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A green chiton attached to a half crab. We observed this alien looking commensal beast while undertaking an intertidal survey on the reefs off Hawera. It made us jump when we first turned over the rock.

This will be a collection of 20 images of male and female Williamson's Sapsuckers I took on this occasion. There were 3 or 4 individuals present, 2 or 3 males and 1 or 2 females.

upupamartin and I have a close friend and colleague who lives in upper Madera Canyon in the Davis Mountains of west Texas at about 6300 ft elevation. He is a biologist and exceptional birder and naturalist as well as a bird bander with 40+ years experience. We spent about 24 hours on this property. There is a magnificent Texas Madrone which is about 25-30 feet tall which is loaded with berries this year. There are 4 or 5 Williamson’s Sapsuckers, 10+ Red-naped Sapsuckers and other woodpecker species which have discovered this food bonanza, so upupamartin and I had a great time taking photos of birds. It has been 20+ years since I had seen Williamson’s Sapsucker in Texas, so that made this wonderful experience really special. This entire area is private and not open to the public.

Texas Leafcutter Ant
Atta texana
Hornsby Bend,
Austin, Travis Co., Texas
15 February 2013

This was a colorful scene. A colony of Texas Leafcutter Ants was working over a blooming Texas Redbud tree and carrying the colorful blooms down the trunk and into their colony in the ground. This is a fungus-farming species found in Texas, Louisiana and parts of northern Mexico.

two shots posted, the entrance to the burrow and another shot of ants carrying the blooms down the trunk of the redbud tree.