Nuttall's Woodpeckers, Father and Son, Horse Park Trail, Del Mar, California

It has been a couple of weeks since I walked the Horse Park trail, but I went yesterday. I took a quick look at the dead tree where the woodpeckers had nested, but I expected the chicks to be long gone. On my way back about 20 minutes later, I was surprised to see a head poking out of the nest hole. The glimpse of red on top made me think it was Dad. Mom showed up with an insect in her beak and then Dad showed up on the tree below Mom. That's when I realized that the head sticking out of the hole, the head with adult face markings, was a chick! I took hundreds of photos, but there was always a red spot on the chick's head, so either there is only one chick or all the chicks are male. Made my day. I don't think I've ever seen a woodpecker chick before. :-)