Rare and Notables – May-August 2023 Spring migrants were generally late and in low overall abundance. An abnormally hot dry summer still provided a few surprises, with the first local record of a Red-headed Woodpecker near Kalispell, the seventh local record of a Yellow-breasted Chat (in Somers), an intriguing summer sighting of a Broad-winged Hawk…
Read Moreby Dan Casey Rare and Notables – MAR/APR 2023 Mid-March offered its usual diversity and abundance of waterfowl, with great numbers of geese and ducks throughout the valley (despite the late ice-out). Eurasian Wigeon were seen among the flocks at many sites around the valley, from March 17through April 11. A Eurasian Green-winged Teal at…
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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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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 Moreby Rob Rich As the season dithered between fall and winter on December 19, 12 devoted naturalists sought birds for the Upper Swan Valley CBC. The morning’s heavy rain gave way to overcast skies with periodic wind gusts in the afternoon, when temperatures rose into the low 40s. While the ground remained white in the mountains,…
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by Amy Seaman Join Montana Audubon’s Director of Policy & Science, Amy Seaman, for a series of online Raptor Identification Workshops! There is no question that learning how to identify raptors takes time. That is why we are going to help Flathead Audubon Society celebrate raptor week with a three-part raptor identification series and fundraiser….
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by Kat Petersen and Dan Casey Monday September 16th was our 20th survey of the 2019 hawk migration season at the Jewel Basin Hawk Watch northeast of Bigfork, and the second consecutive day with more than 100 birds counted, as the migration is picking up! Daily totals otherwise have been a bit lower than previous…
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Coming September 14th at Lone Pine State Park Continuing a tradition started by the family of the late Rod Ash in 2006, Flathead Audubon, partnering with Lone Pine State Park, will expand on our big public event of the year with exhibits, booths and programs beginning at 9:00 AM until 1:00 PM. US Forest Service,…
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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…
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Kari Gabriel, Montana Bird Lady The Montana Bird Lady, Kari Gabriel, will be the featured speaker at the Monday, February 12 meeting, 7-9 PM at the Gateway West Community Room, US Highway 2 West, Kalispell. Kari Gabriel has been working as a raptor educator, trainer and rehabilitator since 1991, following a life-long dream of working…
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