Fox and woodpeckers caught the camera's lens

Mike Inman sent this delightful photo of two baby pileated woodpeckers at Norfolk Botanical Garden. They were poking their heads out of their tree hole home in hopes of getting a bite to eat from mom or dad. Pileated woodpeckers are one of our largest woodpeckers - 17 inches long - and sport a bright red crested head.

Jewel Berg took this photo of a handsome gray fox in her Trant Berkshire yard. Gray foxes could be mistaken for red foxes because they both have reddish flanks and a reddish ruff around the neck. But gray foxes have a black tipped tail and red foxes have a white tipped tail.

See more Close Encounters in Mary Reid Barrow's Coastal Journal column in Sunday's Beacon, and on her blog at hamptonroads.com/maryreidbarrow.

Want to submit? Have you come across a surprise or puzzle in nature? Do you have a tidbit of local lore?A neat photograph?E-mail Mary Reid Barrow at barrow1@cox.net.