There are two city parks in the town of Hamilton, MT that I really enjoyed: River Park and Hieronymus Park. Moose are common in the city parks. There are plenty of signs in River Park warning users of Moose in the area. While I did see moose, I was fixated on the woodpeckers.
I was very excited to see a Lewis’s Woodpecker. The first time I saw one was in 1984 when my brother and I were on our way to Glacier National Park. But I could not identify it. It was perched more like a Robin than a Woodpecker. Roughly 25 years later, I was watching a nature show which featured the Lewis’s Woodpecker. I finally made the connection and was able to put a name to the bird I had seen so many years before.
My next sighting was in 2023, in Southwest Colorado while hiking with my cousin. The woodpecker stayed far away. I guess it was camera-shy.
Lewis’s Woodpeckers are residents in both parks in Hamilton. Photographing them was a bit challenging, as they perched in the upper canopy of tall trees.
When you see a Pileated Woodpecker, you may be reminded of Woody Woodpecker, the cartoon character.
The Red-naped Sapsucker was one of the first species of woodpeckers that I saw in River Park. It was one of the main reasons why I kept going back to this park. However, it was numerous weeks later before I was able to get pictures of them. I love the striking coloration.
Northern Flickers are one of the most common and wide-spread members of the woodpecker family. I was happy to find a nesting cavity.
I rarely get to see the American Three-toed Woodpecker. I found several on a day-trip across the valley to the Sapphire Mountain range, east of Hamilton. I wandered into a forest where the Daly Creek wildfire burned in 2024. Knowing that this woodpecker species prefers foraging in burned timber, I spent some time looking for them and was quickly rewarded.
While none of these woodpecker species were new to my life-list, I thoroughly enjoyed getting reacquainted with them and photographing them in Western Montana. And there were so many other species of birds to enjoy…