Patty has a theory. In the hotter part of the year the animals (bears in particular) won't be moving around as much out in the Sun where folks can see them. They might come out early and again late but for the most part will stay in the cooler woods.

Hey, makes sense to me.

That's ONE shot Patty never got, a bear standing up.

She kept her 55-300 lens on it the camera all the time.

I had on my 80-200 lens, but it was just too far away.

Even a 300 mm wouldn't have been enough.

I did get some pics of a Pileated Woodpecker fairly close.

That's something that you just don't see very often any more.

At least not around here.

We've seen a lot of those woodpeckers at Mingo, but have only been able to get two descent pics in the 7 years we've been going there.

I see them occasionally here near the house, but it's rare.

Of course we've heard WAY more than we've seen. We call them Laughing Hyena birds.

Most of the woodpeckers we have here are a lot smaller and less colorful.