by Beth Gardner Noisy. Drab. Pest. These are common reactions when I mention the starling. That is totally understandable. They are indeed loud, nonnative, and commonplace. But they have one amazing super power. Starlings form impressively large flocks, and to watch these flocks fly can be one of the great wonders of nature. But before…
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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 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 MoreThe 26th annual Eureka Christmas bird count was held on Saturday, December 15 in mild weather that ranged from 31˚F to 41˚F. A record 33 field observers and 16 feeder watchers recorded 61 species and 4953 individual birds. The 61 species tied the fifth highest total in our history and the number of individuals was…
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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by Brian Williams The Ninepipes Christmas Bird Count was held on Sunday, 18 December 2016. Sixteen observers braved the single-digit weather and treacherous roads to count birds. The deep cold made open water scarce and held our total species down a bit from 5 and 10 year averages, but we found some excellent birds. Short-eared…
Read Moreby Pete Fisher The 18th annual Kalispell Christmas Bird Count (CBC) was held on January 1, 2017. Twenty-eight intrepid field observers braved wind and drifting snow to count 75 species of bird. Four feeder watchers contributed data as well. Major highlights were an Iceland Gull at the Flathead Dump and a Northern Saw-whet Owl at…
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By Dennis Hester Who has not seen a Crow? If a person can identify only a few birds, one of them no doubt will be the Crow. It is well known because it is large, black, ubiquitous and noisy. In fact, the American Crow probably ranks with Turdus migratorus and Sturnus vulgaris (American Robin and…
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