Three-toed Woodpecker

Judging by the wispy feathers, this looks like it was the young bird that was on the tree right by Mom or Dad. It's not the best quality, but it's difficult to get decent shots deep in the forest and of birds that don't stay still for a second and keep travelling further and further up the tall trees. These Three-toed Woodpeckers are rare here, so I sometimes hang on to photos that are far from good.

The weather forecast was promising rain and mixed precipitation for 7 and 8 September 2014, and there were a couple of places that I thought I had better get to before the bad weather arrived. The first one was Brown-Lowery, to check if there were any mushrooms. I was there recently, and only found a couple of things. This last visit was a little more rewarding and I found several large clusters of tiny mushrooms growing on tree stumps or at the base of trees. Also found several patches of bright orange Coral Fungi. Quite a few people were in the park, so I felt safer going a very short way in. Far enough, as it turned out, to watch this adult and juvenile Three-toed Woodpecker, feeding together on a tree trunk. The young one was copying Mom or Dad, but its soft squeaking sound resulted in the adult feeding it, too. You can tell this tree has been used by the Three-toed Woodpeckers, as much of the bark has been stripped, leaving the orange/brown wood below. This Woodpecker species seems to be reasonably tolerant of people. These are rare birds here, so I feel very lucky to have seen these two and any others in the past.

birdsofalberta.com/List/detail.php?id=226

www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Three-toed_Woodpecke...

On that day, little did any of us know that we were in for a major, late summer, snowstorm! Yesterday and today, 9 and 10 September (today), we've had heavy, wet snow that is causing tremendous damage to so many trees in the city. Yesterday, it was said that 5,000 trees had been damaged, and today, conditions are far, far worse. And the snow keeps falling ....