I am continually amazed with each and every encounter I have with nature. Even after more than twenty years of being in this business, I still find myself in awe of much of what I see in nature–especially at this time of year. I can find amazement and wonderment in the simplest things and also in the complexity of nature. I often look at some of the most common and simple aspects of nature and think about it, not for what I see on the surface but for what I don’t see.

Here is a good example. Last week while scouting some locations to photograph some birds I spotted something I hadn’t plan on finding. I love this part of the job. You know, finding something completely unexpected. It’s like a wonderful gift that you weren’t expecting to receive. This gift was a nest of a Red-bellied Woodpecker. I had just scanned the surface of a small pond with my binoculars when I turned and saw an adult Red-belled Woodpecker about 100 feet away fly directly through the woods and land at it’s nest cavity. Of course I was thrilled.

The nest was located about 25 feet off the ground in a broken off trunk of a Boxelder tree. I walked over to observe more. When I approached I could hear the young woodpecker’s high pitched cries for food from within the cavity. The parents were out gathering insects to feed the young and would return every 5 five minutes or so.

It didn’t take me long to put a plan into action. I headed back to the office where I store all of my extra equipment. I had something special in mind for this situation. I knew that due to the height of the cavity the images wouldn’t look very good. However, my fifteen foot tall deer stand and ladder would even the playing field. Within hours of discovering the nest I erected my stand about 30 feet away from the nest. When I climbed up to take a look at my new vantage point I knew I had a winning angle.

It didn’t take long before the parents showed up to feed their young. Right away I started to get some great images. As the morning wore on and the hours pasted, the parents slowed down the feedings. Now it would be up to a half hour between visits by the parents. For another photographer this extra time would be shear boredom. Not for me. I love this down time. It gives me a moment to look around and to think.

Sitting fifteen feet up in a tree gives you a completely different prospective on the woods. Suddenly I thought this is what it must look like to the birds that live at this level in the forest. I could feel the tree swaying in the breeze and I could see other birds fly by below me. Everything became crystal clear and I could see every little movement by the chipmunk on the forest floor, the eagle and osprey that were fighting over a fish as they flew over head. And it got me thinking about the things that seem so simple such as the cavity these birds were nesting in.

It may seem that a hole in a tree may not be very impressive but that is not how I see it. The woodpeckers created this hole. It didn’t just magically appear. This means an entire series of events had to take place for this to happen. Years before a strong wind or lightning bolt had broke off the large limb, leaving a three foot tall stump. After that it took several years for the stump to dry, the bark to fall off and become soft enough for the woodpeckers to take advantage of it.

Along came the Red-bellied Woodpeckers who searched for just the right location for their new home. With one mighty blow from their bill, a chip of wood fell to the forest floor and the woodpeckers started construction on their new home. And now for one of the most amazing things. With only the bird’s beak for a tool, the pair of woodpeckers started to hammer away at the dried wood. Very slowly, chip by chip, a small depression in the wood took form. Over the next couple of days, armed with only the will-power a pair of woodpeckers desiring a family could possess, a secure, dry and well protected home took shape.

As the cavity became deeper the parents would have to climb inside the cramped hole and hammer away at the wood interior. After several chips were broken free they would gather up all the wood chips in their beak and climb to the cavity entrance and spit them out to be carried away on the wind. After about a week of constantly banging their faces against hard wood the woodpeckers would complete their home. Only now could the egg laying take place.

Suddenly one of the parents returns to the nest cavity to feed the young, snapping me out of my thoughts and I fire off my camera capturing some of the most amazing aspects of nature. Until next time…