Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Picoides tridactylus

A photo from my archives of this male American Three-toed Woodpecker that I took at Bebo Grove, Fish Creek Park, on 12 March 2011. These are rare birds here, so I feel very lucky to have seen this one and any others. On 1 January 2013, a group of us saw a rare Black-backed Woodpecker in the very same area. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Three-toed_Woodpecker www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Three-toed_Woodpecke...

Happened to come across this photo that I never posted, taken on 12 March 2011.

I just HAD to go back for a third time to Brown-Lowery Park today, to see if I could find any new species of fungus : ). I know that soon everywhere will be covered in a layer of snow : (. In addition to a few more photogenic mushrooms, I was lucky enough to come across this male (yellow on forehead) Three-toed Woodpecker, too. Amazingly, it had flown to a tree right by the trail where I was walking, but definitely not at eye-level, suggested by this image, LOL! The light was grim, so almost all my photos will have to be deleted. Did manage to rescue about four of them, though. These birds are uncommon year-round; irruptive.

I'm uploading another photo of a Three-toed Woodpecker, as these are seen so rarely, and I usually can't get even half-decent photos when I do actually see one. Saw this one at Brown-Lowery Provincial Park. These birds look so similar to the Black-backed Woodpecker, but the latter does not have the white "ladder" markings down its back. I love the little splash of deep yellow on the male's forehead. Not the best quality, as image was taken in dense forest, so low light.

I was lucky enough to be treated to a great day out today, cruising the rolling hills south of Calgary, to see what birds we could find. I say we, but I should correct that to "my friend", as he is the excellent birder and I am just a little beyond the level of "it was a large/small bird"! He found a Golden Eagle, Bald Eagles, several Rough-legged Hawks, Sharp-tailed Grouse (a flock of about 25 that landed in a field), perhaps around 50 Wild Turkeys (the only ones I had seen were at the Zoo!), a Hairy Woodpecker, and a couple of Three-toed Woodpeckers which were a first for me. These photos are really for my own record, not fine examples of good photography:)

I was lucky enough to be treated to a great day out today, cruising the rolling hills south of Calgary, to see what birds we could find. I say we, but I should correct that to "my friend", as he is the excellent birder and I am just a little beyond the level of "it was a large/small bird"! He found a Golden Eagle, Bald Eagles, several Rough-legged Hawks, Sharp-tailed Grouse (a flock of about 25 that landed in a field), perhaps around 50 Wild Turkeys (the only ones I had seen were at the Zoo!), a Hairy Woodpecker, and a couple of Three-toed Woodpeckers which were a first for me. The latter were deep in the forest of Brown-Lowery Park and my camera does not handle low light - hence the flash in its eye and a dark photo. My very first ones, though, so I'm still happy.