by Craig Hohenberger The 48th annual Bigfork Christmas Bird Count was held Saturday, December 18th, under cloudy skies and snow throughout the day, with mild SSW winds. Snow depths were about 7 inches at the eastern edges of the count circle and 2-3 inches in the valley; temperatures ranged from 15-26 degrees F. Lakes and…
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by Denny Olson It has been an unforgettable year. The uncertainty of COVID and all of its variants has us all wishing for personal contact, more mobility and that calming feeling of being safe from invisible and unpredictable forces. It doesn’t help that, just when we are seeing a glimmer of light on the horizon,…
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Highlights from the December 6, 2021 Board of Directors Meeting Rod Wallette, Treasurer, reported that WCF has discontinued the Day of Giving fundraiser, he is seeking bids to renew the FAS insurance policies, and the Montana Audubon Wildlife Grant application will be submitted. Rod also initiated continuing discussion about investments/endowments at WCF, and it was…
Read MoreBy Denny Olson An enterprising climatologist once calculated the rate of spring’s advance to the north. It averages a half-mile per hour, or twelve miles per day – not supersonic, but not glacial either. In fact, it’s an easy walking speed. The roller-coaster fits and starts of that long transition can be frustrating after a…
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by Denny Olson I decided not to wax philosophical this month, and instead, give you a report on the day-to-day of my Conservation Educator’s life, and what is planned for the near future. After the December Bigfork (with Bridger Donaldson) and Kalispell (with Tom and Cindy Roberts and Mary Auxier) Christmas Bird Counts, and a…
Read Moreby Denny Olson Well, we are nearing the end of that chronically over-planned, not-enough-time-in-the-universe-as-we-understand-it, time we call “summer”. And I have to say … it has been fun! Five weeks of teaching senior citizens about birds and life in Glacier, four days of Audubon and Road Scholar grandparents and grandkids with talented FAS volunteers, many…
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Honoring Butch and Buzz, The Osprey Twins by Gael Bissell We were in 9th or 10th grade, says Doug “Butch” MacCarter, the just five-minute older twin brother of Don “Buzz” MacCarter, and we rode our bikes, as we did most every day since Kindergarten, to the rim rocks above Billings.” It was 1958-59. “Our goal…
Read MoreHighlights from February 18th, 2019 Board Meeting Both Hawk Watch and the Education Committee will be wrapping up work and reports for 2018; after which the planning for the 2019 seasons will continue in earnest. Denny Olson, joined by Flathead Land Trust and Montana FWP, is proceeding on work to create Sandhill Crane and Osprey…
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by Dan Casey After more than ten years of experience monitoring fall migration of raptors in the Jewel Basin, we should typically see about 2,600 raptors (mean, 2,598) on about 45 survey days between the end of August and early November. This year we once again conducted 45 surveys, although our average survey length of…
Read Moreby Denny Olson We are about to transition into the traditional winter-spring conservation education schedule – Great Backyard Bird Count with at least two different schools, FVCC Senior Institute Birds of NW Montana for six weeks, four weeks of the Beauty of Birds class for the general public at Flathead High School (Wednesday evenings), Earth…
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