Downy Woodpecker And Pine Siskin
From what my book says, this is classic Pine Siskin behaviour - trying to convince a larger bird to leave the food source so it can have it all to itself. This shot also shows prime Pine Siskin features - forked tail and yellow bar on the wing.
Downy Woodpecker On Feeder
Seeing as peanuts normally grow underground (and aren't really a nut) I really doubt a Woodpecker would normally feed on them.
Garter Snake In The Leaf Litter
A real snake in the wild - I believe this is the one stripe morph of a Pacific Garter Snake. When I took my foot off the board walk, this snake turned around an headed back to the cover of bushes.
Claira With Tarantula
I think this particular Tarantula species is from Mexico. It would normally live on a riverbank and have a nice house where it hide for days when it shed it's skin and hardened the new one.
Garter Snake Mouth Open
The tongue flicking is that the snake can grab particles and move them to sense organs in the mouth. Sometimes it just opens it's mouth to achieve the same effect. This snake was more than a meter away and completely harmless to me, but it still seems threatening.
Puffed Up Male Downy Woodpecker
I do like woodpeckers - the flash of red on a black and white body is quite striking. I was hoping for a more natural setting, but it didn't happen.
