Ivory-billed Woodpeckers in Florida???

In Volume 1, No. 3 issue of Avian Conservation and Ecology there's an article reporting that during a year of research, a search team has reported the sightings of Ivory-bill woodpeckers, yes woodpeckers, seen in the mature swamp forest in the panhandle of Florida along the Choctawhatchee River. They claim to not only have multiple audio recordings of double knocks and "kent" calls, but of also seeing, on 14 occasions, what they thought were actual ivory-billed woodpeckers. Interesting. As this story gets around many will begin asking, "where's the photographic evidence?" "Where's the video?" Even when a video is captured, as with the Luneau video, unless it is "perfect" it will be intensely scrutinized. So until perfectly clear pictures or video is captured, an active nest or the body of an ivory-bill is found it will still be up in the air as to whether or not it still exists. I for one hope it does......
To read this very interesting article go here.

Giant Yellow Jacket Nest

I've seen some large yellow jacket nests in my time, but nothing near what a man found inside a 1955 Chevy in Tallassee, Alabama. The owner of the car said when he first found it, it was about "the size of a spare tire", but when he returned about a month and a half later he found that it had literally consumed the whole inside of the car. Check it out here. This is is just one of many large nests that have been found in recent times. There was a six footer in a Georgia pond and a six foot by eight foot nest in an Alabama mobile home. Experts are trying to figure out why they are building such large nests when normally they get no bigger than a basketball. Some believe it may have something to do with warmer winters. Could it have something to do with........global warming?????

Juvenile Eastern Coachwhip

Though summer is at its end snakes are still on the move and probably stay active in these parts until late into the "cold" months since we really never have a very hard winter.
This juvenile eastern coachwhip was crossing the sandy road not far from the camp and it was a beauty. Note the striping under its chin and dotted pattern that runs down its length. These markings gradually dissapear as the snake matures.
At this age they feed mostly on insects and small lizards. Coachwhip eggs are laid in the summer and hatch in September putting the age of this one at about a month. Nice......