Wow. I saw this Red-bellied woodpecker flying out of a tree with this fruit in its mouth, and when it landed here I didn't think I could get the shot in the evening sun. I'm delighted (and a bit stunned) with how it turned out.

With a hasty gulp, he swallowed the fruit and flew off.

Here he is flying toward me with the fruit seconds before he landed on top of the dead palm tree.

These woodpeckers fly quickly, and they're small. They don't sit around sunning themselves as though they're posing so you can photograph them like many of the wading birds do at the wetlands. Fortunately, they visit my yard too:

They like peanuts enough to take them right out of my hand sometimes.

This little baby woodpecker peeking out of the hole in a dead tree had photographers up early in the morning to claim their few square feet of territory on the boardwalk:

When you're outside, and you see the cameras lined up like that, pause and see what they're waiting for; it's frequently worth the glance. Oddly enough, within sight of this crowd, a tiny Red-winged Blackbird was busy feeding her babies too. I wonder why I was the only one pausing for an hour at her nest? Every time the parent woodpeckers flew in to feed the chicks the cameras went click click click. There weren't as many clicks trying to catch the departing bird, and again, I'm not sure why.

This is papa woodpecker. The mother does not have those bright red feathers on the top of her head like dad does; they only cover the back of her neck. See the goo in his beak? He's just cleaned the nest and is flying off to dispose of the baby poo elsewhere.

Here's mom. She's brought a yummy caterpillar for her chick to eat:

Isn't that sweet? Gulp - down goes the buggie! Yum.

Well, here's one more bird playing peek-a-boo through some dead palm fronds. I'll add a few more when these Red-bellied Woodpeckers pose for me again. In the meantime, have a look at some of the other birds I've found.