By Dan Casey
Rare and Notables – May-August 2025
See also: https://ebird.org/region/US-MT-029?yr=all
While still scarce in NW Montana, reports of single Common Grackles were scattered throughout the region during the period. It was also quite a season for hybrids. They included a drake Eurasian x American Wigeon at Pablo Reservoir, April 28 (Pam W); a Myrtle x Audubon’s Yellow-rumped Warbler at Wiley Dike, May 9 (Dan C); an apparent Clay-colored x Brewer’s Sparrow at Garcon Gulch, north of Hot Springs, May 13 (Josh C); and a drake Blue-winged x Cinnamon Teal photographed near Ronan, May 16 (Shawn R).
A Somers yard hosted a Rose-breasted Grosbeak and a Lewis’s Woodpecker on back-to-back days, May 18-19 (Dan C). Another Lewis’s Woodpecker found its way into a Ronan stove chimney, July 24 (Dan S). Lost Trail NWR hosted some locally uncommon species more typical of grassland areas, with a Swainson’s Hawk, May 10 (Dan C), and a Lark Sparrow, May 26 (Pam W). A Chestnut-collared Longspur, photographed at West Valley Ponds, May 25 (Jake B), was the first local record of a species only very rarely seen west of the divide in Montana.
Singing Alder Flycatchers were seen in Glacier, June 29 (Caleb L) and 9 July (Shannon D).
An adult Red-headed Woodpecker, photographed on Fox Farm Rd in the West Valley on July 12 (Dick W), was the third area record in recent years. Single male Indigo Buntings were reported from Happy Valley, July 12-13 (Bruce T), and from Lincoln County, July 20 (Patrick B). An American Barn Owl was photographed July 14 in a Lower Valley workshop (Shannon D). A Broad-tailed Hummingbird visited a feeder at the Libby Dam Visitor Center, July 22 (Sandy P).
A family of Great Gray Owls west of Whitefish entertained many birders throughout the month of July and into early August (see related article and photos, page X). Continuing a recent trend of summer sightings, a Broad-winged Hawk was above McDonald Creek in Glacier, August 5 (Jake B). An out-of-season drake Surf Scoter was found at Pablo Reservoir, August 5-8 (Shawn R), representing just the second summer record for the species in Montana. A dark-morph, adult Ferruginous Hawk was seen in the Lower Valley August 11 (Natalie C), and a light morph juvenile at the same location, August 13 (Jake B, Pam W).
What to Expect – September 2025
Fall migration will be in full gear during September. Watch for large mixed sparrow flocks (Savannah, Vesper, Chipping, Song, White-crowned) on the roadsides and windrows. Migrant hawks can be seen throughout the valley, as well as on the mountain ridges, with American Kestrels, Red-tailed Hawks, Northern Harriers, and Turkey Vultures most common in the Valley. Shorebird migration, which began in June (!), continues, with Pectoral Sandpipers, Long-billed Dowitchers, and American Golden-Plovers among the ones to watch for late in the season. Some of the first winter visitors (e.g. Rough-legged Hawk, Bohemian Waxwing) may arrive by the end of the month.
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