1980 Walter D. Koenig Melanerpes formicivorus Hastings Reservation 1500 29 April 1900. Finally found a bird in a hole across the road here this evening which is no doubt 1500's nest. I flushed the bird out and heard nothing, but it was pretty late to expect to hear anything even if they do have babies already. 30 April 845. Using the 16' step ladder plus ½ of the extension ladder I went up and opened the hole here, finding 6 pretty fresh eggs. 2 May Nancy reports some very strange goings on here—the nest appears to have been taken over by an Ash Throated Flycatcher! See her notes for more details. She has seen no incubation here, but she did see the 3 come her and make a series of trips removing sandust from the hole—apparently deepening it! 9 May 1230. Bird in the hole again—maybe they're going to redo it here. 1500. Yes indeed—looked in with the peeper to find 2 fresh eggs! 13 May 1500. Checked the hole again (Nancy says they've been incubating for the last several days) and they now have 6 eggs! (That means the last one was laid this morning! (!) (?). 19 May 1330. Checked the hole: still 6 eggs. 29 May 1615. Checked the babies, of whom there are 3 (they were a little older than I'd expected). No sign of what became of the other 3. 3 June 1400. After Nancy reported no feedings or activity, here I went up to check, finding all 3 babies dead in the hole. They had no feathers yet, but their eyes had been open. I weighed them and removed them from the hole. 1530. Counted stores: Main tree: 557 ? 611 Tree 2: 54