by Darcy Thomas On a drizzly day in May, a group of twelve from Flathead and Mission Audubon met at the University of Montana’s field station in Yellow Bay to learn about ecology and research of the Flathead Watershed, hear the famous food web disaster of Mysis shrimp, and enjoy a quick picnic before tromping…
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by Pam Willison One in a Thousand! During Warbler Weekend at Tally Lake, Whitefish Lake Institute Executive Director Mike Koopal presented unique information on Tally Lake. Mike’s working hypothesis is that the lake is meromictic, meaning the deep lake water doesn’t mix with the surface water, leading to a depletion of dissolved oxygen at depth….
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Presented By Sneed Collard III Sneed B. Collard III, acclaimed author of more than 90 books for young people, will be the featured speaker at the Monday, Sept. 11 meeting of the Flathead Audubon Society at 7 p.m. (There won’t be a virtual component to this meeting). Sneed is a popular award-winning speaker and has…
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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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