The 2022 migration season at the Jewel Basin Hawk Watch concluded 20 October, as a dramatic shift in the weather dropped enough snow to make safe access to the site no longer possible. A season characterized by sunny skies and consistent coverage led to above average numbers across almost all species, but record numbers for…
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by Denny Olson Owen Sowerwine Our Local Outdoor Classroom A couple of days ago, I led a small group of three on a field trip to Owen Sowerwine, that roughly 442-acre parcel of State School Trust land located along the Stillwater and Flathead Rivers just east of Willow Glen near Kalispell. The trip emphasized the…
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by Denny Olson The Sandhill Cranes in West Valley put on a show for students from Evergreen Middle school (2 days), West Valley School (2 days), Cayuse Prairie School, Fairmont Egan School and two adult morning and evening field trips led by Darcy and Denny and assisted by Tom and Cindy Roberts. Bald Eagles in…
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by Dan Casey, JBHW Coordinator The 2022 migration season at the Jewel Basin Hawk Watch has been characterized by sunny skies, consistent coverage, and above average numbers across almost all species. As of October 18th, we had conducted 47 surveys averaging 6.6 hours each, and had tallied 2,776 raptors of 17 species. Along the way…
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by Dave Manuwal The second most important source of bird mortality in North America is colliding with windows (American Bird Conservancy). Flathead Audubon has an opportunity to measure the importance of mortality associated with birds hitting windows of our homes. We propose to record all birds that die from hitting our windows for a period…
Read MoreTroy MT had their CBC on January 1 2022. Weather was tough with 8-16” of snow and temperatures ranging from –11 to +10 degrees with little or no sun. Saving grace was there was little wind. We had 19 Field observers ranging from 5 years old to just plain old. For those who aren’t familiar…
Read Moreby Gael Bissell A friend sent me this photo in late September after she heard this unfortunate juvenile sharpie, chasing finches, hit their window with a loud bang. We all have heard the crack at the window and then gone looking for a bird just hoping it flew away. Whether a bird is clearly injured…
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by Craig Hohenberger The 47th annual Bigfork Christmas Bird Count was held Saturday, December 19, under cloudy skies, periodic light showers, with mild to moderate SW winds throughout the day. Snow depths were non-existent and/or limited to the higher eastern edges of the count circle; temperatures ranged from 36-46 degrees F. Lakes and ponds were…
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by Rob Rich Swan Valley Connections held the Upper Swan Valley Christmas Bird Count on Saturday, December 21. Early morning fog burned off for a clear day of birding, with temperatures in the mid-30s and patchy snow on the ground that had not melted in the mild week leading up to the count. Sixteen birders…
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