by Denny Olson After 14 presentations (and the planning and research for each) in late February and March, (including the FAS monthly program on Bird Intelligence) and 20 hours of volunteer work in OSNA, I looked at the April schedule. I only had the FAS Board and public meetings, my STEAM Alliance Board meeting, 3…

Montana State Parks (stateparks.mt.gov) announced that they will be partnering with the Montana Native Plant Society-Flathead Chapter and Flathead Audubon Society to bring you several programs about the native plants and birds that thrive on the lovely east shore landscape. Thursday, May 5th, 6-7 PM Creating Birdsong in Our World, One Garden at A Time…

Yes, radar beams are reflected off swarming masses of birds just like precipitation or water vapor. In the early days of World War II, British radar operators noticed mysterious, ethereal shadows drifting across their screens. In 1958, a New Orleans high school student named Sidney Gauthreaux figured out they were masses of birds. Next Generation…

Science Fair Winner Chosen for Flathead Audubon Society Conservation of Wildlife Award by Cindy Roberts On Thursday, February 24th, Flathead County students in grades 3 through 12 shared their science fair projects with judges at Flathead County Science Fair, held at the Flathead County Fairgrounds Expo Building. In addition to the many grade-level life, earth,…

by Denny Olson         Aside from the usual reasons someone in my advanced state of decay would wake in the middle of the night, occasionally I jolt awake with an idea. Last week’s “somnus interruptus” was a doozy. My brain was in full fisheye lens mode — the big picture — and…

by Denny Olson It was such a relief, after seemingly endless COVID variants, cancellations, sequesterings and quarantines, to see real people in front of me at the January “hybrid” meeting. I almost felt that I recognized some of the well-spaced upper halves of faces in the audience — but it’s been a while, you know…

by Denny Olson In the summer of 2017, Flathead High School International Baccalaureate Students Conrad Hedinger, Molly Adams and Sarah Randolph did increment borer fieldwork aging black cottonwood trees at 16 plot points in a grid pattern at Owen Sowerwine Natural Area (OSNA). The casual observation suspicion that cottonwoods were not regenerating very well was…

by Denny Olson Part Two: The places on the planet — restoring balance (see part one here) Last month I outlined the big, planetary picture. About big, planetary balance. But there’s something else you might want to know — because you don’t just live “on a planet”. You live in a place on that planet….