Pileated Woodpecker Nest

In the last half of this winter, the hammering by pileated woodpeckers (Dryocopus pileatus) on a dead sweetgum could be heard every day. I didn’t think much of it since they pecked a bunch of holes in that same snag last winter, but this time it seemed more purposeful. Yep, the pair was excavating a nesting cavity about 40 feet up in the tree, about 40 feet from my front door. Here is a shot from my point-and-shoot camera, a little fuzzy but still good enough to identify two nestlings breathing hard through gaping beaks on a warm spring day: