One of the highlights of the expedition, both this year and last, were a pair of Red-naped sapsuckers nesting in a tree along Beaver Pond.  This year they were in the same tree as last year, but this hole appears fresh and I think it is a few feet lower than the one they used last year… more about that in a minute.  The birds made repeated trips to the nest hole, bringing in insects and taking out wood shavings.

Female Red-Naped Sapsucker

Male Red-Naped Sapsucker

There were several House wrens around the pond and it was difficult for me to tell whether, over the course of several hours, I was observing one, a pair or more than one pair.  There was often one singing… presumably a male.

One of the pair of House wrens appeared that they might have a nest in the hole used by the sapsuckers last year, but House wrens are notorious for building more than one nest and for dismantling the nesting materials of other birds, both of which behaviors I have observed in my yard this year.