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…
Read More
by Lisa Bate Glacier National Park (GNP) held its annual Christmas Bird Count (CBC) on Sunday, December 18, 2022. Sixteen participants contributed to this event by covering 10 different routes in Glacier. Participants spent the day counting all bird species and individuals detected. The weather was dramatic with strong, gusty winds, heavy snow, and temperatures…
Read More
by Jim Oates We had good weather for the 30th Annual Ninepipe Count on December 18, with temperatures 27 to 33, calm winds, mostly cloudy skies, and morning flurries. Most still water was frozen. Twenty-five participants counted about 80 species (up a little) and about 12,000 birds (down a little). About 3,000 of those were mostly…
Read More
by Craig Hohenberger The 49th annual Bigfork Christmas Bird Count was held Saturday, December 17, under cloudy skies and mild SE winds. Temperatures varied from 19 to 28. Snow depths were about 4 to 6 inches in the valley, and at the eastern edges of the count circle there was up to a foot of…
Read More
Rare and Notables – DEC 2022/JAN 2023 Mid-December through mid-January was a period with mostly gray skies, periodic snows, and one period of deep cold. As the snow and lakes iced over, raptor numbers declined, but several species of owls were among the notables. “Winter finches” were scarce, with few reports of redpolls, Pine Grosbeaks…
Read MoreThe 24th annual Kalispell Christmas Bird Count will be held on Sunday, January 1, 2023. Centered at Reserve Street and Highway 93, the 15-mi diameter count circle includes Evergreen, much of the Flathead River corridor, Owen Sowerwine, Happy Valley, Herron Park, Egan Slough, Lonepine State Park and the Kuhn’s Wildlife Area. A popular New Year’s…
Read More
I am assuming all regional (local) leaders will be doing the Bigfork CBC once again. If you were a regional (local) leader last year, and are not participating in the Bigfork CBC this year, please let me know. I will be sending out the Bigfork CBC packets with bird checklists and maps of your respective…
Read More
by James Oates The Ninepipes CBC was conducted on December 19th, with 19 participants split into 8 parties. 73 species, which is about average, were reported with no new species. The total number of birds was down about 30% mostly in Canada Geese and Red-winged Blackbirds. A possible new species was seen on the 15th…
Read Moreby Dan Casey Rare and Notables – Jan/Feb At least two Snowy Owls persisted in the Lower Valley northeast of Somers throughout the period and were enjoyed by many local and visiting birders. Seasonally uncommon to rare, a White-throated Sparrow and a Brown-headed Cowbird continued at feeders in Whitefish and Creston, respectively. Migrant waterfowl numbers…
Read More
The 23rd annual Kalispell Christmas Bird Count was held Sunday, Jan. 2nd, a day with calm winds that started sunny and finished with overcast skies. We had 36 participants in 18 parties, who reported temperatures from -2F in the morning to 23F in the afternoon, and snow depths of 2-23 inches. Our efforts included more…
Read More