This large tree frog is way cool! He sometimes lives in the metal frame of the glass sliding patio door.  Notice how he wedges himself up at the top of the frame. He stay there all day and then after sun down comes out to eat insects and explore the zoo yard. I love having him around and marvel at how neat he is!  He is pretty timid but will allow me to watch him closely. He has a personal space threshold and when I cross it he jumps away so fast that I can't tell where he went. I've been amazed at how high and far they can jump.

 This close up of the tree frog shows the detail of the frog's colors.  He seems to have a mostly green coloring with a smattering of light reddish color.  You can tell by the leg joints that he actually has large hind legs.  Too bad he's all tucked in because you would really appreciate the size of this frog if you could see his whole body.  I will try to get a better  photograph of this tree frog. The problem is that he isn't out during the day and at night when he is, the pictures turn out blurry with little or no lighting. Oftentimes when I come out on the patio at night and the light comes on, I'll find him on the porch swing or the patio table or some other object.  I have very small tree frogs living under the ramp to the zoo house on the patio but they are so small that its hard to get a good photo of them. They are about the size of a dime. In contrast, this tree frog is as big as my hand!

This is a southern spring peeper tree frog. It is one of the world's smallest frogs! You can tell how small it is by its size compared to my fingers. I have a lot of them living on the patio. They like to go under the ramps to the house and the fountains where the area is moist and cool.

  I can't believe how lucky I was to see red bellied woodpeckers in my front yard!!  This picture is in my next door neighbor's yard because the three woodpeckers I was watching flew over over to the palm trees in their yard.  I have not seen woodpeckers for several years so I was completely surprised but thoroughly delighted that they came to visit. And boy were they busy!!

  This is a mature male red bellied woodpecker. I was slightly amused at their antics and in particular their testing of the various trees to see if they could work their well known magic on them. But to no avail, the trees were not dead and they didn't stay long after realizing the trees were not easily punctured with their beaks.

  Notice what an absolute beauty this woodpecker is! I love the red cap!  He is magnificently designed color wise.  He seems so regal, so classy with his red, black and white feathers arranged so nicely, don't you think? 

     This is an immature red bellied woodpecker in the  photograph to the right. His red cap feathers have not come in yet but you can see that there are faint red feathers just beginning to emerge. It won't be long before this young sprout is looking just as classy as his parents do!

     This raccoon showed up during the day on the utility pole. The dog was going crazy which alerted me to his presence. He spent a good deal of time confused at the top of the pole until I put the dog in the house and the poor animal finally climbed down the pole. This is the only raccoon I have seen here and was surprised to see it during the day.