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2005
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2006
Archives
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2007 |
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DECEMBER |
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A VERY SPECIAL
OWL
By Mary Nelesen
It
was one of those brilliantly clear winter days when I
came upon an owl perched on a bare branch of an aspen
tree in Glacier National Park. Being a new resident to
NW Montana, I had not seen this owl before and was not
at all familiar with what I was seeing. To my delight,
the owl did not fly away, as my husband and I slowly
made our way on snowshoes to just below the tree where
the owl was perched.
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NOVEMBER |
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NOMADS OF THE FOREST
Article and Photos by Jeannie Marcure
One of the
many things I love about bird watching is the
continual opportunity to learn new and
surprising things—even about some of the most
regular visitors to my feeders. One of these
opportunities (I call them AH-HAH MOMENTS!)
occurred last May when I began to notice an
unusual bird at my sunflower feeder.
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OCTOBER |
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A THE SONG
SPARROW, MELODIOUS AND HEARTY
By
Linda de Kort
As October
arrives, many of the songbirds have left our
valley. Some stopped for a while and raised a
brood or two, some just passed through on their
way to or from their breeding grounds. But there
is one sparrow that will reliably stay here all
year round in Western Montana, our resident Song
Sparrow.
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SEPTEMBER |
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A SPECIAL "LITTLE BROWN BIRD"
By Gail Cleveland
I am partial to nuthatches, whether Redbreasted,
Pygmy or White-breasted, especially as I
watch them come head-first down a fir tree in the
backyard. So naturally, I am also partial to the inconspicuous
and quiet Brown Creeper when I see one
spiral up the trunk of a tree, probing bark crevices
with its narrow, curved bill.
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JULY |
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NATURE'S
CLEAN-UP CREW
By Jeannie Marcure
Observing a
group of Turkey Vultures cleaning up a deer
carcass last fall tweaked my interest in these
carrion eaters. I have to admit that before my
research, I found these big black birds to be a
little repulsive. After all, they eat dead and
decaying things and I’d also heard a rumor that
they sometimes vomit on people. Not a pretty
picture—especially when you consider their diet!
My reading led me to the website maintained by
The Turkey Vulture Society of America and
revealed some truly amazing and unexpected
facts.
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MAY |
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DENIZEN OF THE WATERWAYS
By Jeannie Marcure
Since May is the month that many Montanans return to our
beautiful lakes and steams for recreation, it seems
appropriate that our featured bird this month is
one seen almost exclusively on or near the
water. My favorite form of water recreation
involves paddling a small kayak with binoculars
and camera close at hand. Not only is this
activity good exercise, but it also offers some
of my best bird watching and photography
encounters of the year.
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APRIL |
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TIME TO WATCH FOR YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS
By Linda DeKort
If you ask when Yellow-rumped Warblers
will be returning to our valley, Bruce Tannehill, from
Flathead Audubon, will tell you immediately,
“between April 25th and May 1st”. Bruce and his wife,
Gail Cleveland, are avid birders who
know their neighborhood birds intimately.
Like the rest of us, they look
forward to the return of this vivid warbler,
the first to return every spring
and last to leave in the fall.
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MARCH |
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SOUND THE TRUMPET FOR THE RETURN OF TRUMPETER SWANS
By March Mahr
The Trumpeter Swan (Cygnus buccinator)
is the largest waterfowl in North America and
the largest swan in the world. Yet there’s more
than their size to blow a horn about—Trumpeter
Swans are making a comeback. Once abundant and
widespread within a wide band extending from
Alaska along the Pacific Coast to the Midwest in
the U.S., and throughout western Canada,
Trumpeter Swans were nearly extinct by 1900.
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FEBRUARY |
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THEY HAVE EYES IN
THE BACK OF THEIR HEADS
By Jeannie
Marcure
Because
most of their activities are nocturnal, owls are
more often heard than seen and are often
regarded as mysterious and secretive. There’s
certainly something thrilling and primordial
about hearing an owl call in the darkness
of the forest. After spending almost two years
at Walden Pond, Thoreau described that
experience this way: “For sounds in winter nights, and often
in winter days, I heard the forlorn but melodious note
of a hooting owl indefinitely far; such a sound as the
frozen earth would yield if struck with a suitable
plectrum, the very lingua vernacula of Walden Wood, and
quite familiar to me at last, though I never saw the
bird while it was making it.”
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JANUARY |
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THE PILEATED WOODPECKER
By Karen Nichols &
Ben Long
Big, raucous and handsome, the pileated
woodpecker is a favorite of hard-core birding enthusiasts
and casual nature-lovers alike. The pileated
woodpecker is the classic "Woody Woodpecker."
The word "pileated" refers to its bright red crest, its
most distinguishing feature. The name may be pronounced
either “PIE-leh-ated" or "PIL-eh-ated.”
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