by Darcy Thomas Please give a big shout-out to our fabulous Bird of the Month (BOM) authors who wrote great articles for your reading enjoyment this year. Sneed Collard gave us the Black-backed Woodpecker, Theresa Ciraolo imparted her newfound love of the Common Merganser, Kat Peterson imparted her knowledge of the American Crow, Karen Nichols…
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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…
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a little upside-down bird by Darcy Thomas Once called the Canada Nuthatch, the Red-breasted Nuthatch Sitta canadensis is a common bird throughout North America. The name nuthatch is likely from the word “nuthack”, referring to the nuthatches habit of hacking away at a seed with its bill to open it. For such a tiny bird…
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by Lisa Bate Glacier National Park (GNP) held its annual Christmas Bird Count (CBC) on Sunday, December 19, 2021. Twenty-two 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 overcast with light winds, and temperatures ranged between 29…
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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…
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by Pete Fisher The 22nd Kalispell Christmas Bird Count held on Sunday, January 3, 2021, recorded a total of 77 species, a number which is about average for this count. Highlights included the first ever Canvasback (small slough at southern end of Woodland Avenue) and first ever Short-eared Owl (hunting at dusk in West Valley…
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by Carole Jorgensen DEAD WOOD Before you remove or burn those dead trees or brush piles, think about the critters that live there. Dead wood (standing and down dead trees and logs, bark, stumps and roots) creates a complex community storing carbon, moisture, invertebrates and fungi. Primary excavators such as woodpeckers, create cavities for nesting…
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National Audubon Society 2019 Climate Report by Lewis Young, Conservation Committee In 2014, National Audubon Society published a report documenting the effects of climate change on birds. This 2019 report revisits the same subject. It utilizes peer-reviewed data to look at the vulnerability of birds across North America to climate change based on a new,…
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by Lisa Bate Glacier National Park (GNP) held its annual Christmas Bird Count (CBC) on Sunday, December 16, 2018. Thirty participants contributed to this event by covering 10 different routes in Glacier and 1 bird feeder in West Glacier. Participants spent the day counting all bird species and individuals detected. The weather was unusually mild…
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