From May 10, 1995 through May 25 I heard a Red-headed Woodpecker at some distance from the lower pond, but never saw one. Then for nearly a month I had no evidence of their presence and began to fear that they were not nesting in Lake View this year. At last on June 21 I saw an adult adjacent to the pond, flycatching from a tree perch, but silent. On subsequent days I watched individuals until I guessed the area where they must have a nest.

Finally on July 7 I located the nest hole in a large Gray Birch (Betula populifolia) in a good sized snag. Both adults were bringing food to the nest, one going completely into the hole, the other just leaning in. On the 13th I photographed the adults bringing food and was able to see the bill of one nestling sticking up into the opening. By July 16, two young were crowding the nest hole opening waiting noisily to be fed. As a nest in Rocky River had had young like this a week earlier from which they had since fledged, I was sure these in Lake View Cemetery would also fledge before I could return on the 19th. Thus I was not surprised when there was no activity around the birch tree on that date. I also didn't see any of the Red- headed Woodpeckers. What did surprise me was finding an adult in the hole on July 27 with its head sticking out, looking around, for several minutes. It then disappeared into the cavity as the other adult flew onto the snag to perch at the opening. In a moment the first bird came out and flew away past the second bird which then went down into the hole. This bird quickly reappeared and flew off as well. Strangely they seemed to be carrying something in their bills as they left the snag.

© 1995 Jean Hoffman

On Aug. 2 an adult flew to the nest hole, perched, looked in then disappeared into it. Meanwhile, the other adult flew into a nearby tree for a time, occasionally preening. After about 15 minutes, the bird in the hole peered out a bit, ducked down, looked once more, then went down again. When ten more minutes passed it looked out several times then flew off. Later an adult was feeding on the other side of the lower pond. This seemed remarkably like nesting behavior!

The idea of a second nesting was startling. Most of the sources I've read indicate that they are not double brooded here and I was also reminded of the rapid departure of Red-headed Woodpeckers in the fall of 1993. The last ones I saw that year were two immatures moving through Lake View Cemetery on September 17. I did not see another until April 29, 1994 on the lakefront. The Cleveland Bird Calendar for fall 1993 (Vol. 89, p.39) commented: "Red-headed Woodpeckers continued to be seen at Lakefront sites through mid-Sep. The latest immature to linger was at the Mastick Road area of Rocky River MP on 24 Sep. (WNK). The immature at the Ira Road Beaver Pond in the CVNRA on 5 Sep. was the only inland report (LK). This species was at a low point in its occurrence cycle in Geauga Co. (fide DB)." This time frame does not seem to give a second nesting much leeway to produce truly independent young. My interest firmly engaged, I tried to learn more about the behavior of this pair of woodpeckers in the following days.

Through August 16, the birds gave every impression of incubation at the nest site, but on the 17th they did not stay at the nest, but came several times to look in and fly off. For several days I could not find the birds at all. Later they began to call from the vicinity and a few times again visited the nest site, but showed no signs that the nest was active. On the 30th the adult woodpeckers were heard and seen between the ponds, but never in the vicinity of the nest. They were heavily into molt with heads not quite so red and missing several tail feathers. It would appear that if there was a second nest, it failed.

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