Beauty, bugs, and birds

Rocky Point Nature Trail. A lakeside trail in Glacier wandering the edge of McDonald Lake on the Fish Creek side until it loops back up over the ridge. Pines, firs, cedars, hemlock, streams. Cool calm morning. The bugs were a problem at first. We forgot about the bugs when we got into the birds. Juncos, flycatchers, warblers, and woodpeckers. Saw a northern flicker. Heard a pileated. And saw a new woodpecker for us: three toed. A swath of forest along the trail burned out six years ago. Three toed woodpeckers like that. Several of them, males and females both, flaking the burned bark off standing trees. We watched and watched and finally walked away. That’s a pretty good look at a life bird, when you finally give up and walk away while he’s still there.