John you reminded me of an incident on the east side of the San Pedro  
River
outside of Sierra Vista, AZ probably 10 years ago.   I noticed a  
vermillion flycatcher
being very agitated around a then red-shafted flicker.   As i watched  
I realized that the
flicker was methodically emptying (and gulping down) the flycatcher's  
nest of its
nestlings with my mouth agape in surprise.

As Thoreau remarked once, "Nature is not sentimental."

Leo Weigant





On May 24, 2008, at 7:23 AM, John Dennehy wrote:

> While at Villanova Park on Milford Mill in Baltimore Co. yesterday,  
> I witnessed
> what appeared to be a Red-bellied Woodpecker preying upon a Downy
> Woodpecker chick.  Although the drama occurred high in the forest  
> canopy, I
> had unobstructed views of the action.
>
> The female Downy was frantic, calling and twittering, flying from  
> branch to
> branch and harrassing the Red-bellied Woodpecker that continuously  
> poked its
> head into a nest hole.
>
> After a couple of noisy minutes, the Red-bellied Woodpecker plucked  
> what I
> assume was a Downy chick out of the nest cavity and flew off.  The  
> female
> Downy Woodpecker was left silent as she hopped around the nest hole  
> for a
> few seconds before she, too, flew off.
>
> They're so cute, aren't they?
>
> Other birds:
>
> Gray-cheeked Thrush - 1
> Chestnut-sided Warbler - 2
> Magnolia Warbler - 1
> Black-throated Blue Warbler (female) - 1
> Bay-breasted Warbler - 1
> Wilson's Warbler - 1
> Canada Warbler - 2
>
> John Dennehy
> Baltimore, MD
>