by Linda Winnie At the December FAS meeting, several people reported seeing House Finches with infected eyes at their feeders – partially or fully closed, red, swollen, or crusty. Most likely these birds were suffering from avian conjunctivitis, a bacterial infection that can affect any songbird, but occurs frequently in finches. If you see a…
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State of the World’s Birds by David A. Manuwal On September 19, 2019 an article in the journal Science was published that sent shockwaves through the conservation community. The report indicated that almost 3 billion birds had disappeared since 1970. A year earlier in 2018, another independent less well-known report was published by Birdlife International,…
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by Kat Peterson The 12th season has ended for the 2019 hawk migration season at the Jewel Basin Hawk Watch site northeast of Bigfork. Our season started out encouragingly with a primary observer on the ridge almost every day. Our high count of 250 birds on September 22 was our seventh best day ever! However,…
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National Audubon Society 2019 Climate Report by Lewis Young, Conservation Committee In 2014, National Audubon Society published a report documenting the effects of climate change on birds. This 2019 report revisits the same subject. It utilizes peer-reviewed data to look at the vulnerability of birds across North America to climate change based on a new,…
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a September 2019 publication in Science Magazine by Carole Jorgensen, Conservation Committee A paper was recently published in peer-reviewed Science magazine by experienced and reputable authors. Decline of the North American Avifauna by Rosenberg et al. 2019 is available on FAS website at: https://www.flatheadaudubon.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Rosenberg-et-al-Science-Sept-2019.pdf. The short four pages of text (plus many more pages of…
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by Kathy Ross Feathers, hollow bones, no more than air cloaked in brilliant hues. Our neotropical birds migrate at speeds up 100 mph, at elevations as high as 15,000 feet, for up to 8 hours at a stretch or some never stopping for thousands of miles. To top off this feat, they know their way…
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It’s curlew season again in the Mission Valley! Are you ready to hear the ‘currlleeee’ of the Long-billed Curlew? Well, grab your binoculars and get ready, because this charismatic shorebird needs you. Montana’s curlews will be trickling back next month and we want to keep tracking them in and around the Mission Valley! We know…
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by Laura Katzman We are grateful that the Grosswiler family placed almost 400 acres of their land in the West Valley in conservation easements with Flathead Land Trust in 2017 and 2018. The conserved land has amazing conservation values with its rich farm soils and unique 45-acre pothole wetland that is critical for tens of…
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2019 OSNA Volunteer Monitoring begins this month! from Linda Winnie, Co-Chair, Owen Sowerwine Committee Reports from Volunteer Monitors underpin Flathead Audubon’s management of OSNA. The reports give our OSNA On-the-Ground Manager up-to-date information on maintenance needs at Owen Sowerwine. They provide observational data that feeds into our records of what birds and wildlife and native vegetation…
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by Amy Seamon We made it! The first month and a half of the 2019 legislative session just flew by! We have been in the halls of the capital every day talking to legislators, and our efforts have been reflected: we have testified on 32 bills (supporting 18 and opposing 14), hosted an MSU class…
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