About 150 people gathered Saturday evening, October 6, to celebrate the completion of Flathead Land Trust’s West Valley Wetlands Conservation Project, and the Grand Opening of the Project’s new West Valley Bird Viewing Area. The Project has placed conservation easements on 400 acres in the West Valley Ponds Complex, which is a critical staging area…
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by Craig Hohenberger, compiler The 44th annual Bigfork Christmas Bird Count was held Saturday, December 16th, under cloudy skies and mild weather conditions; snow depth 1-4 inches, temperatures ranged from 28-34 degrees F with little or no wind. Rivers and lakes were mostly open and there was a little ice on Flathead Lake at the edges….
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By Cory Davis. On Saturday, October 7, twenty-six hardy folks participated in a Sandhill Crane Watching Tour at the West Valley Wetlands just northwest of Kalispell. Denny Olson of Flathead Audubon led the trip that was co-sponsored by Flathead Land Trust, Flathead Audubon and the West Valley Naturalist’s Association. The participants weathered some cold, windy…
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by Kay Mitchell The Flathead Land Trust has met its goal in raising 100% of the required $150,000 non-federal match of the $1.4 million project that will permanently protect the West Valley Pond site. The Pond and surrounding farmland provide rich habitat for a very large variety of birds and other wildlife that we all love…
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Flathead Land Trust is working to conserve a 400-acre portion of the Sandhill Crane staging area in West Valley. Laura Katzman of the Land Trust reported on this project at our October meeting. Here is a short summary for those who missed her presentation. Large numbers of Sandhill Cranes, at times more than 400 birds, gather…
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Highlights from October 2016 Board Meeting Heard and accepted treasurers report. Largest single expense was for Wiley Dike Blind Construction. Heard Denny Olson’s Education Report outlining numerous activities throughout the summer and upcoming activities. Discussed potential recipients of the Conservation Achievement Recognition Award. Heard report that membership is about normal for this time of year….
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Bird Habitat Conservation by Flathead Land Trust and Partners Our Current Effort to Protect Sandhill Crane Habitat Laura Katzman of the Flathead Land Trust will be the featured speaker at Flathead Audubon’s meet- ing on Monday, October 10. Laura will talk about bird habitat conservation accomplishments on over 750 acres in the Flathead and Mission…
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By Margaret Parodi. Seventeen people participated in the Flathead Audubon field trip to the Lost Trail National Wildlife Refuge (northwest of Marion) on June 19. Participants met at the refuge headquarters at 8:30 am. The day was cool, breezy, and sunny, with morning temperature in the lower 50’s, later reaching a high of 65 degrees. The…
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The Mission Valley Charismatic Curlews, Citizen Counters, and Conservation Collaboration The Mission Valley is one of rich and varied habitats, diverse and complicated land ownership, and growing development pressures. Over the past few years, Montana Audubon and key partners in the area, such as Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes biologists, have built a collaboration focusing…
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