I have seen them dismantle nests and move them to other locations. Especially for 2nd broods. I was at a location near East Liberty where I had photographs of a female on the nest. They had put it really close to a platform. I imagine that when they picked the nest sight, there wasn't as much people traffic. I came back a few weeks later, and they were busy dismantling the nest and relocating it to a sight far away from the platform. So it's not unusual for them to change a nesting site. No as far as a Woodpecker having issues with finding a mate...you got me there. :-D Happy Birding and God bless, Steve J. On May 8, 2015 4:26 PM, "Pam Unger" < [log in to unmask]> wrote: > This Spring in the Moses Wright Nature Area (a mini-preserve on the > side of Dublin-Granville Rd. in Old Wrothington) I've witnessed 2 separate > events that I've seen in the past but convinced myself my eyes were > deceiving me. Now I'm sure. ONE: The Tale of the Mysterious > Disappearance. I'd been watching a pair of blue gray gnatcatchers building > their beautiful little nest--sort of like a giant hummingbird nest--high in > a big old tree that hadn't yet leafed out. They appeared to be putting the > finishing touches on it. Last time I went, expecting to see the female > brooding on this masterpiece . . . it was GONE. Now, I know that male > house wrens construct a number of make-shift nests to display to their > wives, and I know that the wives reject these poor efforts but condescend > to take one apart and rebuild it satisfactorily. But the gnatcatcher nest > was a joint effort and appeared perfect. They didn't just abandon it--they > totally disassembled it. What's up with that? > TWO: A Tale of Forbidden Love. I witnessed an apparently consensual > mating between a flicker (presumably female) and a male red-bellied > woodpecker. Honest! Same thing happened in Greenlawn Cemetery a couple of > years ago, but I never told anyone because I didn't believe it myself! > Any explanations would be welcome. > > > > > There are a thousand ways to kneel and kiss the earth. --Rumi > > ______________________________________________________________________ > > Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. > Please consider joining our Society, at > www.ohiobirds.org/site/membership.php. > Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. > > > You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: > listserv.miamioh.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS > Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask] > ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Please consider joining our Society, at www.ohiobirds.org/site/membership.php. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: listserv.miamioh.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]