Carburn Park May 25, 2024

I experienced a joy-filled morning birding at Carburn Park today!  These past few days, a Lewis's Woodpecker has been all over the social media of birders.  The last time one was seen in Calgary was back in 2021.  Today was the first opportunity I had to head off to the Park to see if I could see it. Well, fancy that, I did!  This is a Lewis's Woodpecker, a "lifer" for me!  It was the star of my day and from what the goings on around me, it was a "lifer" for many others and the star of their day!  

Saturday's Star

Before seeing the Lewis's Woodpecker, I saw many other sweet sights!  Her eight baby Common Goldeneyes have grown since I saw them this past Sunday!

The eye on this Common Grackle is just as bold 

as the eye on the Mom Common Goldeneye above.

The male Baltimore Oriole is singing his heart out!  There were a few of them and their songs were music to my ears as I walked through the forest during the early morning hour.  

There was much going on here!  The Mother Mallard is fierce in protecting her babies.  She is snapping at a Male Mallard while her babies try to swim away and as the Female Mallard partner of the Male watches on.  The Male Mallard looked defeated after this interaction and swam away.

an American Wigeon

I like the detail on its feathers.

Oh you cute little Yellow Warbler, your head looks like a tennis ball!  

He looks as pretty as a picture sitting between the green buds.

a Mallard Duckling

A little later I returned to where I saw the Lewis's Woodpecker.  When I left after viewing it the first time, a few other birders came along and I pointed to where it was.  A couple of hours later when I arrived back to the area, those few others were still there along with a dozen or so other birders.  It's quite a beautiful Woodpecker.  This Woodpecker is named in honour of Meriwether Lewis, one of the co-leaders in the famous Lewis & Clark expedition.  I took this photo while admiring it the second time around.

This is a Cooper's Hawk.  What I noticed about it was the little tuft of white feathers sticking up from above its beak.  I don't know what is going on there!  

I had many other sightings but they were mostly of the usual suspects or they were shots that were not clear enough due to lighting or blur.  I felt so fulfilled when I finally left and could hardly wait to get home to see my photos.