If you know the calls of the Pileated Woodpecker you probably hear them all the time. Having spent many an hour hiking in secluded, heavily wooded and swampy areas, I've even seen a Pileated every now and then. They are very seclusive birds that are very good at not being seen and they seem to have an early warning system set up where they warn each other of intruders. In several years of wandering around taking pictures of stuff, especially wildlife, this is the first photograph I've taken of the Pileated Woodpecker.

As luck would have it this is a nesting pair and the square hole in the utility pole is their nest so I will have the opporuntity to observe and photograph these guys for a while. There is also a one of the Great Horned Owls hanging around in the area of which I could use a decent photo. The few I have suck.

the smaller of the pair which i assume is the female, looks to be a good 6 to 8 foot alligator. maybe almost nine foot. a good sized alligator that could definitely do some damge.

the larger alligator of the two alligators is in a whole nuther league. he's in the big leagues. that is one large gator that makes the female look like a pup. probably a thirteen footer or more.

here is a 100% crop of the eyeball reflection:



i think this is a snapper, but i am not sure. all i know is that twig in the turtle's mouth wasn't there at first. i put a twig up to it's mouth and sure enough the head come out and snapped the twig like, well, like a twig. swift and sure enough to draw blood.

that's a roach of some sort i think. not enough legs for a spider.

i shot this off the bank of a pond in bleiblerville, tx. if i ever get really serious about photography i'll get a nice tripod and pack it around for these kinds of shots.

these guys are definitely wearing a smile.