigeons live. Realizing it wasn't any type of pigeon sound, I looked up & saw a Gila Woodpecker peering into a hole. I was thinking it just got carried away with it's 'pecking' as the hole was larger than the usual little notches. The bird flew off & I went about my business.

What seemed to be about 10 minutes later, I hear the noise again. So I stopped what I was doing, looked up & saw the woodpecker had returned & was on an adjacent tree. Instead of going back to what I was doing, I kept watching.
All of a sudden I see this little eye peek out of the hole. Then I saw the adult woodpecker fly to the hole & proceed to feed it's baby.

As most of you know, this is grounds for me to go fetch the camera.
I got settled & began 'bird watching'.

I swear, that woodpecker must have flown to Phoenix to get his baby something to eat.
I waited & waited for him to return. I'm sure I was just about as happy as the baby when he did return.

After several attempts at getting a picture, the baby finally stuck his head far enough out of the hole to where I was able to get a fairly good picture of papa (Woody) feeding him.

When Dad headed out to get more groceries, the baby decided to get curious, as most kids will do.
He was absolutely adorable, looking out around & up. Probably wondering what all the commotion was upstairs. I was able to get a couple pictures of him & will post them as well.

I found it very interesting that when Dad returns, he makes this unusual sound. I'm thinking this is a type of message telling the baby 'all's clear, it's only papa coming home.'

It's not unusual to see the woodpeckers in the yard, but I've not had the pleasure to see a family. This is quite exciting for me.

I never realized how much activity goes on up in that palm tree. Pigeons & doves coming & going, chasing each other around the tree, flirting & of course, babies squeaking like mad wanting to be fed.

I will be keeping an eye on things & hopefully will be lucky enough to get some pictures of the baby(s) growing up.

Here's a link to some interesting information about the Gila Woodpecker.
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAbou...oodpecker.html

Cindy