by Denny Olson I’ve been lucky enough to sit on a high promontory and watch a group of raven rascals – who always seem to have spare time on their talons – showing off their flight skills. Twice, perhaps the same raven both times, one cackled the raven version of “Hold my beer, watch this!”…
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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 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 Denny Olson Frustrated with Birding ID by Ear? Help is on the way! There are 270 nesting species of birds in Montana, and 435 species that we know have at least passed through on their travels. They all make some kinds of noises, and those noises are at least slightly different from each other,…
Read Moreby Ellen Sullivan and Lewis Young The 28th annual Eureka Christmas bird count was held on Friday, December 18 in mild weather that ranged from 34°F to 40°F. The count this year was conducted with appropriate Covid-19 protocols which accounted for a reduced number of field going observers. Sixteen people went to the field and…
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by Pete Fisher The 21st Kalispell Christmas Bird Count was held on Sunday, December 29, 2019. Milder than usual weather (28-32 degrees F) and minimal snow cover (1 inch) made for an interesting count. The “Flathead Gull Sanctuary” (The Dump) was fruitful this year, providing five gull species. These included the count’s first ever Lesser…
Read Moreby Lisa Bate Glacier National Park (GNP) held its annual Christmas Bird Count (CBC) on Sunday, December 15, 2019. Twenty-nine 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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by Lewis Young The 27th annual Eureka Christmas Bird Count was held on Saturday December 14 in moderate weather that ranged from 28°F to 32°F. Koocanusa Reservoir was unfrozen as were the streams but smaller lakes and ponds were frozen. Foggy weather in the morning confronted the 25 people that went to the field as…
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by Denny Olson I’m spoiled I’ve always been a student of nature, gleaning factoids and evaluating the quality of evidence about the health of our wild environment. I’ve been able to teach what I have learned – about in equal measure to my continuing efforts as a student – to literally hundreds of thousands of…
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The 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…
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