Happy Leap Day

The photo has absolutely nothing to do with leap year, leap day or any other kind of leaping...well, except maybe that I leaped to get my camera when I spotted him in the woods this morning.  He was calling - loudly - to his mate who was off in the woods; later I saw both of them fly through the yard and throug the woods.  Ah, yes, spring is in the air.  And while this image is pretty heavily cropped, it will suffice as today's photo.  For those of you who are unfamiliar, this is a Pileated Woodpecker, N. America's largest woodpecker, about the size of a raven.

A while later I saw a most curious thing.  A pair of crows was up high in the trees chatting to each other when suddenly a small accipiter (probably a sharp-shinned hawk based on the size) dive-bombed one of the crows.  The other crow took off after the hawk who landed nearby.  Crow retreated to a perch; hawk again attacked it.  At that point, I guess the crow ran out of patience and set up quite a fuss, soon attracting several other crows who chased the little hawk into the woods.  I've never seen one of these small hawks go after a crow (the crow being twice its size) so I wonder if it was territorial, or just terribly hungry.  In either case, the feeder birds made themselves scarce while the brouhaha was going on.  

A springlike day, although quite windy.  Took a nice brisk walk, did some spring cleanup in the garden; and admired the three little miniature iris that are blooming - this is about 3 weeks earlier than they've EVER bloomed!  Crazy. I even saw a couple of bees whiz through the garden, although I wasn't quick enough to get them on camera.  Soon....

Thanks for the hearts and stars on my off-season Santa yesterday.  I have such an admiration for photographers who do urban shots and while I love the idea of it, I'm still a scaredy-cat about approaching someone to ask for a shot.  So, when I can get a stealth shot like that, it pleases me!  Again, thank you!

Happy Monday and Leap Year!