Upper Swan CBC December 15 Upper Swan held its annual Christmas Bird Count on Thursday, December 15, with nine field observers. We had decent weather with temperatures ranging from 19 to 27, cloudy skies, and wind at 7 mph. Most still water was frozen and moving water was partly open. Snow depths ranged from six…
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The 24th Kalispell Christmas Bird Count was held on Sunday, January 1, 2023. A total of 75 species was recorded, a number which is about average for this count. Highlights included the 2nd ever Yellow-headed Blackbird (Craig Hohenberger et. al.), the 2nd ever Pied-billed Grebe (Elaine Snyder et al.), the 3rd ever Northern Saw-whet Owl…
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by Darcy Thomas Our Bird of the Month authors deserve a wonderful word of praise for their contributions to the newsletter this year. Once again, we had a couple of new authors including Alex Crowley who is a 12-year-old bird lover who wrote about the American Coot and even included his own drawings for the…
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by Darcy Thomas A morning of bird watching at Smith Lake in Kila was very successful September 8 with eleven birders joining Darcy Thomas around the lake. Two were visiting from out-of-state and the youngest was only 5 years old. It was a bit chilly at 41 degrees when we started but warmed up comfortably…
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by Darcy Thomas A morning of bird watching September 8 at Smith Lake in Kila was very successful. Eleven birders joined leader Darcy Thomas; two were visiting from out-of-state; the youngest was 5 years old. It was a bit chill at 41 degrees when we started but warmed up comfortably later in the morning. A…
Read Moreby Ellen Sullivan and Lewis Young The 28th annual Eureka Christmas bird count was held on Friday, December 18 in mild weather that ranged from 34°F to 40°F. The count this year was conducted with appropriate Covid-19 protocols which accounted for a reduced number of field going observers. Sixteen people went to the field and…
Read MoreThe 20th Kalispell Christmas Bird Count was held on Sunday, December 30. Milder than usual weather (28-35˚ F) and minimal snow cover (2 inches) made for an interesting count. This count could be dubbed “The Year of the Goose”. We encountered astounding numbers of Canada Geese, which were taking full advantage of the exposed farm…
Read Moreby Lewis Young, compiler The 25th annual Eureka Christmas Bird Count was held on Saturday, December 16 in mild weather that ranged from 22F to 35F. Twenty-two field observers and 15 feeder watchers recorded 69 species and 2779 individual birds. The 69 species were the second highest total in our history. Three new species were…
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The “All” American Coot by John Hughes The American Coot, Fulica americana, (Fulica from Latin meaning “coot”) is truly the “All” American Coot. While conventional range maps indicate the absence of Coots in some states in the northeast and Alaska, an examination of eBird’s range map confirms yearly sightings in all continental U.S. states and…
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