Rare American Three-toed Woodpecker

The morning of 25 October 2014, I met up with friends to go birding. It was quite chilly first thing, only 3°C warming up to 6°C three hours later. We had 22 species of bird, though as usual, I don’t always see them all, as I don’t have binoculars. To mention just a few of our sightings - a formation of 15 Trumpeter Swans flying high overhead; a female Pileated Woodpecker; a huge flock of Bohemian Waxwings swarming in the distance plus a few smaller flocks; and this male American Three-toed Woodpecker. We had a very brief sighting of a bird of prey that flew out of some distant trees and was nowhere to be found – it was reported as a Barred Owl. This was at a different part of the park from where I was lucky enough to see one a few days ago. The only bird photos worth keeping were a handful of this American Three-toed Woodpecker. Always a treat to see one of these birds, especially as they are rare here. It closely resembles the Black-backed Woodpecker, which is also three-toed, and which is also rarely seen here.

The following photo shows a tree that has had some of its bark removed, leaving the orange-coloured wood exposed. If you look at the top centre of the photo, you can just make out the twisting pattern of the tubes made by larvae. These are what the Woodpecker wants to get to, and 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.

"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

After our walk, we drove to a small pub fairly close by for lunch. So enjoyable to just sit and chat and enjoy good company and good food – the Baked Lasagne was excellent!