Photo credit: Marc Holtsberg, male Pileated feeds a female, likely a juvenile;
May 15, 2021
There are almost two handfuls of photographers capturing and sharing wildlife wonderment moments while walking in Wildewood Springs I and II and Springlakes*.
One of the nicest treats is opening my inbox to see what others are discovering and willing to share with other neighbors.
From Marc Holtsberg's lens - Pileated Woodpeckers.
While walking in the WWS neighborhood, Marc noticed four Pileateds. They were likely adults and fledges flitting and feeding.
(Marc saw these Pileateds in a different nesting area from last year's nest - last year -one post; another; both 4/2020).
Marc also photographs adults and chicks in the Cooper's Hawk nest on Wildewood Drive. Here is a recent photo of an adult Cooper.
Jeanne shared this observation of activity around one of the YCNH nests. With the pair of Barred Owls around, it seems that there is an active negotiation of territory.
Something new tonight. There are now clearly hatchlings in both nests 1&2, which are only about 10 feet apart...Tonight all four parents stuck around after feeding time. Of course, we personify everything, so we decided that they were standing guard after the attention from the owls. But then a heron that is not fully an adult flew in and stayed nearby, too. The adults did nothing to drive it away as they would if it had been a full-grown adult. Then when one of the adults started collecting twigs to add to nest 1, the younger bird followed wherever it went. This went on for more than an hour and the young one was still there when we left. Our hypothesis was that it was one of the young from that tree last year..."
This is a photograph I took early one morning this week of one of the Yellow Crowned Night Herons sitting on the nest.
And a Peninsula Cooter Turtle.
Earl Bodman (Sherwood) holding his sweet cat - they were on the way to the vet. When he introduced himself, I recognized his name from his photographs on the WWS I website.
Earl's photo of a juvenile Bald Eagle from the WWS I website.
Steve Rymph (Woodlawn) observes the bee box and Wood Duck boxes. He's also created a Butterfly garden near his place. An update in March was:
After clearing out the schefflera I could actually see a [Wood Duck] hen entering the second box...The hens used that nesting box as a "dump" for eggs they did not incubate last year, 15 eggs total. I cleaned the box and added new nesting material over a month ago so I dearly hope someone will settle in. My understanding is the hens will not incubate until they have laid a full clutch of eggs over several days. That way the eggs all hatch at the same time.
Faith Buell sent updates on a Muscovy Duck nest in Springlakes. Can't place the Muscovy Duck? This is what it looks like.
* Wildewood Springs is divided into two sections. Wildewood I and II, and includes a third section called Springlakes. There are 14 villages total. Wildewood I includes 558 condo units in Pinehurst, Sherwood, Springdale, Palm Tree, Lakeside, Woodlawn, Oakview, and Oak. These villages are part of the WWS Condo Association.
Wildewood II consists of Tidewater, Timberlake, Lakewood, Wild Palm, and Pineneedle. These villages as well as Springlakes have their own HOAs.
