Jim, your bird is a Gila Woodpecker. They usually eluded me by flying away, exactly when I tried to take a photo. Neat birds, though.

At a fish hatchery in the Portland area -- A white sturgeon and a "panorama" stitched together from multiple images of Herman the Sturgeon who is approximately 10’ long, 425 pounds and over 60 years old.

This is our "trace to 1/2 inch of snow" that was forecast for overnight .

Yesterday morning I heard a noise from outside like someone periodically spraying something with a hose. When I finally looked out the bedroom window, I saw a hot air balloon -- right there. By the time I found the camera it had descended behind the trees behind our barn. I walked over and by the time I got there they were already deflating it. Apparently they landed in my neighbor's back field, our neighbor and her sister came out to watch, and the balloon company offered to tether the balloon and take my neighbor and her sister go up a short way before bringing the ballon back down to deflate it. After it was put away, the balloon company offered the traditional bottle of champagne, and my neighbors invited everyone (the pilot, the chase guy, the balloon guests, and me) in to their newly refinished kitchen, for mimosas and fruit and toasted raisin bread. It was a great way to start off a Sunday morning.