Endangered Woodpecker

.
Saturday morning I drove up to W G Jones State Forest to look for the endangered Red-cockaded Woodpecker.

It didn't take long to find a nest hole. The woodpeckers tap sap so that it covers the bark below the nest and keeps snakes away.

Over the next 20 minutes I watched as first one parent and then the other returned with food.

Most times the parent would perch at the nest for only a few seconds and then fly off. Occasionally, though, one of them would climb down into the cavity before re-emerging and flying away.

At one point, both parents spent some quality time together exploring a nearby loblolly pine. 

I saw few other birds except a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers, three Red-headed Woodpeckers, a couple of Eastern Bluebirds and a handful of Blue Jays. However, the native garden near the offices had several species of butterflies, including Palmares Swallowtails.

.