When I went out to the pond this morning I found this little guy in the shallow end. I quickly scooped him up and brought him inside to clean him up and dry him off. He was shivering violently and looked pretty beat up so I called Wasatch Exotic Animal Hospital to ask for advice. I explained that I had found what I thought was an injured baby Woodpecker. Amy was very helpful and said to bring him in as Woodpeckers are a protected species.
I put the little Woodpecker on a heating pad in my bathroom while I got dressed to take him to the vet. When I came back he had dried off and fluffed out him feathers. He looked much perkier so I called Amy back to see if she thought I would be alright to simply put him back outside. She said if I didn't see the parents after a while, and he didn't take off I might still want to bring him him.
When he hopped up my bathroom towel, in true Woodpecker fashion, and flew over to my curtain I figured he would be just fine.
I placed him on a crab-apple tree in our yard and it was then that I saw his very handsome dad. He was black with white spots and a beautiful red crest. I wish I could have gotten a picture.
The last place I saw him was high up in one of our scrub oak trees.
