By Dan Casey This fall season marks the 9th year of full-time surveys at the Jewel Basin Hawk Watch, and the second year with Flathead Audubon as the primary sponsor of the effort. Thursday, Oct. 13th marked the 31st survey of the 2016 season, bringing us to 2,417 birds counted. We were on a record…
Read MoreTag: Bald Eagle
Field Trip Report: Alvord Lake Community Forest Celebration
By Linda Winnie. Neighbors, supporters, and partners of the Alvord Lake Community Forest Project gathered July 8 at Alvord Lake’s Outdoor Classroom near Troy, MT, to celebrate the Vital Ground Foundation’s completion of the project and the establishment of this unique Community Forest. FAS had organized a carpool from Kalispell for those travelling to the…
Read MoreField Trip Report: Lost Trail NWR
By Margaret Parodi. Seventeen people participated in the Flathead Audubon field trip to the Lost Trail National Wildlife Refuge (northwest of Marion) on June 19. Participants met at the refuge headquarters at 8:30 am. The day was cool, breezy, and sunny, with morning temperature in the lower 50’s, later reaching a high of 65 degrees. The…
Read MoreField Trip Report: Wild Horse Island
by Laura Katzman Ten lucky participants enjoyed an amazing tour of spectacular Wild Horse Island led by Doug MacCarter of Flathead Audubon on June 22. We boated to the island and started the tour at Doug’s family cabin on the south central shore of the island. We then hiked to Skeeko Bay learning about the history of…
Read MoreField Trip Report: Birding by Bicycle
By Laura Katzman and Gael Bissell. Forty people joined Flathead Land Trust, Flathead Audubon, and the Flathead River to Lake Initiative, on a sunny Saturday morning, May 14, for the 2016 spring Bike and Bird field trip. The group met at McWenneger Slough at the 412-acre Fisher property that is protected by a conservation easement…
Read MoreMarch 2016 Chirps and Squawks
Highlights from February 2016 Board Meeting: The February Board Meeting was cancelled due to lack of a quorum. Nongame Wildlife Tax Check-off When filling out your Montana tax form this year, think “wildlife” by donating to the Nongame Wildlife Program, found on line 18a (short EZ form) or 69a (long form). If your taxes are prepared,…
Read MoreJewel Basin Hawk Watchers Receive Conservation Achievement Recognition
Flathead Audubon proudly presents our first 2016 Conservation Achievement Recognition to our most dedicated Jewel Basin Hawk Watch Observers. These individuals have given thousands of hours over the last eight years identifying and counting migrating raptors at the Jewel Basin Hawk Watch site. This incredible group of experienced “Jeweler’s”, as they like to be called,…
Read MoreLead Bullets and Wildlife
by Lewis Young and Kate Stone Are you a big game hunter? Do you use lead bullets? Lead bullets, even copper jacketed lead bullets, fired from high velocity guns fragment on impact losing 20-40% of their mass when they hit an object. As many as 200 fragments disperse throughout the carcass and are often too small…
Read MoreBald and Golden Eagles
By Ben Long Flathead County is fortunate to host both of North America’s eagles. Both are majestic, but they are unique and not even closely related species: the bald eagle and the golden eagle. Both birds are roughly the same size— about three feet long, a wing-span of about six feet and weighing roughly 10-12…
Read MoreWild Turkey
By Gail Cleveland Although the Wild Turkey was well known to American Indians and widely used as food, certain tribes considered these birds stupid and cowardly and did not eat them for fear of acquiring these characteristics. In early August, two Wild Turkey Moms and twelve chicks showed up in our backyard. At that time…
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