Rare sighting

Hi everyone. Happy Holidays! As many of you know I have a passion for wildlife photography. I was recently priviliged to have a chance to photograph the bird that currently sits at the top of my "birds I really want to photograph" list: The Pileated Woodpecker. This is the largest woodpecker in North America (unless the rumours of the long-thought extinct Ivory Billed Woodpecker sightings in Arkansas prove to be true) and makes rare appearances in dense forest areas. You can sometimes hear their tell-tell pounding echoing through the woods. This was a perfect setting. We had just had about a foot of snow fall in our area this previous weekend, and this served as a nice contrast to his flaming red crest. It was truly an early holiday treat. I want to say thanks to my friend Jimmy for calling me and telling me that he'd spotted this magnificent bird, and I also want to thank the Schiff family for allowing me to photograph on their property. Happy holidays!

Johnny