by Jake Bramante Did you forget about the Christmas Bird Counts? Were you disappointed to find out about a last minute field trip that was changed? Do you want to know what’s happening throughout the summer? Enter the “Flathead Audubon Fly-by”! This is Flathead Audubon’s once-ish a month quick newsletter briefly reminding you of upcoming…
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by Jake Bramante A major benefit of becoming a member of the Flathead Audubon Society (FAS) is the satisfying feeling that you are contributing to solid, science-based education and conservation efforts. It doesn’t stop there, however. If you haven’t noticed, we have a new look and with that new look, some additional benefits. Every member…
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by Linda Winnie At the December FAS meeting, several people reported seeing House Finches with infected eyes at their feeders – partially or fully closed, red, swollen, or crusty. Most likely these birds were suffering from avian conjunctivitis, a bacterial infection that can affect any songbird, but occurs frequently in finches. If you see a…
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by Joshua Covill Rare and Notables – December 2019 11/18 – Northern Hawk Owl at Howe Lake in Glacier NP (Steve G.) 11/21 – Rusty Blackbird at the Lazy Creek bridge of Whitefish Lake (Anonymous eBirder) 11/28 – Northern Hawk Owl photographed at the Swan River NWR access (Carrie V. & Dan S.) 11/30 –…
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Impact of Habitat Destruction & Fragmentation on Birds presented by Robert Gentry Robert Gentry will be the guest speaker at the Flathead Audubon monthly meeting Monday, January 13 from 7-9 PM in the Gateway West Community Meeting Room in Kalispell. As any birder knows, habitat is critical to birds. Robert will discuss not only how…
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State of the World’s Birds by David A. Manuwal On September 19, 2019 an article in the journal Science was published that sent shockwaves through the conservation community. The report indicated that almost 3 billion birds had disappeared since 1970. A year earlier in 2018, another independent less well-known report was published by Birdlife International,…
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The Meta-Threat by Dennis Olson In the last Pileated Post, FAS Board member Carole Jorgensen and Post Editor Lewis Young wrote two wonderful short summaries of two separate “meta-studies” – regarding the 29% decline in North American bird populations in the last 50 years, and, respectively, an Audubon study outlining the 64% of North American…
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by Kat Peterson The 12th season has ended for the 2019 hawk migration season at the Jewel Basin Hawk Watch site northeast of Bigfork. Our season started out encouragingly with a primary observer on the ridge almost every day. Our high count of 250 birds on September 22 was our seventh best day ever! However,…
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Highlights from November 4th Board Meeting Jan Metzmaker is coordinating the development of a consistent approach to acknowledgments of gifts, grants, and donations. Kay Mitchell reported that we received a $2000 matching grant from Flathead Conservation District to use in OSNA in our efforts to control invasives. Denny Olson is nearly finished with the educational…
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by Denny Olson Most of our first experiences with Turkey Vultures are spotting them in flight. They are often in groups, a “venue” of birds, not necessarily related to each other, but gathering because the warm thermals of air are optimal there. Their flight is as effortless and beautiful as any bird’s can be. They…
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