A DOUBLE KEYSTONE SPECIES By Lisa Bate Have you ever heard what sounds like someone sending a Morse code message through the trees in spring? If so, go take a look and you will likely find that the Red-naped Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus nuchalis) has returned to Montana for breeding season. Their drum sounds like Morse code…
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Sharp-shinned Hawk
By Lewis Young The Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus) is a small, very agile hawk of the forest and woodlands. With a wingspan of 17-22 inches and a length of 10-14 inches, it displays an amazing ability to fly rapidly through dense trees and shrubs in pursuit of prey. Adults are a slatey blue-gray on the…
Read MoreSwainson’s Thrush
A SONG ABOVE OTHERS By Kathy Ross Mid-spring is filled with anticipation for the enchanting, heavenward spiraling song of the male Swainson’s Thrush (Catharus ustulatus) returning each year to our mountain world to breed. This secretive, not often seen, medium-sized Thrush (6″-8″ long, 12″ wingspan), entertains our sense of hearing during the summer months with its…
Read MoreSnow Bunting
By Jeannie Marcure This month’s feature bird visits the Flathead in winter, seeking relief from the harsh weather of its breeding grounds in the tundra and has the distinction of being the only winter songbird in our area that is mostly white. A circumpolar bird, the sparrow-sized Snow Bunting breeds farther north than almost any…
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RETURN OF SPRING’S HARBINGER By Linda de Kort February seems to be a time when we begin to question the length of our winter. Will Punxsutawney Phil see his shadow on February 2? Will we have 6 more weeks of misty skies and crystalline trees? One of the reassuring events of this month is the…
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House Finch
By Jeannie Marcure House Finches are among the most reliable and frequent visitors to feeders in the Flathead Valley. At our home south of Kalispell, 30 to 40 of these cheery, sparrow-sized birds spend most of the day perching in the top of a larch tree near the house and making frequent visits to the…
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