THE FLEDGING OF DOWNY WOODPECKERS
Watching downy woodpecker babies. Skipping coyotes this morning in case downies fledge. At 05:30 they were quiet but by 05:40 they were noisy.
But the cool of the morning does not appeal to them. They are not sticking their heads out nearly as often or for as long as in the heat of yesterday afternoon.
Their heads fill the doorway! I mean fill it!....as if it is barely big enough.
Little boy is hogging the window but sister puts in appearances for breakfast.
The brother with his scarlet punk "do" is pecking! He already knows he's a woodpecker! I noticed a new little divot at the bottom of the door-frame and I wondered if the babies had made it, as unlikely as that seemed. But bigger than anything, once brother started appearing in the doorway he would often do a little ratatat into the wood around the edge of the door!
Now when he sticks his head out he twists his neck to look down and sideways and straight up, visually exploring the new three dimensional universe that awaits his bold entry.
08:16
Brother seems agitated. In and out. In and out.
Dad arrives with a green bug. Dad has to work and work to finally get it to the sister.
I am surprised there are any bugs left in the county at the rate parents shovel them into these ravenous chicks.
I don't want to take my eyes off the show. Brother seems aware of my presence, retreating when I make a motion.
Sister is also agitated, squeezing her body through the narrow opening. I get claustrophobic just watching them.
Mom teases, holding the bug away, making sister come out a little further.
Everything encompassed in this moment, the entire universe, all Life, all right here, right now, an interminable now.
A calm, a tension, a peace, a suspense, anticipation and fear, all here, all now.
Babies stretch further out. Parents keep feeding.
Sis stays out a long time. It’s hard to see how they can squeeze their bodies through that tiny passage. I wonder if they literally could become trapped if they grow much more, but then remember the parents got in and out of that opening while building this home.
Sis has never kept her head out this long. I wondered if brother had fledged while I was away. But no, eventually, in a squeezing, wrestling exchange, she goes in and brother comes out.
Looking, looking, down and around, up and around,
Mom delivers again, waits, sits by the doorway….. The sense of calm increases when she arrives, in black and white, like a flying nun.
Exchange again, now sis replaces brother in the doorway, both anxious, both squirming. Hot sun glares off the trunk of the aspen. Sis has a softer cheep, not as loud, not as sharp.
It seems they stretch a little further each time they appear, or is that my wishful imagination.
The pauses with no face in the entrance are now due not to nap time but to the wrestling exchange of one trying to get around the other.
Surely this flight will happen, it must happen. More and more they extend out. How long can this continue?
Sis is also pecking at the wood of the entrance. She’s got almost half her body out! Now back in.
Mom relents and comes to the door to feed her, a reward for the effort. Brother’s peeps are muted by sis filling the passage. But he’s in there, also wanting out.
This fledge might go now….
She flies! Down at a 45 degree angle! I saw it! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!
Brother finally appears, seeming perplexed. Looking around. Much quieter than he has been, a little shocked and confused that sister is gone. He’s the most subdued...well,,,,ever.
Dad comes and gives him a snack. He almost seems more relaxed. Thank God no jays or magpies were around when sis fledged.
Oh life!
Brother remains in the doorway, occasionally peepsing, but with long pauses to absorb the new situation and consider his fate and destiny.
All here, the universe, all Life, in the singularity of this eternal moment.
Dad returns to feed brother. Brother seems not agitated…. or?....he stretches out a little further. A little further. Dad coaches from a branch of the nearby dead aspen tree.
Brother remains though. In and out. But less agitated than earlier. I immediately lost sight of sister when she went down into the bushes and ground cover.
She wanted out! Brother sits quietly. Now more active, in and out, in and out, as if trying to find a way to get through the narrow opening. Such a huge world awaits
Surely soon. Where is sister? Such blessing to witness this. Such a right and holy living event.,,,,,unless you’re a bug.
There’s mom. She’s working the nearby stump for snacks. The parents don’t seem at all excited about all this…..unlike the finch family I watched where dad especially got absolutely vocally ecstatic upon fledging of the family.
Brother has returned to asking for lunch. Or?....is that sister? She seems a little fluttery! It is sister 1! She’s working up the trunk! She must have landed at its base Now she reaches the plastic I wrapped around the trunk to protect the robin’s nest from Cal kitty. She’s all fuzzy! But she knows how to hold on in classic downy pose to a vertical trunk! Too good!
Brother’s acting just as he did all morning. Maybe a little further out now. There’s sis again. She’s looking for lunch! Look at that! Oh, she flutters down out of sight. She can hop and climb but not fly.
There’s another little girl in the nest doorway! Two sisters!
Mom’s chirping warnings. I don’t know why.
Babies remain inside, deep, enjoying their new spacious accommodations.
The fledgling again makes it up to the plastic on the trunk, and is then bamboozled by the plastic, trying to peck at it. It’s pitiful.
She does a great job getting up and around the trunk! She wants to go higher.
Such a beautiful little girl!
There is not a hint of more fledging in the offing. Nobody in the entrance.
“Number One” tries to hop higher
onto the plastic, which only sends her fluttering down again. Oh what a
sad unintended consequence! She knows what to do! It should work!
She should get up into a branch! She’s already back Now
brother sticks his head out. NO question, there is a second sister.
Amazing!
Dad arrives and feeds brother. He’s set. Why leave this deal?
Peepsing sound has returned, from deep inside. It’s as if the system dictates someone leave to make room, spreading out the departure fledgings, perhaps to optimize the chance of one hitting an opportune time.
Mom feeds, now inside the door, not trying to draw anyone out.
Sister one hops out of the bushes, under the shade of the car, and further to the edge of the yard. On the ground, in contrast to on the tree, she looks fluffy and awkward and vulnerable. I think I hear a parent peepsing from over there. I go look but cannot see her. That’s probably the last I’ll ever see of her.
Meanwhile at the door no one is visible. The usual chattering continues. But the frantic heads out of the entrance are no more. It really is as if someone had to go. Now the ones still there are content to stay inside.
Sister two sticks her head out for feeding. Mom obliges. Now sister two keeps her head out.
Oh what’s happening to that brave first baby!
Looks out the doorway are now brief. And it’s almost always a sister, not the brother.
I’m glad I skipped watching the coyotes this morning! But now I don’t think there’s a pressing reason to keep watching the downies.
Wow, what a drama. What an unexpected turn of events.
Brother puts in an appearance. The feeding is now rapid fire, mom and dad making quick sequence appearances, like I’ve never seen. Hardly a minute elapses between visits. I hope someone is looking after sister 1.
Brother is just active enough to keep me watching, just in case.
It is interesting what a sense of anticipation there was before that first fledging. Some sense, unjustified by any visual evidence, that something major was about to unfold.
Oh look at that! He was way out! Then went in. Now out again. Of course, this could go on for days.
He’s coming in and out though, quickly, as if something might happen. I’m drained from the first fledging.
Brother seems to have overcome his shock upon the departure of his sister.
They have the longest, flicking tongue, almost like a snake.
For a moment brother almost flopped out, before scrambling back in.
He’s about as active as he was this morning.
Lordy, what a commitment, to fledge!
It can’t be a good sign that his sister never came back to report on what’s out there. Man, he was almost out! Now out! Flying! He really flew! Up Across the street! No flopping or descending!
Now another brother! My gosh! How big must that apartment be?!
What a show.
He’s got his head out, but doesn’t seem as
frantic yet.
There’s an interesting building of activity before each fledging. Now he’s getting more and more frequent in his extensions and retreats.
I can’t believe I’m getting to watch this. Had it happened yesterday I would have missed it as I was doing volunteer support.
I can’t believe the parents managed to distribute food among four siblings!
This is like watching a clown car, as if there is a hole in the base of the trunk and babies keep entering and coming up to exit from the nest.
. It must be 1.5 hours since the first sister fledged.
Bother 2 (I can’t believe I’m saying that.) is keeping his head out for extended periods. Now he’s really leaning out!
There is no justification for my sitting and watching this. But surely it is sublimely right. How could I not watch?
What suspense! Any second a new life could fly into the world.
Yep, back and forth, back and forth. In and out, in and out. Decision, decision.
Little lurches forward.
Feeding
The red on the brothers’ heads really does look like a sloppy punk mohawk die job.
After feeding, this guy is not too squirmy. He seems settled in for a little longer.
10:52.
No appearance of the sister. Brother’s hogging the doorway. Now in and out, in and out. Not too far. Feeding. Dropped it! Darn! Disappointing. Didn’t quite make the transfer.
That may be part of the parents not sticking the
food too far in as a way to get babies out.
11:00. All quiet.
Feeding. brother comes out. Sister comes out. They are nicely exchanging times at the door. And often staying inside.
There is no convincing anyone to enjoy such events. I suppose the world would not function if too many people spent too much time celebrating such events. Though I’m not sure the world would be any worse off.
These are unjustifiable joys, joys not an obligation of social convention. Peculiarly individual joys. These are rich joys, impossible to convey. Hence they are empowering joys. And they are joys of life.
To the few capable, or willing, to savor such joys, I encourage and commend you. The world will not do so. But I pray you to hold on to your capacity to savor the beauties of life. They are real and enduring and nourish the soul.
The world will discourage such delights. Sorrow for the world.
Watch enthralled as Nature proceeds at its own pace. Practice patience. Have faith that you will be sustained by the Creator of that Nature and Creator of you.
Look around, see, just as the baby downy is doing now with its head out the door. Look around, all directions. Know wonders, and know a cornucopia of them is right here and now.
Sister 2 is way out. Not backing up, not
returning.
Staying out. Not letting brother 2 have a look.
Food begging continues. She’s active. In and out. Again, in and out.
Again. Again. Again. But now as far out. Winds must be intimidating. They com in gusts.
I can’t take my eyes off her. I now know how unexpectedly these launches can happen.
Feeding. Way out. Almost away.
No. Back in. Looked like she got scared of being out so
far.
But now in and out again. And in and out. Life happens ins such a flash, you dare not take your eye off it. It teases and tempts and then the flash of that moment of jumping into a new universe.
Oh, little family. Precious beyond words.
Too much invested in these little downies? Of course. Indefensible. But such rich rewards.
11:22
Sister 2 won’t relinquish the window.
Out a bit further! Feeding! But not launched. She really reaches out when mom or dad arrive. Now brother 2 appears, finally. In and out, in and out.
Sister 2’s position was so ready to launch!
Brother 2 says she had her chance. His turn now.
How long can I stare at that tree trunk?!
16:04
Before the first two fledgings, the parents would tease the babies with food, getting the little guys to stretch out of the nest.
Immediately after the fledgings, for the remaining two babies, the parents fed them right in the doorway, no stretching or reaching required.
Now in the early evening, dad just made the little brother stretch multiple times to get his dinner.
Next day
07:16
downy routine continues.
Parents are outpacing the eating of the two remaining babies. Sometimes the parents have to wait for a chick to come to the door.
Cool and cloudy this morning. Last night the fledged older brother and sister experienced their first ever rain.
I can hear the babies eating, “smacking their lips” as they smack their bills on whatever bug mom or dad brought.
The little guys seem in no rush to leave. They are quite animated when feeding approaches, stretching way out, but then disappearing entirely. The damp weather may play a role in that.
11:28
Is it worth it? Will it really be such a thrill to see these last two chicks fledge? Oh, it will be a thrill. But there is no way to answer the first question. The time invested is ridiculous. It’s probably too cool and cloudy for them to fledge today.
Every sound sends them back inside. A clunk in the house...back in. A clunk of construction or yard work down the street….back in. How terrifying it must be, the prospect of entering this world! In that regard, fledging, with its preceding prolonged awareness and observation of the world, would be a more terrible experience than even birth.
14:35
Little sister
Mom entices little sister out, holding the food just out of reach.
The baby gets stuck! She got too far
out! The opening is a one way hole. Her wings are stuck! She
finally gets one wing out! After an eternity she gets the second wing
out! She holds on to the trunk with both feet, gets up next to the
door…...then flies! To the east, like her siblings! No fluttering down
like her big sister, but upward flight, gone in a flash. I race down the
stairs to try to see where she went, but like her two predecessors, she’s gone,
probably never to be seen again.
Next day
06:10
At window, listening for little rapid fire peeps
of the fourth and last downy. I think it’s gone
Copyright 2021 Don Ray. Feel free to print and share.
