by Darcy Thomas River Design Group (RDG), one of the leading river restoration consulting firms in the Intermountain West and Pacific Northwest, was founded in the Flathead Valley in 2003 by four individuals with a passion for rivers. Since the beginning, the company has promoted a healthy work-life balance and maintained a culture deeply rooted…
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by Craig Hohenberger The 49th annual Bigfork Christmas Bird Count was held Saturday, December 17, under cloudy skies and mild SE winds. Temperatures varied from 19 to 28. Snow depths were about 4 to 6 inches in the valley, and at the eastern edges of the count circle there was up to a foot of…
Read MoreThe 24th Kalispell Christmas Bird Count was held on Sunday, January 1, 2023. A total of 75 species was recorded, a number which is about average for this count. Highlights included the 2nd ever Yellow-headed Blackbird (Craig Hohenberger et. al.), the 2nd ever Pied-billed Grebe (Elaine Snyder et al.), the 3rd ever Northern Saw-whet Owl…
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Hardly a Life of Royalty by Karen Nichols Golden-crowned Kinglets are a mystery and a marvel of wintertime survival in the north woods. These grey and olive birds weigh only the mass of two pennies — just bigger than a Rufous Hummingbird. This species is Montana’s smallest permanent resident passerine and it eats insects all…
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Rare and Notables – DEC 2022/JAN 2023 Mid-December through mid-January was a period with mostly gray skies, periodic snows, and one period of deep cold. As the snow and lakes iced over, raptor numbers declined, but several species of owls were among the notables. “Winter finches” were scarce, with few reports of redpolls, Pine Grosbeaks…
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Presented by Stephanie Gillin On February 13th, Stephanie Gillin, Information and Education Program Manager for the Confederated Tribes, will talk about the Bison Range Restoration. Stephanie has been a Wildlife Biologist for 21 years with the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribal Wildlife Management Program. She has worked with students, both on and off the Reservation,…
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