1989 Walter D. Koenig Melanerpes formicivorus School Hill HNHR 21 April 1745. Noone seen in any holes here. 22 April 1630. Still " " " " 24 April 1130. Bird in new hole off in the forest just N. of the field (see map on back). No sound of babies, but it's undoubtedly it! 27 April 1400. Opened the new hole: 5 eggs, incubated # opaque. Could hatch anytime. 30 April 1130. 2 babies have hatched - I much larger than the other. 3 unhatched eggs, 2 normal & undeveloped plus 1 runt egg (!) 18 May 1430. Opened the hole, only 2 find a big (3') gopher snake, with 2 big lumps in his funny (the babies were alive about a week ago when I walked by!). I threw the snake out and reached in only to pull out a second large gopher snake as big as the first! Bounds! Communal roosting in nest cavities by gopher snakes? In any case, When I finally got all the snakes out there was, unsurprisingly, no woodpeckers remaining. 1500. This is bizarre. Walking back from School Hill West I passed the large Blue Oak up in the forest by the path only to flush out a bird and hear small babies! So maybe the failure over at the other hole was longer ago than I thought! Well, Stanback reminded me that an additional group was here this winter (School Hill "C"?); This nest is almost certainly theirs, not School Hills. 4 June 1630. Looked for a nest; zip. There are acorns remaining here, however. 10 June 900.♀ D8/in #260 here; flying to 1st nest hole? Going to check.