In the Forestry of Smilde, northern Drenthe, nests of Wrynecks were closely watched in 2014-22 (1/year, except 2019 when 2), for 83 to 3615 min per nest at chick ages of 0-24 days old (i.e. hatching till fledging). Total duration of the observations amounted to 232 h. Several nests were visited by three Wrynecks simultaneously. Visits were typically targeted at active nests with chicks. Food provisioning rates varied between 5.8-14.7x per hour, on average 11.0/h (2548 feeding visits during 13,849 observation minutes at 9 nests in 2015-2022; nest 2014 is excluded as only observed on fledging day). The high feeding rate, in combination with nests being situated in solitary trees on open clear-fellings, made for high exposure of active nests. This was exacerbated by begging calls of nestlings, which increased in volume and frequency with increasing age. Begging was frequently heard at intervals from an average age of 14 days old (range of 12-16 days, n=6; by an observer at least 50 m away from the nest). Nestlings started calling from the nest entrance from day 16 onwards. The frequency of visits by ‘strange’ Wrynecks and Great Spotted Woodpeckers Dendrocopos major increased with advancing chick age of Wrynecks, particularly after 14 days of age when begging became audible beyond the nest entrance. A total of 10 visits of ‘third’ Wrynecks were recorded during the nestling stage, two birds showing interest in the content of the nest (looking in). The parents’ reaction differed from aggression and chasing (2x, including alarm calling, to ignoring (even when a third Wryneck crowded at the nest entrance with both food-carrying adults). Feeding chicks by a third bird was not observed. Woodpeckers visited Wryneck nests frequently (26x, based on 232 h of observation, evenly distributed across the entire nestling stage), among which 4x an adult female and 12x a juvenile. The only case of possible predation was a female that entered a Wryneck nest with chicks (10 days old, both parents away from nest on foraging trip), and stayed in the nest for 45 min. In the 40 min after its departure no activity was recorded at the nest, neither from chicks nor parents, nor in the following days. All other visits referred to woodpeckers either exploring the nesting tree (several of which contained up to 5 old woodpecker cavities) or homing in on the nest entrance to look inside (sometimes followed by a fright reaction) without entering. The frequency of third bird visits to active nests of Wrynecks was low during the first two weeks of the nestling stage, but steadily increased thereafter till fledging. This increase coincided with begging of Wryneck nestlings becoming audible and increasing in volume and frequency. The persistent begging call seemed to act as a homing beacon, a lodestone for other Wrynecks (once probably including older fledglings from a nearby nest) and woodpeckers. It is surmised that searching for suitable cavities for roosting (woodpeckers, rather than predation) and/or prospecting (Wrynecks: for cavities and for checking on breeding success of neighbouring pairs) may have been the overriding stimulus for nest visits by ‘strangers’. However, no data are available to test these assumptions