Hairy Woodpecker

Owl & Hairy Woodpecker

Another beautiful, but cold day. On arriving at Reifel to help out on the trails this afternoon there was not too large a crowd. For those that did make it out today,

… there were a couple of Northern Saw-whet Owls along the east dyke trail. This one apparently had a mouse that it ate for those that managed to see it this morning. After spending some time here showing the Saw-whet Owl to visitors I made my way out towards the outer west dyke. My current nemesis bird, the Swamp Sparrow, was still around. At the beginning of the trail across from the tower,

… I happened across a Hairy Woodpecker. While not uncommon, they are just not seen as often as some of the other woodpeckers.

This Hairy Woodpecker was busy in the trees right beside the trail and seemed quite unconcerned with those of us that had stopped to watch. The nice light, cooperative bird, can’t ask for much more than that.

After this I did locate and get another brief look at the Swamp Sparrow, but still no photos. On my way back along the inside trails I observed a Varied Thrush which is also a good bird for this area. All in all, a good day.

Night-Heron & Hairy Woodpecker

It was still a fairly grey day when I headed out to Reifel to help out on the trails this afternoon. The number of visitors was subdued as well. On starting off I came across one regular winter visitor that was awake and somewhat in the open.

The Black-crowned Night-Heron is a favourite of many visitors this time of the year.

A highlight of the morning walk was a pair of Canvasback on the inner display ponds. Unfortunately they were too far off for any decent pictures. Making up for that, however,

… was this female Hairy Woodpecker along the centre dyke trail. Initially it was higher up in the trees,

… but with a little patience it came to this old snag lower down. This can help with backgrounds when shooting on a grey day like today.

The Hairy Woodpecker is not seen as often as some of the other woodpeckers in the sanctuary.

So it was nice to spend a little time with this cooperative bird and pointing it out to visitors.

Managed a brief walk at Reifel this morning. Not too much going on with shore birds as the tide was wrong. There were a couple of Red-necked Phalaropes though with a handful of the regulars.

While watching song bird activity in some trees with another visitor along the east dyke trail I heard what I thought was a Downy Woodpecker.

The other birder pointed it out for me and it was actually a Hairy Woodpecker.

It has been a while since I have seen one and was the highlight of the morning.