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I was clearing up downed trees at the camp on Sunday. Sadly one of these was the 30' maple snag the Flickers had been nesting in that I have mentioned in some previous posts. After I junked up the tree I stood the length containing the nest hole on end and ran the chainsaw down it to expose the cavity. Details below image, expanding arrows top right: https://www.flickr.com/photos/92981528@N08/14627777545/ These Flickers had two openings, the 3" one they made at the top and a smaller one (centre right) where a branch had been over a year ago. They only used the latter to poke their heads out, presumably as a look-out hole.Too small for a Flicker body. The strangest thing was that the packed, aged sawdust layer in the bottom (not new stuff from my saw) remained there despite the snag going from vertical to horizontal and then being moved about by me. Did the young clinging Flickers tamp it down hard as the tree fell? I removed this 6" layer and it was totally dry, no smell. The top 4" were normal sawdust colour but the bottom 2" were dark. You can see the ring where the dark sawdust layer ended and some of it in the bottom. Looks like it should be mouldy and wet to do that but it was not. Dry as a bone: https://www.flickr.com/photos/92981528@N08/14441121610/ I do not think these unfledged Flickers could have survived this fall. The last time I saw one was Tuesday before the storm and it was about the size of the parent but still sooty gray and fuzzy looking. There were no bodies around, nothing at all in the hole. There is a Flicker family around the property now being fed by parents but these are more adult looking fledglings that can fly. Could they develop this fast? Nancy
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