by Denny Olson I decided to take a departure from the usual this month. Recently, we have seen our Valley “relapse” into another round of a pandemic variant, and the resulting cancellations and disappointments, and the depressing prospects of us returning to “normal” soon, have taken an emotional toll. But lest…
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Due to current health concerns, we have cancelled our beloved in-person Birds of Prey Festival event at Lone Pine on Sept 18 but we have lined up a series of exciting in person and virtual Birds of Prey events. ID Live Raptors up close with Wild Wings Flathead Audubon and Wild Wings Raptor Recovery Center…
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“Growing Native Plants for Birds” a presentation by Kathy Ross, will be hosted by the Center for Native Plants on Thursday, August. 5, 6 pm. You are welcome to arrive early or stay afterwards to look over the variety of native plants available at the Center. The Center for Native Plants is at 5605 Hwy…
Read MoreBy Denny Olson An enterprising climatologist once calculated the rate of spring’s advance to the north. It averages a half-mile per hour, or twelve miles per day – not supersonic, but not glacial either. In fact, it’s an easy walking speed. The roller-coaster fits and starts of that long transition can be frustrating after a…
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a review by Rosemary McKinnon In 2018 I visited an old school friend in Pembrokeshire, Wales. The weather was auspicious and we decided to take a boat to the offshore islands of Skomer and Skokholm. Puffins were returning to nest in their burrows after spending the winter feeding in the mid-Atlantic. Gannets and skuas circled…
Read Moreby Denny Olson Frustrated with Birding ID by Ear? Help is on the way! There are 270 nesting species of birds in Montana, and 435 species that we know have at least passed through on their travels. They all make some kinds of noises, and those noises are at least slightly different from each other,…
Read MoreBy Denny Olson In what now seems like a geologic epoch ago, I was going to graduate school on a teaching assistantship, working summers at my first interpretive naturalist job in a Minnesota state park. The park’s main attraction was a beautiful gorge with rapids and waterfalls, but there was also an 8,000 acre wild…
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by Cindy and Tom Roberts, Flathead Audubon Education Committee Co-Chairs In the works! The Flathead Audubon Conservation Educator, Denny Olson, is in the process of converting a number of power point presentations that he has shared with local students to stand-alone, audio-narrated presentations that teachers can share with students. These video/audio presentations will include: Cranes…
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by Cindy and Tom Roberts, Flathead Audubon Education Committee Co-Chairs Available Now! The Flathead Audubon Education Committee and our conservation educator, Denny Olson, have had to retool how we provide educational opportunities to the public. As announced in previous articles, Denny, with the help of committee members, created three videos encompassing the most significant ideas…
Read Moreby Denny Olson At my house, during this tumultuous year, unlike anything any of us has seen before, prompted a good-natured by-word that has been used for a lot of laughs at bizarre and sometimes semi-tragic times. “What NOW?” There have been many adaptations to life in general, and with most everyone sequestered, we at…
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