Sometimes I like to go out and look for new places where there may be wildlife, birds, cool insects, or beautiful flowers. On one of those forays, I found a nice little wetland area not far from my home. The first thing that clued me in was a small group of sandhill cranes that were feeding alongside the road. When I stopped to watch them I realized that the brush lining the road hid a pretty little bog from sight. Once the cranes had wandered on I got out and explored the area on foot. Behind the shrubs there were several small wading birds that flew off before I could identify them, and that’s where I found a really late blooming Mexican primrose flower. A little further on I spotted this pretty little red headed woodpecker (Melanerpes etythrocephalus) flitting around from branch to branch on the remains of an old oak tree. It was really using all of its skills while trying to capture insects for lunch. Sometimes it hung upside down and seconds later it would be walking up the tree trunk using just its tail to balance. While I was trying to get a few shots of it performing these acrobatics, I captured this one of it jumping from a limb to the tree trunk. Right after this it took off into the woods, but needless to say, I will be going back to this little swamp again. Maybe I’ll see this little red head then.