Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Family: Picidae

An overcast, dreary morning here today, 14 December 2015, Temperature is -5C (windchill -11C). There was s slight dusting of snow overnight. And Flickr is being a real pain this morning - too many problems. This photo shows a tree that has had bits of its bark removed, leaving the orange-coloured wood exposed. The Woodpecker wants to get to the larvae that are beneath the bark, once it has been removed. Some trees are almost completely orange, so much bark has been peeled away by a Woodpecker. In winter, when there is snow on the ground, you can see the pieces of bark lying around the base of the tree, on top of the snow, if a Woodpecker has been at work very recently. "The American Three-toed Woodpecker is found in boreal forests and montane coniferous forests across North America. Because of its choice of habitat, it is infrequently seen by most people." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Three-toed_Woodpecke... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_three-toed_woodpecker This bird, uncommon in Alberta, was seen on 28 November 2015, in Fish Creek Park, when I went on a morning walk with friends. We had seen Three-toed Woodpeckers in this particular forested area before, in other years, so we were hoping one might be around. When we stopped to look and listen, I heard a distant tapping and, when we walked in that direction, one of the other birders caught sight of this bird. It was moving through a tangle of branches, up and down the tree trunk. These birds just never keep still, so I had about 50 photos to delete and just a handful to keep.

This photo shows a tree that has had bits of its bark removed, leaving the orange-coloured wood exposed. The Woodpecker wants to get to the larvae that are beneath the bark, once it has been removed. Some trees are almost completely orange, so much bark has been peeled away by a Woodpecker. In winter, when there is snow on the ground, you can see the pieces of bark lying around the base of the tree, on top of the snow, if a Woodpecker has been at work very recently. "The American Three-toed Woodpecker is found in boreal forests and montane coniferous forests across North America. Because of its choice of habitat, it is infrequently seen by most people." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Three-toed_Woodpecke... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_three-toed_woodpecker This bird was seen on 28 November 2015, in Fish Creek Park, when I went on a morning walk with friends. We had seen Three-toed Woodpeckers in this particular forested area before, in other years, so we were hoping one might be around. When we stopped to look and listen, I heard a distant tapping and, when we walked in that direction, one of the other birders caught sight of this bird. It was moving through a tangle of branches, up and down the tree trunk, but I did manage to get a usable shot of the whole bird. Was also able to get several half-decent closer shots, including this one. These birds just never keep still, so I had about 50 photos to delete and just a handful to keep. Janet and Bernie's list of birds seen: 1. Canada Goose - 19 2. Cooper's Hawk - 1 3. Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1 4. Downy Woodpecker - 1 5. THREE-TOED WOODPECKER - 1 6. Black-billed Magpie - 5 7. Common Raven - 5 8. Black-capped Chickadee - 30+ 9. BOREAL CHICKADEE - 3 10. White-breasted Nuthatch - 2 11. Red-breasted Nuthatch - 11 12. BROWN CREEPER - 1 13. TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE - 1 14. Bohemian Waxwing - 28 15. White-winged Crossbill - 23 16. House Finch - 4 17 Pine Grosbeak - 3

This photo shows a tree that has had bits of its bark removed, leaving the orange-coloured wood exposed. The Woodpecker wants to get to the larvae that are beneath the bark, once it has been removed. Some trees are almost completely orange, so much bark has been peeled away by a Woodpecker. In winter, when there is snow on the ground, you can see the pieces of bark lying around the base of the tree, on top of the snow, if a Woodpecker has been at work very recently. "The American Three-toed Woodpecker is found in boreal forests and montane coniferous forests across North America. Because of its choice of habitat, it is infrequently seen by most people." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Three-toed_Woodpecke... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_three-toed_woodpecker This bird was seen yesterday, 28 November 2015, in Fish Creek Park, when I went on a morning walk with friends. We had seen Three-toed Woodpeckers in this particular forested area before, in other years, so we were hoping one might be around. When we stopped to look and listen, I heard a distant tapping and, when we walked in that direction, one of the other birders caught sight of this bird. It was moving through a tangle of branches, up and down the tree trunk, but I did manage to get this shot of the whole bird. Was also able to get several half-decent closer shots that I will post sometime. These birds just never keep still, so I had about 50 photos to delete and just a handful to keep. Janet and Bernie's list of birds seen: 1. Canada Goose - 19 2. Cooper's Hawk - 1 3. Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1 4. Downy Woodpecker - 1 5. THREE-TOED WOODPECKER - 1 6. Black-billed Magpie - 5 7. Common Raven - 5 8. Black-capped Chickadee - 30+ 9. BOREAL CHICKADEE - 3 10. White-breasted Nuthatch - 2 11. Red-breasted Nuthatch - 11 12. BROWN CREEPER - 1 13. TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE - 1 14. Bohemian Waxwing - 28 15. White-winged Crossbill - 23 16. House Finch - 4 17 Pine Grosbeak - 3 After our walk, a few of us went for a really enjoyable lunch at a restaurant near the park. After that, I called in to fill up my car with gas and a couple of minutes later, was involved in a car accident - not my fault, thank goodness! The driver of the other vehicle said that the man in the right lane had slowed down and waved her to go in front of him, so that she could cut across both our lanes. Why on earth he would wave her to go, on a busy road of MOVING traffic, I don't know. Or maybe he didn't notice that she wanted to cut ACROSS the lanes of traffic. Too bad that he kept going and disappeared, ha! Also, I don't know why she was trying to cut across traffic when coming out of a minor exit road at such a dangerous spot. She said she didn't usually do that. Also don't know why she trusted another driver's directions in moving traffic. Maybe he just didn't see me coming up alongside him - and his car was blocking the other car from my sight, until she pulled right out in front of me, and my car went into hers. No obvious damage like dents or scratches (thanks to the rubber? bumper on my car), but when the other driver told me to check the hood of my car, we found that it opened up OK but then we had difficulty getting it closed again. Annoyingly, the small lever inside my car for opening the hood snapped off when I pushed it up, so I probably can't open the hood at all now. Needless to say, I'm extremely thankful that things were no worse than they were!

Four days ago, 8 August 2015, I decided to drive SW of the city for a while. It was a Saturday, so I thought I would go and check if there were other people parked at Brown-Lowery Provincial Park. I had more or less stopped going into the forest there by myself, especially the last couple of years, knowing that Cougar and Bears can be seen there. All I have seen - so far! - is a Moose on a couple of occasions. The place gives me the creeps, so I usually just walk through the trees closest to the parking lot. So, this is what I did. Just a minute or two after entering the forest near the trail, I flushed a Grouse, which scared the life out of me. The opposite side of the trail, where I usually find a few mushrooms, had pools of water after the two devastating rain and hail storms that we had very recently. With several cars in the small parking lot, I decided to go just a short way into the park, trying to forget that animals can "smell fear". I did come across a few quite nice mushrooms, but with such a dry, hot summer, this is not a good year for fungi. The second time my heart started beating really fast was when I was trying to focus on a mushroom and I was aware of a deep, huffing kind of sound coming from right behind me. Turning around, dreading what I might see, I discovered it was just a small Red Squirrel, low down on his/her tree, just a couple of feet away from me. I've never ever heard a Squirrel make this kind of sound before! Sounded rather like what I imagine a bear might sound like. Almost back at the edge of the forest, I was happy as can be to hear quite a commotion that I then recognized as being American Three-toed Woodpeckers. There were three of them high up a tree, with at least one of them being a noisy, hungry juvenile that was feeding itself but every now and then would want the adult to feed it. Not sure if this was an adult or a young one in this photo. The light in the forest is not good for photos, but fortunately I got enough light on this bird's face. This species is uncommon in Alberta, year round, so it's always a treat to see one - and especially three. "The American Three-toed Woodpecker is found in boreal forests and montane coniferous forests across North America. Because of its choice of habitat, it is infrequently seen by most people." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Three-toed_Woodpecke... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_three-toed_woodpecker

Another photo from my archives, taken on 26 April 2011, at Sikome in Fish Creek Park. I've only been out with my camera about half a dozen times in the past month, and I've taken very few photos, so my archives are being used rather often at the moment. "The larger of two look alikes, the Hairy Woodpecker is a small but powerful bird that forages along trunks and main branches of large trees. It wields a much longer bill than the Downy Woodpecker's almost thornlike bill. Hairy Woodpeckers have a somewhat soldierly look, with their erect, straight-backed posture on tree trunks and their cleanly striped heads. Look for them at backyard suet or sunflower feeders, and listen for them whinnying from woodlots, parks, and forests." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Hairy_Woodpecker/id/ en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hairy_woodpecker

On 8 February 2015, I decided that I would join a group of friends for a morning birding walk in Fish Creek Park. I tend to miss most of the walks, so felt it was OK to go a second time this week. We started at Shannon Terrace, covering a good part of the area, and then the group started heading eastwards, towards Bebo Grove. At that point, my body was telling me that I had done enough walking, so I left my friends and made my way back to the parking lot. We had already seen a beautiful Pileated Woodpecker, which was perhaps the highlight of the walk. The light was not good as the Woodpecker was quite deep within the trees. I timed my return walk well, as I saw a pair of these spectacular birds out in the open. I'm guessing that the earlier bird was one of the two I saw when I was by myself. The male of this pair was in a nearby tree, doing what Woodpeckers do - making a cavity. "The Pileated Woodpecker is one of the biggest, most striking forest birds on the continent. It’s nearly the size of a crow, black with bold white stripes down the neck and a flaming-red crest. Look (and listen) for Pileated Woodpeckers whacking at dead trees and fallen logs in search of their main prey, carpenter ants, leaving unique rectangular holes in the wood. The nest holes these birds make offer crucial shelter to many species including swifts, owls, ducks, bats, and pine martens." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/pileated_woodpecker/lifehistory

I'm posting my "daily three" around 2:00 am on 21 February 2015, as I'm not sure if I'll go for a day of birding. Depends partly on the weather (snow is forecast) and whether I end up sleeping right through two alarm clocks that play very loud music for an hour, and my kitchen timer, lol! On 8 February 2015, I decided that I would join a group of friends for a morning birding walk in Fish Creek Park. I tend to miss most of the walks, so felt it was OK to go a second time this week. We started at Shannon Terrace, covering a good part of the area, and then the group started heading eastwards, towards Bebo Grove. At that point, my body was telling me that I had done enough walking, so I left my friends and made my way back to the parking lot. We had already seen a beautiful Pileated Woodpecker, which was perhaps the highlight of the walk. The light was not good as the Woodpecker was quite deep within the trees. I timed my return walk well, as I saw a pair of these spectacular birds out in the open. I'm guessing that the earlier bird was one of the two I saw when I was by myself. After this walk, I went straight to the area of the park where the tiny Northern Pygmy-owl has been seen on quite a few of the days during the last few weeks. However, I was out of luck this day, Shortly after I arrived there, a friend drove into the parking lot and we got chatting about the extremely confusing system of the way roads outside the city limits are numbered. Roads can have two different numbers - a Range Rd/Township Rd number plus a street or avenue number. All the maps that I have seen give the RR/TWP number only, so it's very difficult to find a location given in St. or Ave. numbers. The reason for this chat was that some of us were unable to find on a map the locations for Wild Turkeys and Northern Hawk Owls that have been reported recently. My friend told me to hop in and we'd go looking for turkeys : )! He already knew this whole area SW of the city, but I had never driven that part. Even though we were unlucky with finding any of the birds, it was extremely helpful to me to just see what the area looked like - more hilly than I had imagined. An area where I know I could very easily get totally lost, especially given the confusing mess of road numbering! Many thanks, Phil, for this unexpected and very helpful trip!! I really appreciated it! "The Pileated Woodpecker is one of the biggest, most striking forest birds on the continent. It’s nearly the size of a crow, black with bold white stripes down the neck and a flaming-red crest. Look (and listen) for Pileated Woodpeckers whacking at dead trees and fallen logs in search of their main prey, carpenter ants, leaving unique rectangular holes in the wood. The nest holes these birds make offer crucial shelter to many species including swifts, owls, ducks, bats, and pine martens." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/pileated_woodpecker/lifehistory

Three days ago, on 8 February 2015, I decided that I would join a group of friends for a morning birding walk in Fish Creek Park. I tend to miss most of the walks, so felt it was OK to go a second time this week. We started at Shannon Terrace, covering a good part of the area, and then the group started heading eastwards, towards Bebo Grove. At that point, my body was telling me that I had done enough walking, so I left my friends and made my way back to the parking lot. We had seen a beautiful Pileated Woodpecker (photo posted two days ago), which was perhaps the highlight of the walk. The light was not good as the Woodpecker was quite deep within the trees. I timed my return walk well, as I saw a pair of these spectacular birds out in the open. I'm guessing that the bird in the photo that I posted two days ago, was one of the two I saw when I was by myself. I went straight to the area of the park where the tiny Northern Pygmy-owl has been seen on many days for the last few weeks. However, when I was at that location yesterday, no one there had seen the owl at all, making it the fifth day in a row that it had not been seen. Shortly after I arrived there, a friend drove into the parking lot and we got chatting about the extremely confusing system of the way roads outside the city limits are numbered. Roads can have two different numbers - a Range Rd/Township Rd number plus a street or avenue number. All the maps that I have seen give the RR/TWP number only, so it's very difficult to find a location given in St. or Ave. numbers. The reason for this chat was that some of us were unable to find on a map the locations for Wild Turkeys and Northern Hawk Owls that have been reported recently. My friend told me to hop in and we'd go looking for turkeys : )! He already knew this whole area SW of the city, but I had never driven that part. Even though we were unlucky with finding any of the birds, it was extremely helpful to me to just see what the area looked like - more hilly than I had imagined. An area where I know I could very easily get totally lost, especially given the confusing mess of road numbering! Many thanks, Phil, for this unexpected and very helpful trip!! I really appreciated it! "The Pileated Woodpecker is one of the biggest, most striking forest birds on the continent. It’s nearly the size of a crow, black with bold white stripes down the neck and a flaming-red crest. Look (and listen) for Pileated Woodpeckers whacking at dead trees and fallen logs in search of their main prey, carpenter ants, leaving unique rectangular holes in the wood. The nest holes these birds make offer crucial shelter to many species including swifts, owls, ducks, bats, and pine martens." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/pileated_woodpecker/lifehistory It's -9C (windchill -17C) this morning and the trees are all frosted. No time to go out with my camera as I have a volunteer shift to go to today. Anyway, it looks horribly cold and dreary out there, with no sign of blue sky, though it might change later today.

Yesterday, 8 February 2015, I decided that I would join a group of friends for a morning birding walk in Fish Creek Park. I tend to miss most of the walks, so felt it was OK to go a second time this week. We started at Shannon Terrace, covering a good part of the area, and then the group started heading eastwards, towards Bebo Grove. At that point, my body was telling me that I had done enough walking, so I left my friends and made my way back to the parking lot. We had seen the beautiful Pileated Woodpecker in this photo, which was perhaps the highlight of the walk. The light was not good as the Woodpecker was quite deep within the trees, but fortunately this photo was fit to post. I timed my return walk well, as I saw a pair of these spectacular birds out in the open. I'm guessing that the bird in this photo was one of the two I saw when I was by myself. I went straight to the area of the park where the tiny Northern Pygmy-owl has been seen on many days for the last few weeks. However, when I was at that location yesterday, no one there had seen the owl at all, making it the fifth day in a row that it had not been seen. Shortly after I arrived there, a friend drove into the parking lot and we got chatting about the extremely confusing system of the way roads outside the city limits are numbered. Roads can have two different numbers - a Range Rd/Township Rd number plus a street or avenue number. All the maps that I have seen give the RR/TWP number only, so it's very difficult to find a location given in St. or Ave. numbers. The reason for this chat was that some of us were unable to find on a map the locations for Wild Turkeys and Northern Hawk Owls that have been reported recently. My friend told me to hop in and we'd go looking for turkeys : )! He already knew this whole area SW of the city, but I had never driven that part. Even though we were unlucky with finding any of the birds, it was extremely helpful to me to just see what the area looked like - more hilly than I had imagined. An area where I know I could very easily get totally lost, especially given the confusing mess of road numbering! Many thanks, Phil, for this unexpected and very helpful trip!! I really appreciated it! Posting late today - felt that sleep was more important, ha. "The Pileated Woodpecker is one of the biggest, most striking forest birds on the continent. It’s nearly the size of a crow, black with bold white stripes down the neck and a flaming-red crest. Look (and listen) for Pileated Woodpeckers whacking at dead trees and fallen logs in search of their main prey, carpenter ants, leaving unique rectangular holes in the wood. The nest holes these birds make offer crucial shelter to many species including swifts, owls, ducks, bats, and pine martens." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/pileated_woodpecker/lifehistory

On 2 December 2014, I went on a birding walk at Votier's Flats, in Fish Creek Park, hoping that someone would be able to find the Black-backed Woodpecker that had been seen. We were out of luck, unfortunately - I have seen one before, though. After the walk, I again went over to Bebo Grove. No sign of the Barred Owl, but after a lot of searching for the owl, I happened to spot this female American Three-toed Woodpecker, presumably the mate of the male Woodpecker I had seen the previous day. (Males have a patch of yellow on top of the head). This photo also shows a tree that has had some of its bark removed, leaving the orange-coloured wood exposed. The Woodpecker wants to get to the larvae that are in tunnels beneath the bark of dead or dying trees, so the bark has to be removed. Some trees are almost completely orange, so much bark has been peeled away by a Woodpecker. In winter, when there is snow on the ground, you can see the pieces of bark lying around the base of the tree, on top of the snow, if a Woodpecker has been at work very recently. This species is uncommon in Alberta, year round. "The American Three-toed Woodpecker is found in boreal forests and montane coniferous forests across North America. Because of its choice of habitat, it is infrequently seen by most people." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Three-toed_Woodpecke... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_three-toed_woodpecker

When I was editing this photo late last night, I realized that this PiIeated Woodpecker was the one that has a brown forehead. After seeing a couple of photos in the last few days that were taken by someone else, I had told myself to keep an eye out for this female. Once I got to the park, I had totally forgotten about it, so I was pleased to see that I had seen it on 24 January 2015, without realizing that it was different. The dark shape above this bird was the male Pileated - great to see a pair working together on the same tree. This day, a Saturday, turned out to be a great day for also seeing the tiny, popcan-sized Northern Pygmy-owl in Fish Creek Park. For once, I was up really early so that I could go on a birding walk, which was being held at the same location. Other than the usual Black-capped Chickadee. Nuthatches and Downy Woodpeckers, the three main birds that we saw were these two Pileated Woodpecker (a male and a female together) and a very distant Cooper's Hawk. When we were at the furthest spot, we got news that the Northern Pygmy-owl had appeared. Needless to say, we joined the photographers who were all lined up with their enormous camera lenses pointed upwards. About three (!) hours after getting back to where the owl was and seeing it on several different branches that were not particularly easy to photograph, it suddenly flew down to the mass and tangle of bushes right where all the photographers were now standing. A few people knelt or lay down in the cold, melting snow so that they could get a better view through the thin branches. There was no way I could do that, so my view was not as good. However, as far as actually seeing the owl at such close quarters was concerned, it was a great chance. All my photos, except maybe two or three others, were no good at all and need to be deleted : ( It was amazing to see this tiny bird of prey up close, and it was really good to see how at ease it seemed. It then caught a Meadow Vole and flew up into a thin, forked branch where it posed beautifully along with its catch. Haven't looked properly at the photos I took of this last pose, but hopefully one of them will be OK. After about four hours of standing around, it was time to go home, especially as I had originally arrived at the park for the 3-hour bird walk seven hours earlier! Some people do this all the time and I don't know how they are able to do so. It requires so much patience, and I'd never be able to do it if it weren't for friends to chat with while waiting and waiting. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/pileated_woodpecker/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pileated_woodpecker

Taken two weeks ago (1 December 2014) in Fish Creek Park. After calling in at Votier’s Flats just before noon, I then drove over to Bebo Grove to see if there was any sign of the Barred Owl – no there wasn't and two other people had looked and been unsuccessful. I did see this male American Three-toed Woodpecker, though, which is always a treat, especially as it is a rare species in Alberta. I love the bright yellow feathers that only the males have. This photo shows a tree that has had a lot of its bark removed, leaving the orange-coloured wood exposed. The Woodpecker wants to get to the larvae that are beneath the bark, so the bark has to be removed. Some trees are almost completely orange, so much bark has been peeled away by a Woodpecker. In winter, when there is snow on the ground, you can see the small pieces of bark lying around the base of the tree, on top of the snow, if a Woodpecker has been at work very recently. "The American Three-toed Woodpecker is found in boreal forests and montane coniferous forests across North America. Because of its choice of habitat, it is infrequently seen by most people." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Three-toed_Woodpecke... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_three-toed_woodpecker ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Today, 16 December 2014, is the first Christmas Bird Count out of the city. We have to be down SE, ready to start the Count by 8:00 am. We end around 4:00 pm (maybe 4:30 pm), so it's a long day of searching. Just checked the weather forecast and found the following: “FOG ADVISORY. Persistent fog with visibility near zero is expected or occurring. Fog is becoming more widespread and is expanding westward. Many locations are reporting low visibilities this evening with near zero visibilities expected to develop tonight. As the fog continues to develop additional regions may be added to the advisory. Fog will be occurring with temperatures below freezing which may result in locally slippery conditions due to freezing fog. Fog will persist into Tuesday morning. Visibility may be significantly and suddenly reduced to near zero. Travel is expected to be hazardous due to reduced visibility in some locations. If travelling, be prepared for areas of near zero visibility.” Lol, sounds like perfect birding weather – yeah, right!

This photo of a Black-backed Woodpecker was taken on 4 December 2014, when I went for a short walk in Fish Creek Park. I had been trying to do several short walks to see if it made any difference at all to the level of pain in my back. (Have to go for back X-Rays this week, hopefully today if I can get myself organized.) The weather has been so beautiful recently, too – we all know that it is going to change back to “winter” before too long. Also, a short time in the park can (if you are lucky!) be simply amazing. I happened to come across a female Pileated Woodpecker near the base of a tree. Almost impossible to get a sharp photo because she just didn’t stop banging her head against the tree. While I was trying to get a photo, a much smaller bird flew over my head and landed on the same tree, about 4’ higher. Couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw that it was a male Black-backed Woodpecker (rare in Alberta, just like the two American Three-toed Woodpeckers that I saw in a different part of the park, on two different days last week). Talk about being lucky! The Black-backed Woodpecker is very similar to the American Three-toed Woodpecker - and the males of both species have the small yellow patch on the forehead. "The American Three-toed Woodpecker is similar, but with white barring on back and hind neck, white line behind eye, weaker barring on flanks, and more white in wings." From AllABoutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-backed_Woodpecker/id

Taken five days ago (1 December 2014) in Fish Creek Park. After calling in at Votier’s Flats just before noon, I then drove over to Bebo Grove to see if there was any sign of the Barred Owl – no there wasn't and two other people had looked and been unsuccessful. I did see this male American Three-toed Woodpecker, though, which is always a treat, especially as it is rare species in Alberta. I love the bright yellow feathers that only the males have. This photo shows a tree that has had a lot of its bark removed, leaving the orange-coloured wood exposed. The Woodpecker wants to get to the larvae that are beneath the bark, so the bark has to be removed. Some trees are almost completely orange, so much bark has been peeled away by a Woodpecker. In winter, when there is snow on the ground, you can see the small pieces of bark lying around the base of the tree, on top of the snow, if a Woodpecker has been at work very recently. Unfortunately, this photo is not as sharp as I wish it had been. "The American Three-toed Woodpecker is found in boreal forests and montane coniferous forests across North America. Because of its choice of habitat, it is infrequently seen by most people." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Three-toed_Woodpecke... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_three-toed_woodpecker

Two days ago (1 December 2014), I called in at Votier’s Flats (in Fish Creek Park) just before noon, and then I drove over to Bebo Grove to see if there was any sign of the Barred Owl – no, there wasn't, and two other people had looked and been unsuccessful. I did see a male American Three-toed Woodpecker, though, which is always a treat, especially as it is rare in Alberta. Yesterday was almost a repeat of the previous day, except that I went on a birding walk at Votier's Flats, hoping that someone would be able to find the Black-backed Woodpecker that had been seen. We were out of luck, unfortunately - I have seen one before, though. After the walk, I again went over to Bebo Grove. No sign of the Barred Owl, but after a lot of searching, I happened to spot this female American Three-toed Woodpecker, presumably the mate of the male Woodpecker I had seen the previous day (photo posted yesterday). Like yesterday's photo, this one also shows a tree that has had bits of its bark removed, leaving the orange-coloured wood exposed. The Woodpecker wants to get to the larvae that are in tunnels beneath the bark, so the bark has to be removed. See the tongue in action, lol! Some trees are almost completely orange, so much bark has been peeled away by a Woodpecker. In winter, when there is snow on the ground, you can see the pieces of bark lying around the base of the tree, on top of the snow, if a Woodpecker has been at work very recently. I think the tiny specks in this photo were from snow falling off one of the very high branches just as I was taking this photo. "The American Three-toed Woodpecker is found in boreal forests and montane coniferous forests across North America. Because of its choice of habitat, it is infrequently seen by most people." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Three-toed_Woodpecke... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_three-toed_woodpecker

Taken yesterday early afternoon (1 December 2014) in Fish Creek Park. After calling in at Votier’s Flats just before noon, I then drove over to Bebo Grove to see if there was any sign of the Barred Owl – no there wasn't and two other people had looked and been unsuccessful. I did see this male American Three-toed Woodpecker, though, which is always a treat, especially as it is rare in Alberta.. This photo shows a tree that has had bits of its bark removed, leaving the orange-coloured wood exposed. The Woodpecker wants to get to the larvae that are beneath the bark, so the bark has to be removed. Some trees are almost completely orange, so much bark has been peeled away by a Woodpecker. In winter, when there is snow on the ground, you can see the pieces of bark lying around the base of the tree, on top of the snow, if a Woodpecker has been at work very recently. "The American Three-toed Woodpecker is found in boreal forests and montane coniferous forests across North America. Because of its choice of habitat, it is infrequently seen by most people." From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Three-toed_Woodpecke... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_three-toed_woodpecker