Baubles

Seed balls hang off the sweet gum trees like Christmas decorations.

 

Sweet gum

The rest of the trees are bare or brown, but the sweet gum saplings are holding onto their color.

 

Alien form?

This little guy was sitting by himself on a wooden bridge.  It looks like an alien spaceship, but it's only a sweetgum seed pod.

 

Sweet fall

Without a hard freeze here, the trees take their time changing.  The sweetgums are one of the first to change, and one of the most colorful.

Mr. Woodpecker finishes up

Mr. Woodpecker has been very busy.  He's hollowed out the sweetgum enough that he fits in the hole.  Now he goes in, digs, and then comes out and spits out wood shavings.

He's acquired a female friend, and sometimes she helps.  But mostly she just watches and inspects his work.

Mr. Woodpecker is busy

I appears we're going to have a red bellied woodpecker family.  

Mr. Woodpecker has been busy making a hole in our sweetgum tree.

His wife must be close, he's calling to her constantly.

Sweet gum

Sweet gum seeds are pretty ornate.  I think they look like Christmas tree ornaments.  They say that they are hard enough to pierce a car tire.  I don't think so, but I know that they hurt when you step on them barefoot.