By Darcy Thomas
It’s almost a wrap! 2023 will soon be in our past and a new year will be ahead of us. It’s a good time to reflect on what has been accomplished, as we look forward to where we would like to go. It’s also a good time to show our immense appreciation for our Audubon family. Thanks to our Board of Directors, Committee Chairs, and many member volunteers. We can say we gave our best for the birds! That’s what we are here for, and I think we make a difference.
While we said goodbye to our good friend, the late Lewis Young, and farewell to our past President Cory Davis who moved out of state, 2023 also brought new faces to Audubon. Linda du Lac’s smiling cheerfulness has brought many new members into our chapter. Geri Meireis joined the fold doing a grand job of editing the Pileated Post, while Susie Waldron scooted in right behind her to enhance our reading experience with her beautiful newsletter layout. Ronda Howell jumped right in to find and schedule program speakers for our Monday general meetings. Ronda is elated to be part of the Audubon gang and says her job is great fun. Grant Pegram has brought new life into the Conservation Committee. He is an enthusiastic and knowledgeable birder and fast becoming a good friend with many in our chapter.
Our accomplishments this year include fundraising and laying groundwork for a conservation easement at Owen Sowerwine, the habitat we manage and keep safe for birds, wildlife, and native plants. We have worked closely with Flathead Land Trust and Flathead Lakers but still have money to raise before we have the amount needed to purchase the conservation easement. We have been awarded a grant from Sliter’s Hardware to purchase an EZ-Ject wand to deliver herbicide to the dreaded buckthorn. This will make the management of this invasive much easier in the future. We contracted with Montana Conservation Corp to complete much needed maintenance at the Greenridge entrance to Owen Sowerwine, and spent a few days doing trail maintenance and clearing the area of buckthorn and other invasive plants.
We had a very successful year in the Great Fish Community Challenge for which we give a heartfelt thank you to our many donors.
With Denny at the helm, the Conservation Education program has expanded its quality classroom programs, revamped the educational trunks, and designed a new educational video called “Natives Rule!” which relates the intricate relationships between native plants, insects and birds and instruction on how to recover dwindling bird populations through growing native plants.
Dee Baginski has joined the team as a part-time Operations Coordinator helping with publicity and outreach among other things.
Flathead Audubon has joined the Winter Raptor Survey Project organized by East Cascades Audubon in Oregon to conduct several local routes.
Hawk Watch continued into November this year with 23 surveys producing above average totals and above average counts for most species. Denny is producing a video of Hawk Watch using a game camera which assisted in gathering information for the watch this season.
Sacred Eats is selling Schmidt Faced Hot Sauce and donating the profits to Flathead Audubon.
We enjoyed a lot of field trips this year from raptors to sandhill cranes, while traveling from local hotspots to more distant destinations such as Freezout Lake, the CSKT Bison Range and the Flathead Lake Biological Station. We now have walkie-talkies for caravan-style field trips which were donated by Devin Harshbarger.
Other fun events this year included Warbler Weekend at Tally Lake, a wonderful Bird-a-Thon and barbecue at the Creston National Fish Hatchery, and Beer, Bingo, and Birds at Bias Brewing. We will close out the year with Bird Trivia night at Bias Brewing and our annual Bigfork and Kalispell Christmas Bird Counts.
As we move into the new year we are looking forward to finalizing the conservation easement on Owen Sowerwine, and will begin controlling buckthorn in the area with the EZ-Ject tool, instead of using chainsaws and stacking thorny piles of buckthorn by hand. A Junior Bird Club is on the horizon. FAS merchandise will soon be available for purchase. We will help protect Osprey from entanglement in twine by partnering with the Owl Research Institute for a Baling Twine Clean-Up Day. The Birds of Prey Festival will be at Lone Pine again in 2024.
With all these wonderful projects in the works I still have a small wish list. We need a chairperson for the education committee, and I need of a vice president who will help us move forward in the New Year.
Happy Birding everyone!
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