Acorn Woodpeckers and Their Nest

 A pair of Acorn Woodpeckers have made a nest in the dead bloom stalk of the Agave Salmiana.  Today I watched two birds fly up to the stalk and go into the nest.

Acorn Woodpecker in an Agave Salmiana

Nuttall's Woodpeckers

A pair of Nuttall's Woodpeckers have been making a hole in the dead stalk of the giant Agave Salmiana. The male has a little bit of red on his head.

Nuttall's Woodpecker

Nuttall's Woodpecker

Nuttall's Woodpecker

Agave Salmiana

Nuttall's Woodpecker

Nuttall's Woodpecker

Nuttall's Woodpecker

Nuttall's Woodpecker

The Top of the Agave is Blooming!

The top of the Agave Salmiana is now blooming and the lower branches have seed pods.  The hummingbirds and bees are still busy in the blooms at the top.

Agave Salmiana

Agave Salmiana

Agave Salmiana

Agave Salmiana

Agave Salmiana

Agave Salmiana

The Agave is Withering

All of the energy in the base of the agave is going into the blooms. You can see the leaves are getting scorched and are withering.

Agave Salmiana

Agave Salmiana

Agave Salmiana

Agave Salmiana

Agave Salmiana

Agave Salmiana

I've enjoyed watching the agave bloom for the last several weeks. The stalk is blooming from the bottom up. The bottom branches are dropping seed pods, the middle branches have blooms starting to open and fully open while the blooms at the very top are still developing before they open. I've also been watching a lot of bees, hummingbirds, orioles, crows and other birds feed on the nectar and distribute the pollen.

Agave Salmiana

Nearly 40 feet tall!

The Agave Salmiana is nearly 40 feet tall.  Here are some pictures from different angles.

Agave Salmiana, 

Agave Salmiana, 

Agave Salmiana, 

Agave Salmiana, 

Agave Salmiana, 

Another interesting thing about this is that there are two smaller bloom stalks coming and her are some pictures on them.  The first one already has blooms on it.

Agave Salmiana, 

Agave Salmiana, 

The Agave Salmiana Continues to Grow!

The view out our kitchen door has changed over the past seven weeks.

A Hummer Visits the Agave!

Here are my first pictures of a Hummingbird on the Agave Salmiana blooms.

Agave Salmiana and Hummingbird

Agave Salmiana and Hummingbird

Agave Salmiana and Hummingbird

Agave Salmiana

Agave Salmiana

Here are six picture showing the progression of the agave blooming. The last one has a "party hat". Mike put a 16oz red cup on the top for scale!  The hummingbirds should start showing up soon.

Update on the Agave Salmiana

The bloom stalk on the Agave Salmiana continues to grow and now it's starting to send out horizontal branches for the blooms.  There is a smaller branch starting to come out on the other side.

Agave Salmiana.  

This is the view from the kitchen door.  That is a time lapse camera mounted on a pole.  It's taking 1 picture an hour from 6:00 AM to 8:00 PM.

Agave Salmiana, 

Here you can see the second branch starting to come out.

Agave Salmiana, 

Because of it's location its hard to measure the height, but I estimating that it's anywhere from 24 to 27 feet tall from the base to the top.

Agave Salmiana,