A few doors down from my house is/was a red-bellied woodpecker nest in a dead palm tree. I've been watching and photographing the site for about two months, since I discovered it. About three weeks ago is the first time I noticed the chicks' heads poking out of the hole. I saw at least two chicks. Both parents were doing the food relay thing to keep them well fed. The chicks' coverings were a charcoal gray when I saw them. Well, two weeks ago, on a Friday night, we had a severe thunder and lightning storm... heavy rains, wind, the works. Since that night I haven't seen or heard from the parents, no little chicks peering out of the nest... nothing. The site seems completely abandoned. Either rain got into the nest and drowned the chicks, or the violent lightning and thunder spooked the parents away, or the chicks fledged and the whole family has moved. I'm no ornithologist, but I really don't think the chicks could have fledged so quickly. Could they? I don't dare approach the nest and try to get a look inside. It's not my property anyway.
I would go and ask the neighbor for permission to look into the nest.. A quick look won't hurt anything and at least you would know what happened.. I doubt the chicks drowned. I would be more apt to believe that either a snake got into the nest or one of your avatars got them..
A couple months is a really long time to watch a bird nest...so it is possible that the birds fledged. I just looked up the specifics for Red-bellied Woodpeckers.
Length of Incubation: 12-14 days Days to Fledge: 24-27