Flash Back Alert! 8/17/14 Roger finds his 300th species in Santa Fe County - a female American Three-toed Woodpecker!

I finally decided to make the hike up one of slopes at the Santa Fe Ski Basin and look for three-toed woodpeckers, which had recently been seen in the area. This was important because it would be my 300th species seen in the county - only the second person to achieve this lofty goal!

I made the hike up the rather steep slopes to around 11,000 feet and situated myself near several large stands of spruce with lots of dead snags. I heard some drumming hit a recording of three-toed for about 15 seconds.

I was amazed when this female flew in and happily started hunting on a nearby snag. It was really hard to get a shot because of the shadows and angles, but I persevered and here she is. I couldn't be happier with this species being number 300!