SNOWY EGRETS, EAGLE LAKES C0MMUNITY PARK, NAPLES, FLORIDA, 4/5/2025

 

WHITE IBIS, EAGLE LAKES C0MMUNITY PARK, NAPLES, FLORIDA, 4/5/2025

 

OSPREY CHICK IN NEST & OSPREY TAKING OFF IN FLIGHT, EAGLE LAKES C0MMUNITY PARK, NAPLES, FLORIDA, 4/5/2025

 

ABANDONED PILEATED WOODPECKER NEST TAKEN OVER BY BEES, NAPLES BOTANICAL GARDEN, NAPLES, FLORIDA, 2020 - 2022

   Recently I read an article in the Spring 2025 issue of Cornell Lab of Ornithology's LivingBird magazine on research that shows that woodpeckers are the homebuilders of the forest.  Woodpeckers excavate nest holes that are subsequently used by numerous other species of birds, mammals, reptiles and insects.  

   Here is an example of a Pileated Woodpecker nest in a snag at Naples Botanical Garden being used by bees after it was abandoned by the Pileated Woodpeckers.  The first photo shows a Pileated Woodpecker looking out of this nest on 12/26/2020.  The second photos was taken of the same nest on 11/29/2022 and shows the bees have taken over the nest.

 

GREATER YELLOWLEGS, NAPLES BOTANICAL GARDEN, NAPLES, FLORIDA, 4/4/2025

 

TRICOLORED HERON, NAPLES BOTANICAL GARDEN, NAPLES, FLORIDA, 4/4/2025

 

LESSER YELLOWLEGS, NAPLES BOTANICAL GARDEN, NAPLES, FLORIDA, 4/4/2025