[Mnbird] Red-bellied Woodpecker Nesting, Dakota Co

[Miller Johnson]

Evidently 5 broods are the charm! I've been watching a Red-bellied Woodpecker nest, which is the fifth nesting I've seen in the the last three years. 

I finally got to see one of the nestlings fledge! It was not a thing of beauty, but it was awesome. It dropped like a rock, and then got some lift as it flapped out of the tree area. It flew (sort of) south along a tree line, trying to steer into the trees but it was rebuffed by the wind. It flapped some more and flew into a branch of leaves and just caught onto the branch end. After pausing (to regroup?), it flew/hopped to the tree trunk. Once on the trunk, it just starting hitching itself up and around, just like it'd been doing it for years. It went up a dead branch, got to the top and quick-flew back to the main trunk. It continued on its upward ascent until I lost it in the leaves.

Meanwhile, the parents continued to feed the other nestling(s). I didn't see them go to the fledgling, but they had just fed it before it "flew" off. The nestling has a more pronounced gape mark than the fledgling had, so I think it won't go for a day or three.

I love watching nestlings take flight!

Molly Miller
Inver Grove Hts,
Dakota Co