by Dan Casey
Rare and Notables – Feb/March
The Long-tailed Duck at Bigfork, first found in Feb, was joined by another at the same location. One or more Snowy Owls continued near Somers, and a variety of uncommon gull species were reported, mostly from Flathead Lake. Bluebirds and Western Meadowlarks arrived in early March, and waterfowl abundance and diversity was rapidly increasing by mid-month. See https://ebird.org/region/US-MT-029?yr=all for more.
- 02/18 – Western Meadowlark (1), Lower Valley (Joshua C.)
- 02/19 – Glaucous Gull (1), Bigfork (Mani G.)
- 02/24 – Common Grackle (1), Creston (Mani G.)
- 03/06 – Mountain Bluebird (1), North of Kalispell (Markus and Erin B.)
- 03/07 – Western Bluebird (6), North of Kalispell (Markus and Erin B.)
- 03/07 – Long-tailed Duck (2), Wayfarer’s State Park (bj W., Shawn R.)
- 03/07 – Lesser Black-backed Gull (1), Flathead L. North Shore (Shawn R.)
- 03/08 – Cackling Goose (1), Creston (Craig H.)
- 03/08 – Eurasian Wigeon (1), Church Slough (Dan C.)
- 03/08 – Glaucous-winged Gull (1), North Shore Flathead Lake (Dan C.)
- 03/16 – Lesser Black-backed Gull (1), Egan Slough (Bob K.)
- 03/17 – Sandhill Crane (1), Egan Slough area (Mani G.)
What to Expect – April 2022
Late March and April bring peak migrant waterfowl numbers, and by the end of the period even the latest duck species (e.g. Cinnamon and Blue-winged Teal) have arrived. Large numbers of swallows also arrive in early spring (typically by St. Patrick’s Day), and more of our breeding songbirds begin to arrive. These include Yellow-rumped Warbler, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Spotted Towhee and more. By mid-April, even the first few hummingbirds may be showing up.