The Birder Babes made a trip out to Fort Simcoe State Park near Yakima, WA. We were after two species of woodpeckers: the Lewis's Woodpecker, a regular resident, and the Acorn Woodpecker, a rare visitor.  

The Lewis's Woodpecker was a lifer for me.  They are spectacularly beautiful birds!

Lewis's Woodpecker Lewis's Woodpecker Lewis's Woodpecker Lewis's Woodpecker The bonus for this trip was to find the one and only Acorn Woodpecker at the Park.  They normally do not come this far north, but this one managed to find the dozens of Gary Oak Trees planted on the property.  Gary oak is one of their preferred food sources.

Gary Oak Acorn Acorn Woodpecker One thing that really surprised us all was to watch the Acorn Woodpecker sallying (catching insects on the fly). I did not know that woodpeckers did this. That is one reason I have this hobby. I learn something new every day.  This next picture shows him eating an insect he just caught on the fly.

Acorn Woodpecker Lastly, I saw a Downy Woodpecker as well.  The final icing on the cake:

Downy Woodpecker Downy Woodpecker We ended the day by looking at the very early wildflowers that have emerged.  I am guessing that the first one is a type of Fritillaria, but that is only a guess.

Wildflower I don't know who the rest are, but they sure are pretty:

Wildflower with insect Wildflower Wildflowers Fort Simcoe is a great place for bird watching, but if you go at this time of year, watch out for the electric fence.  it is not well marked and it is live.  We presumed that it was to keep grazing cattle out, but that was not clear, because there were cow pies everywhere.