Lakewood Ranch resident pecks for support

Summerfield Glades resident John Kravontka bought a digital camera a year ago, but since January, he’s had his lens focused on a special topic — a pair of pileated woodpeckers nesting in a dead tree behind his home.

When he saw the birds’ nest was in danger April 12, he snapped into action.

Crews from Affordable Palm Services, now doing business as ARBORx Tree Services, arrived to remove six dead, hollow trees along the nature path behind his home, and the woodpecker’s tree was among them.

Kravontka had noticed the trees were marked, likely for removal, but he didn’t know when. Thankfully, he was home when

the trucks arrived.

“They were already climbing up ready to pull (the tree) down,” Kravontka said. “I stopped and told them what was there. They were very responsive. They couldn’t see it from where they were.”

ARBORx Tree Services ownerJerry Reiss had gotten the crews started on their work assignment and then left, but he returned after receiving the call from his employees about 20 minutes later. He met with Kravontka to learn about his concerns.

Kravontka took Reiss to his backyard and showed him his view.

“He and his wife had been watching these woodpeckers feed the young inside their homes,” Reiss said. “You could only see the habitats from his home.

“I had never seen one before,” he said. “They’re huge. They’re like the size of crows.”

Lakewood Ranch Community Development District 1 had hired Reiss’s company to perform the tree removal work, and Reiss reached out with the dilemma. Landscape Manager Robert Campbell said staff determined the tree was stable and could be monitored until the woodpeckers had finished raising their young.

Kravontka was relieved and Reiss said his crew enjoyed seeing the woodpeckers, who returned to the nest after they’d finished removing the other trees.

“The adult came back and squawked at them for a bit,” Reiss said. “They all got to see him.”

John Kravontka and his wife, Lynn, had been watching the woodpeckers since they arrived in January. The pair made a squared off hole in the tree for its nest and now was raising babies.

“It was a huge hole, so we noticed it. We started reading up on them,” Kravontka said. “They’re so big. It was amazing. We saw them going in the hole. We could hear they have little ones in there.”

Kravontka, who is now semi-retired from his consulting business, said he was happy the birds’ nest could be saved and appreciated the responsiveness of Reiss and Lakewood Ranch.