Face Lake - Thompson region, May 24 to 26

[kestrel]

My dad, my roommate, and I went on a retreat at Mile High Resort over the weekend. Though the main focus of the trip was fishing, I managed to fit in some birding.

On the first evening there, I heard a rapid tooting call coming from the woods near the lake. I'm almost 100% certain that it was a Boreal owl, since a Wilson's snipe don't like densely-forested areas. This was a lifer .

The next morning, I went on a walk before breakfast. Among other birds, there were Mountain chickadees, a House wren, and a Common loon. Singing birds included a Hermit thrush, Ruby-crowned kinglets, and Orange-crowned warblers.

White-winged crossbills were surprisingly easy to find, including a youngster being fed by dad:
White-winged crossbills by Joel Schmidt, on Flickr

During a pre-lunch walk along the east side of the lake, I stumbled upon an American three-toed woodpecker:
American three-toed woodpecker by Joel Schmidt, on Flickr

[kestrel]

Now I'm starting to wonder if maybe I heard a Wilson's snipe instead of a Boreal owl.

[paulos]

Hey Joel, did you manage to get a recording?

Great shot of the crossbills. Sounds like a cool trip.

[kestrel]

Nope. I only heard it for 2 or 3 seconds, then it went silent.