By Jeannie Marcure Observing a group of Turkey Vultures cleaning up a deer carcass last fall tweaked my interest in these carrion eaters. I have to admit that before my research, I found these big black birds to be a little repulsive. After all, they eat dead and decaying things and I’d also heard a…
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Brown Creeper
By Gail Cleveland I am partial to nuthatches, whether Redbreasted, Pygmy or White-breasted, especially as I watch them come head-first down a fir tree in the backyard. So naturally, I am also partial to the inconspicuous and quiet Brown Creeper when I see one spiral up the trunk of a tree, probing bark crevices with…
Read MoreSong Sparrow
By Linda de Kort As October arrives, many of the songbirds have left our valley. Some stopped for a while and raised a brood or two, some just passed through on their way to or from their breeding grounds. But there is one sparrow that will reliably stay here all year round in Western Montana,…
Read MoreRed Crossbill
By Jeannie Marcure One of the many things I love about bird watching is the continual opportunity to learn new and surprising things—even about some of the most regular visitors to my feeders. One of these opportunities (I call them AH-HAH MOMENTS!) occurred last May when I began to notice an unusual bird at my…
Read MoreNorthern Hawk Owl
Varied Thrush
By Gail Cleveland Think thick, damp, mossy coniferous forest. I think Avalanche Campground and the Cedars Nature Trail. Think a more isolated patch of old growth with an understory of alders, ferns and Devil’s Club. I think a Middle Fork adventure hike. Now within that dank solitude, listen. I hear a series of single drawn…
Read MoreAmerican Dipper
by Jeannie Marcure One of my favorite things about bird watching is that it can be done almost anywhere and can easily be combined with other pastimes. If you’re quietly aware of the natural world around you, great birding moments often happen when you least expect them. One such serendipitous moment occurred for me last…
Read MoreSnowy Owl
Great Blue Heron
By Ben Long The Great Blue Heron is one of those big, glamorous birds that delight both the novice and the expert birder alike. Not everyone appreciates the different phases of the dark-eyed junco, or can distinguish the calls of treetop warblers, but everyone can appreciate the Great Blue Heron. First off, they are big….
Read MoreKilldeer
By Jeannie Marcure In an effort to improve my birding skills, I’ve recently been trying to learn to identify birds by their calls. For someone lacking musical training or talent, this is a daunting task, so it makes sense that I’d have a special fondness for any bird that makes this job easier by calling…
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