1982 R.C. Munne 3 Melanerpes formicivorus Blom 2 May 24 Shows you what I know! I peep in the hole 0900, and find 2 eggs, certainly, laid yesterday and today. So even with an absence of acorns, Blom 2 is nesting away. How about that? May 25 Opened the hole, 0745: 3 eggs, so another one laid this morning. I number the eggs 1-3, but this of course, has no bearing on laying sequence. May 26 Peeped in, 1845. So one a day, starting on 23 May. Alan reports end of f-guarding and beginning of incubation 30 May Checked hole to measure eggs, 1145 3 eggs So once again, an egg mysteriously disappears during incubation. See nest record for measurements. The egg that disappeared was not the one laid 26 May. Anyway, this means that the clutch was certainly complete on 26 May (Alan reports that incubation did not really begin until then, meaning 7 July June would be a good day to expect hatching, and 28 June for banding 11 June Checked nest 1300: 3 fairly healthy nestlings, ~5 days old, meaning all 3 eggs hatched. How The well-being of the nestlings was somewhat surprising, given the absence of acorns here. The nestlings looked a tad thin, but not bad at all, really. 15 June Oops! At 1600 I find the nest here failed. Totally empty! No dead babies, nothing! Could have been predation I suppose, but the lack of acorns is certainly compelling.