Six participants, along with Darcy Thomas, joined Shannon and Bridger Donaldson at the West Valley Wildlife Viewing Area on Thursday, November 3. The valley was blanketed in white from the early season snowfall the day before. Soon enough, the sun was shining which made for a great afternoon of birding. As soon as we pulled…
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by Darcy Thomas A small group of four birders spent a lovely Indian Summer Day at the Bison Range. Our bird count was not large (23 taxa) but was varied as we saw both resident birds and migrators. The list included Red Crossbills, Evening Grosbeak, Townsend Solitaire, eagles, hawks, harriers, kestrel, kinglets, siskins, nuthatches, chickadees…
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by Darcy Thomas At dawn on September 29 a group of six early risers braved stormy skies to meet field trip leader Darcy Thomas to watch Sandhill Cranes as they lifted off the West Valley Ponds to forage and refuel in nearby agricultural fields before continuing their southward migration. There were close to 500 cranes…
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by Denny Olson The Sandhill Cranes in West Valley put on a show for students from Evergreen Middle school (2 days), West Valley School (2 days), Cayuse Prairie School, Fairmont Egan School and two adult morning and evening field trips led by Darcy and Denny and assisted by Tom and Cindy Roberts. Bald Eagles in…
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Flathead Audubon would like to thank all the dedicated and enthusiastic FAS volunteers who have recently led field trips. These include: Denny Olson, Darcy Thomas, Dan Casey, Bob Lee, Cory Davis, Maria Mantas, Laura Katzman, Beth Watne and the Wild Wings staff, Kathy Ross, Derrick Rathe, Shannon and Bridger Donaldson, Steve Gniadek and Lewis Young….
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by Denny Olson Finally, after two years of pandemic cancellations, we had our 14th Annual Festival at Lone Pine State Park. The ever-energetic and humorous Kate Davis headlined our presenters with her falcons, Kurt Lindsay showed his gorgeous owl photos, Dan Casey expanded our abilities to ID raptors in flight, and showings of our bird…
Read Moreby Linda deKort West Valley Naturalists are back with presentations at West Valley School (2290 Farm to Market Road, Kalispell). Laura Katzman, Land Protection Specialist with Flathead Land Trust, will talk about the Sandhill Cranes which grace our valley each fall when hundreds of them refuel at a staging area in the West Valley on…
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by Mike Fanning Come and join us at The Tally Lake Campground for an extraordinary two days of birding and relaxing. The Pavilion Campsite at the campground has been reserved for us Sunday afternoon, 2 PM June 12 through Tuesday morning 11 AM June 14. There is space for RV’s and tents for those who…
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by Darcy Thomas Eleven hardy birders braved the cold, windy morning on April 10th to go bird watching around Smith Lake. We were rewarded for our discomfort by spending a morning in great company and seeing many beautiful birds. We saw a total of 31 species. Our highlights included Sandhill Cranes which we saw at…
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