The morning sun is rising over the Broward. As I sit on the dock the shadows of night slowly roll back revealing the morning marsh bathed in golden light, I hear a loud familiar call. It is our local Pileated Woodpecker. I say a silent prayer wishing to see a nesting pair nearby. The last time I photographed such a sight had been several years and a hundred miles to the south.

Across the street from my house was a half dead Sycamore tree with some old woodpecker nest holes. I went over there to speak to my neighbor that lives there as he was doing some repair work for me. I noticed a male Pileated Woodpecker above us in that tree reworking the opening of that old abandoned nest. This was a perfectly round opening hole so it was not done originally by a Pileated Woodpecker, they leave oblong shaped openings. This bird was doing a remodeling job, a” Fix it Upper” similar to the “Fixer Upper” HGTV show about Chip and Joanna Gains fixing up old houses in Texas. I kept an eye on the site and discovered the male furiously chipping away, renovating the hole and later saw the female come inspect the job. I named them Chipper P Pecker and mate JoJo. It wasn’t long before they moved in and started a family.

There were days I wondered if they were still there. Sometimes Pileated Woodpeckers will choose several nest sites before settling in on the one they want. My apprehension was short lived as I began to see daily activity and began to document it on my Facebook page. They incubate the eggs about 15-18 days so I expected an early to mid- May delivery date. I watched and waited as they relieved each other every few hours to sit on the eggs. On 11 May I noticed JoJo taking out some doo-doo. The eggs had hatched. What a wonderful Mothers Day surprise!

My prayers were answered indeed. Wonder if I will get a TV contract now..Hope all you Mom's enjoy this beautiful family, more to follow. Blessings