Mike in the Wild

I reliably see four different species of woodpeckers throughout the long summers I spend in Prescott.  In fact, every day I bear witness to the northern flickers, acorns, hairys, and ladderbacks that visit my yard's suet feeders.  The only other one I've seen on my property has been a red-naped, and that was during autumn several years ago, as the woodpecker foraged high in a ponderosa pine.  But then yesterday, on my only visit to Granite Basin Lake all summer, I encountered an entirely new species, the Lewis's.  The only other time I've seen a Lewis's woodpecker was just over a year ago, along the Animas River in Durango, Colorado.  I was struck by it's unique coloration, not exhibiting mostly black and white like almost all of its local kin but showing a unique greenish backside and a torso splashed with winey red.  And true to its reputation, the bird was acting more like a flycatcher as it made forays from a lamppost in its hunt for insects. At Granite...

Durango has always been one of my favorite ski towns. Purgatory ski resort is thirty minutes away, and Wolf Creek with its abundance of powder is just an hour and a half drive.  During my frequent winter visits, I have mostly ignored the Animas River that flowed through town.  In the cold weather, the waterway was gray and icy, its riverbanks lined with snow and leafless trees.  However in early June, as I recently discovered, the river was flowing heavy with snowmelt, and its lush banks teamed with birds.  With sunrise temperatures in the low fifties, the Animas was actually inviting me for a morning run.  And as always on any trail, I was hopeful I'd encounter a variety of birds.  Even in my hotel's parking lot, I spied a magpie, apparently curious about the extensive collection of trucks.  While I followed Bennett Street to reach the river, a pair of deer munched on a home's front-yard shrubs.  When I arrived close to the riverfront at 32nd Str...