By Jeannie Marcure For most of us, the month of December is filled with visions of sugar-plums and the other trappings that have come to be expected during the holiday season; but for bird lovers the premier event might just be Audubon’s annual Christmas Bird Count. This annual event offers opportunities for both expert and…
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By Karen Nichols & Ben Long Big, raucous and handsome, the pileated woodpecker is a favorite of hard-core birding enthusiasts and casual nature-lovers alike. The pileated woodpecker is the classic “Woody Woodpecker.” The word “pileated” refers to its bright red crest, its most distinguishing feature. The name may be pronounced either “PIE-leh-ated” or “PIL-eh-ated.” The…
Read MoreBy Jeannie Marcure Because most of their activities are nocturnal, owls are more often heard than seen and are often regarded as mysterious and secretive. There’s certainly something thrilling and primordial about hearing an owl call in the darkness of the forest. After spending almost two years at Walden Pond, Thoreau described that experience this…
Read MoreBy March Mahr The Trumpeter Swan (Cygnus buccinator) is the largest waterfowl in North America and the largest swan in the world. Yet there’s more than their size to blow a horn about—Trumpeter Swans are making a comeback. Once abundant and widespread within a wide band extending from Alaska along the Pacific Coast to the…
Read MoreBy Linda DeKort If you ask when Yellow-rumped Warblers will be returning to our valley, Bruce Tannehill, from Flathead Audubon, will tell you immediately, “between April 25th and May 1st”. Bruce and his wife, Gail Cleveland, are avid birders who know their neighborhood birds intimately. Like the rest of us, they look forward to the…
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By Jeannie Marcure Since May is the month that many Montanans return to our beautiful lakes and steams for recreation, it seems appropriate that our featured bird this month is one seen almost exclusively on or near the water. My favorite form of water recreation involves paddling a small kayak with binoculars and camera close…
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By Jeannie Marcure Observing a group of Turkey Vultures cleaning up a deer carcass last fall tweaked my interest in these carrion eaters. I have to admit that before my research, I found these big black birds to be a little repulsive. After all, they eat dead and decaying things and I’d also heard a…
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By Gail Cleveland I am partial to nuthatches, whether Redbreasted, Pygmy or White-breasted, especially as I watch them come head-first down a fir tree in the backyard. So naturally, I am also partial to the inconspicuous and quiet Brown Creeper when I see one spiral up the trunk of a tree, probing bark crevices with…
Read MoreBy Linda de Kort As October arrives, many of the songbirds have left our valley. Some stopped for a while and raised a brood or two, some just passed through on their way to or from their breeding grounds. But there is one sparrow that will reliably stay here all year round in Western Montana,…
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By Jeannie Marcure One of the many things I love about bird watching is the continual opportunity to learn new and surprising things—even about some of the most regular visitors to my feeders. One of these opportunities (I call them AH-HAH MOMENTS!) occurred last May when I began to notice an unusual bird at my…
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