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2007
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2006
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2005
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2008 |
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DECEMBER |
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ROUGH-LEGGED
HAWKS ARE BACK!
By Marcy Mahr
Like me, you may have had to sit down with a
field guide on more than one occasion to sort
out the various hawk species that inhabit our
area. Particularly challenging is distinguishing
the subtle differences in plumages, which are
confusingly similar. >
MORE
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NOVEMBER |
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THE
MERLIN
by
Lewis Young
If you have ever watched a large wintertime
flock of waxwings around Kalispell and have seen
a small dark bird chasing the waxwings and
exhibiting an impressive display of speed and
agility, then you likely have seen a merlin.
Such a sight can be seen with some frequency
every winter in Kalispell.
>
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OCTOBER |
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THE VIRGINIA
RAIL
by
Gail Cleveland
Virginia Rails are solitary, seldom-seen birds
of the marsh, but if you ever see them in a
group, they will probably be in migration or out
in the open because of flooding in their home
range. If you are lucky enough to see them in a
group, you will have seen a reel of rails. Wow!
A Scottish dance of wetland creatures.
Personally, I have rarely seen a solitary
Virginia Rail, but each experience has been a
memorable one.
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SEPTEMBER |
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RED-NECKS IN
THE FLATHEAD
by
Jeannie Marcure
Webster defines a grebe as: “any of a family (Podicipedidae)
of swimming and diving birds closely related to
loons but having lobed toes.” In western
Montana, six species of grebes are found during
breeding season: Western, Clark’s, Eared,
Horned, Pied-billed, and the topic of this
month’s article, the Red-necked.
>
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JULY/AUGUST |
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TWO IN THE BUSH
by
Linda de Kort
Last week, the serviceberry bushes by our home
were buzzing with royal activity. Kinglets of
both local species were flitting and hovering,
gleaning the insects from the leaves of the
bush. This gave me a golden and ruby opportunity
to compare the field markings of these two
diminutive birds.
>
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JUNE |
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THE MARSH WREN
by
Jeannie Marcure
This months’ feature bird might well be
described as the “Mighty Mouse” of our local
marshes and ponds. My memorable first encounter
with this little dynamo occurred one spring day
as my husband and I were carrying our kayak
through a wet area to reach water.
>
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MAY |
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THE SOUNDS OF
SUMMER - THE KILLDEER
by
Jeannie Marcure
In an effort to improve my birding skills, I’ve
recently been trying to learn to identify birds
by their calls. For someone lacking musical
training or talent, this is a daunting task, so
it makes sense that I’d have a special fondness
for any bird that makes this job easier by
calling out its name.
>
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APRIL |
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BIG AND
GLAMOROUS GREAT BLUE HERON
by
Ben Long
The Great Blue Heron is one of those big,
glamorous birds that delight both the novice and
the expert birder alike. Not everyone
appreciates the different phases of the
dark-eyed junco, or can distinguish the calls of
treetop warblers, but everyone can appreciate
the Great Blue Heron.
>
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MARCH |
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SNOWY OWL,
ARCTIC OWL
Article and Photos by Gail Cleveland
My fascination with Snowy Owls (Bubo scandiacus)
began with a close encounter of the bird kind
one winter day in the mid-1980s while I was in
college in Vermont. I was studying in the
library when I heard a soft thud against the
window. I looked up from my book right into the
backside of a Snowy Owl. I remember my heart
racing as I watched the 2-foot high bird tuck
itself up against the glass on the third story
window sill. It was such a beautiful creature.
>
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FEBRUARY |
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THE AMERICAN
DIPPER
Article and Photos by Gail Cleveland
One of my favorite things about bird watching is
that it can be done almost anywhere and can
easily be combined with other pastimes. If
you’re quietly aware of the natural world around
you, great birding moments often happen when you
least expect them.
Thrush.
>
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JANUARY |
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VARIED THRUSH
By Gail Cleveland
Think thick, damp, mossy coniferous forest. I
think Avalanche Campground and the Cedars Nature
Trail. Think a more isolated patch of old growth
with an understory of alders, ferns and Devil’s
Club. I think a Middle Fork adventure hike. Now
within that dank solitude, listen. I hear a
series of single drawn out notes on different
pitches much like a British police whistle; some
say fuzzy, metallic notes in minor chords.
However you describe it, it is the unmistakable
song of Ixoreus naevius, the Varied
Thrush.
>
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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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