As I walked in the misty rain, I was transfixed by the beauty reflected all around me. It was hard to walk far without finding something to take a picture of - like these drops of rain reflecting the yellow irises around them!
Suddenly I heard a sound ... very agitated birds ... seeming to come from a tree in the distance.
I immediately left the nice dry path, and soon was soaked to my knees.
The lighting was terrible ... but I could make out the silhouettes of two birds in the partially dead tree. They were angry with me for being there, and flitted around in the branches over my head.
But that wasn't the sound I heard.
I looked closer ... and I saw where the cheeps were coming from ...
This hole - far up in the dead part of the tree!
I stood as still as I could.
And caught this female Downy Woodpecker feeding her young!
The male wouldn't approach the nest until I had moved a safe distance away. I included this blurry picture of him because this is how I identified this beautiful woodpecker family!