There is nothing like Snow Geese and the Rocky Mountains at the same time and place. The place is Freezout Lake WMA near Choteau; the time is the annual Flathead Audubon Society field trip to Freezout. The Snow Geese are moving from their wintering grounds to their arctic nesting areas along with thousands of other…
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by Joshua Covill Rare and Notables – February 2020 01/20 – Rusty Blackbird feeding in the cow pasture on Fox Farm Road (Cory D.) 01/20 – Northern Saw-whet Owl heard tooting from private residence south of Col. Falls (Chris H.) 01/24 – Iceland Gull (Thayer’s subspecies) spotted at the Flathead Co Landfill (Zack S.) 01/30…
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by Rob Rich Swan Valley Connections held the Upper Swan Valley Christmas Bird Count on Saturday, December 21. Early morning fog burned off for a clear day of birding, with temperatures in the mid-30s and patchy snow on the ground that had not melted in the mild week leading up to the count. Sixteen birders…
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by Pete Fisher The 21st Kalispell Christmas Bird Count was held on Sunday, December 29, 2019. Milder than usual weather (28-32 degrees F) and minimal snow cover (1 inch) made for an interesting count. The “Flathead Gull Sanctuary” (The Dump) was fruitful this year, providing five gull species. These included the count’s first ever Lesser…
Read Moreby Don Jones We had to move Troy’s count from Saturday to Sunday (21st) due to the onslaught of rain. Although we lost some counters, we gained a couple more and the weather was much improved which made for better birding. I believe we had 12 people in the field and 5 feeder watchers. Temps…
Read Moreby Lisa Bate Glacier National Park (GNP) held its annual Christmas Bird Count (CBC) on Sunday, December 15, 2019. Twenty-nine participants contributed to this event by covering 10 different routes in Glacier, and 1 bird feeder in West Glacier. Participants spent the day counting all bird species and individuals detected. The weather was unusually mild…
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Mark your calendars because February 14th is coming right up, and we all know what that means. It’s time for the Great Backyard Bird Count and, okay, Valentine’s Day. The GBBC is conducted over a four-day period in mid-February (14th – 17th) to get a snap-shot of winter bird populations prior to spring migration. It…
Read Moreby Joshua Covill Rare and Notables – January 2020 12/24 – the NORTHERN CARDINAL in Marion was seen again at the same private residence that it was initially reported from, meaning it was been around for 1.5 months (Criag H. & Raylene W.) 12/29 – Prairie Falcon along Fairview Cemetery Rd south of Columbia Falls…
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by Lewis Young The 27th annual Eureka Christmas Bird Count was held on Saturday December 14 in moderate weather that ranged from 28°F to 32°F. Koocanusa Reservoir was unfrozen as were the streams but smaller lakes and ponds were frozen. Foggy weather in the morning confronted the 25 people that went to the field as…
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by Craig Hohenberger The 46th annual Bigfork Christmas Bird Count was held Saturday, December 14th, under cloudy skies, periodic “snow bands,” and relatively calm conditions all day. Snow depths were non-existent and/or limited to the higher eastern edges of the count circle; temperatures ranged from 31-39 degrees F. Rivers and lakes were mostly open and…
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