patient posts

I stopped by to meet Lou for lunch in Barra de Navidad the other day.


We had a great conversation over lunch.  When I was about to drop him off, I told him I was going birding and asked if he wanted to come along.  He was game.


Lou and Wynn had shared one of their private birding spots with me earlier in the year.  We headed out that way. 


As we were driving down a rural dirt track, Lou said: "Slow down.  Stop.  Look at the fence post."


They looked like the usual tree branch posts I see on every rural road around here.

Then I saw it.  A hole at the top of the post. 


And then a head.


It was a woodpecker nest.  The bird had discovered a way to put the recently deceased to good use.  By drilling a perfectly round hole.


I love woodpeckers.  Every time I see one, I can sit and watch its antics as long as I can keep it in sight.


And I suspect I know who is responsible -- Walter Lantz.  The Woody Woodpecker shorts at the movies and the subsequent television show taught us to love that rascally red-head (and not the one married to Desi Arnaz).  Dennis the Menace with a dye job.


Whenever I hear woodpeckers in trees (and we have quite a few around here), I almost expect to hear that trademark ha-ha-ha ha-ha.

In this case, the woodpecker returned to feed its young.  And I got a good view.  Enough to identify it as a ladderback.


I stopped by yesterday to see how the family had grown.  The nest was completely empty.  I hope the young fledged.


But I learned another valuable lesson about Mexico.  I had driven past those posts several times and completely missed the nest.  But with a little patience, and help from a good friend, I witnessed one of Mexico's little side shows.