Many of the oak trees in our backyard have holes in them which become temporary or permanent homes to various wildlife. Right now the holes are occupied by squirrels, honey bees and of course woodpeckers. And yes, I did say honey bees. The honey bee hive is 30 feet up in one of the oak trees and I have no intentions of sampling the honey. I’m not allergic to bee stings, I just think it’s better to leave the bees alone.
The photo above is of a pair of Red-bellied Woodpeckers that took up temporary residence in another tree in the yard. The sun was low in the sky with the light being filtered by other trees. During this time of the evening the birds are busy filling their bellies and feeding their young for the evening. On this particular evening I was fortunate enough to capture an exchange of an evening snack of wolf spider being passed between the male and female woodpeckers which were taking care of young. Over the next few days I saw the male and female exchange more spiders and grasshoppers.