New Years Birding - 2017!!

New Years Day! It's a magical day where the birding clock resets, and old becomes new!  Every bird is new again.  Excitedly, we rush around noting the chickadees, woodpeckers, waterfowl and sparrows as they are the first, the first of the year!

     This year, the Kalispell Christmas Bird Count fell on the 1st of the year! I meet with Denny Olson and Gail Bissel and we conducted the count in our section of the count circle. Our area is generally a good one, including a spring creek with waterfowl, a section of town with feeders and fruiting trees, and some natural river bottoms for many other species!

     This winter was been colder and snowier than the last several.  With that, the American Robins have infiltrated the town and are abundant anywhere there are berries to be eaten!  We arrived at the Treasure Lane access point to the Owen Sowerwine Natural Area (an IBA) in Kalispell. Here, we stumbled upon dozens of robins! As we got out of the car, I counted the robins and neared 40 birds! 

     Looking over the robins, a small brown blob in the foreground caught my attention. just 10 yards in front of me was a perched Northern Saw-whet Owl!!!

Northern Saw-whet Owl

     We gawked over this bird for a minute or two before it flew deeper into the thickets. What a great bird to add to the Christmas Bird Count! Turns out, this was only the second time this species has been seen on the count.

     We continued to bird our section, finding some good birds like White-breasted Nuthatch, Merlin, Pileated Woodpecker, and Townsend's Solitare.

     The intersection of 6th and 6th East in Kalispell is a good spot for finding birds, as the many Mountain Ash trees attract berry-eaters. We had over 40 American Robins there as well as several Cedar Waxwings! 

American Robin

American Robin

Cedar Waxwing

     I ended the Christmas Bird Count with 37 species, and just enough daylight for a quick run to see my resident Harris's Sparrow in the west valley.
American Tree Sparrow - #38
Harris's Sparrow - #39

Now I just needed one more bird to have an even 40 species for the 1st of the year. Just then, a Rough-legged Hawk flew over me as I was departing the sparrow spot! #40!

     The Harris's didn't offer a chance for photos, but I did get an American Tree Sparrow and one of the many Song Sparrows there, this one with some white feathers on its forehead! 

American Tree Sparrow

'whitehead' the Song Sparrow!

A good day of birding, and a great start to the New Year!

Harris's Sparrow on the Winter Solstice

     Just a quick blog update

     On the winter solstice, I left work a little early to bird my way home through the 'west valley' in the remaining daylight.  It was clear and beautiful out, and I felt I needed to go birding to honor the shortest day of the year.

     Well, it didn't take long at all! I pulled up to the hedgerow where I usually start birding the west valley, and I got out and within seconds, spotted a Harris's Sparrow!  It's a first-year bird - hatched this summer somewhere in the Canadian arctic, and now found itself in western Montana on its way south.  It was tucked in the bushes with 8 Song Sparrows and 10 or more American Tree Sparrows!  The farmer seems to be dumping old or rotted grain in the bushes, and it's attracted a lot of birds!

     I tried for some photos of the Harris's, but didn't get the stellar shots I was hoping for. The Song Sparrows were more obliging. I plan on going back soon, and maybe the Harris's will stick around for the new year! We'll see!

Harris's Sparrow

Harris's Sparrow

Song Sparrow

Song Sparrow

Black Scoter and more!

     Monday night (the 21st) a local birder and friend messaged me a photo of a duck.  She knew what it was, but wanted confirmation. It was, indeed, a female-type Black Scoter! (female-type refers to the plumage of the bird. Females and young of both sexes looks similar and from less-than-great photos, it's hard to tell them apart)
     I congratulated her on the find and set plans to chase it the next morning! Luckily, she found it on Flathead Lake, at Boettcher Park in Polson. Just a easy 55 mile drive away! I have only seen one Black Scoter before (a female-type also) on the Creston pond in 2014 so this was pretty exciting!

Boettcher Park dock - Flathead Lake

     I arrived at the park at 8:14am on Tuesday the 22nd and without even getting out of the car, I spotted the scoter near the dock. A quick look through the windshield with binoculars confirmed it! Success! I got my gear and walked out to the end of the dock. The bird swam a little farther away, leading to sub-par photos of the scoter.

Black Scoter

     Watching the bird dive and retrieve food was very encouraging.  Sometimes when a bird is so far out of its normal range/habitat, it can have trouble finding food and may starve.  After getting a lot of great looks at the scoter through the scope, I walked around the park looking for other birds.

     There were 4 Bald Eagles in the park, and one immature bird even made a pass at the scoter! Luckily, it was woefully unsuccessful. Many Canada Geese were in the area, and Eurasian Collared-Doves, European Starlings, and Northern Flickers were moving about in the trees of the park. I found 3 Song Sparrows in the brush just outside the park fence.  Check out my full list of birds for the park HERE

3 of the 4 Bald Eagles present

a portion of the Canada Geese at the park

one of the Song Sparrows

     I left Boettcher Park and headed back north; I did after all, have work to go to.  I made a quick stop at Elmo Bay along Flathead Lake to look for more wayward seabirds and not one minute after arriving I spotted some! 4 White-winged Scoters! I snapped a terrible photo using my phone through the spotting scope and just in time! The birds promptly took off, flying east out of sight.  You can see my full checklist and photo of the scoters HERE

Elmo Bay - Flathead Lake

     Each scoter were yearbirds for me; bringing my 2016 total to 333 species! Another cool thing is now I have seen all three north american scoter species on Flathead Lake this year!

     You never know what birds might show up, and that is always exciting!

Quest for Quail!

     Andrew Guttenberg, Tom Forwood and I got together Friday night in Missoula for a Saturday of birding in Ravalli and Missoula Counties. Our main target: California Quail. The California Quail in Montana have been introduced to the Bitterroot Valley as game birds for 2 decades, but have since grown to a healthy, self-sustaining population.  Just a few years ago, the California Quail was accepted as a countable species in Ravalli and Missoula Counties.  This is the reason for our Quest for Quail!

     We started Saturday, the 12th, at Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge outside of Stevensville, MT.  Thick fog first concealed the majority of the waterfowl on the ponds but after an hour, the fog started to disappear.

frost in the field

     We walked the Kenai Trail, and found dozens of Song and American Tree Sparrows! It was great to finally see so many sparrows after the last few weeks of a nearly sparrow-less Flathead Valley.

Song Sparrow

Song Sparrow

American Tree Sparrow

Among the many waterfowl on the ponds, were many Green-winged Teal. These are common breeders in Montana and often overwinter were food is available. They, along with most waterfowl, have just molted into alternate (breeding) plumage and are very bright! I couldn't pass up an opportunity to photograph a male in his bright colors.

Green-winged Teal pair. The male still has some brown feathers on his sides from his non-breeding plumage. 

Several Trumpeter and Tundra Swans were also on the ponds at the NWR.

Trumpeter Swans

After getting our fill of birds, including two late Long-billed Dowitchers, a Northern Shrike, and a few Marsh Wrens, we left to look for quail!  You can view our entire bird list for our visit to Lee Metcalf here!

We started our search for the California Quail in the middle of Stevensville, and drove up and down the city streets watching for the birds in yards. We made our way to the roads on the edge of town, and continued through some newer neighborhoods. It wasn't long before Tom spotted a small group in a yard right off the road! We turned around and pulled over, staying in the car, and watched the cute birds for 10 minutes or so! They were feeding under a hanging birdfeeder and along a small hedgerow in a yard off Burnt Fork road.  I snapped away, hoping to get at least one good photo of the birds; and I did, just one photo came out while the rest were just a little blurry.

California Quail

These birds were a new Montana state bird for me and Andrew, bringing me to 298!

Okay, so it wasn't much of a 'quest'.  It was pretty relaxed birding all day, but making the trip down to Stevensville to see the quail was a trip I have been wanting to do for a while, and it felt great to see these birds at such close range and for so long. We really got to enjoy their intricate patterns and colors.  It was great to add the the species to my Montana life list, but it was even sweeter to enjoy the beauty of these adorable birds! No matter what species of bird, I always appreciate a chance to share a close encounter with a bird.  Nature is wonderful!

The day ended too soon, and I was driving back to the Flathead that evening to prepare for the next day of hawkwatching in the Jewel basin.  I am looking forward to more birding with Andrew and Tom in the near future!

A rainy-day surprise!

     After much procrastination, I will be making a few blog posts to catch up to present time, starting with this one about my day birding on October 8th, 2016.

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     It has been a busy autumn, and I have not had many days of just leisurely birding to myself.  Most days I check a few locales on my way to work or in-between errands, and although I am birding, it always feels rushed. So Saturday, October 8th, I made no plans or commitments other than to spend the day birding.
     The birding was slow, constant drizzling rain was uncomfortable, and the heavy cloud cover made it feel dark all day. Nothing surprising on the water as I checked for loons and scoters in the north bays of Flathead Lake.

     Checking the Flathead River near where it pours into the Flathead Lake, I heard a group of Black-capped Chickadees start to get worked up and loud. I walked over to the thicket where they seemed to be mobbing and looked for an owl. A few seconds pass as I strain my eyes to see into the dense tangle, and then my eyes adjust and MUCH closer to me than I was looking, the shape of an owl appears! Right in front of me! It's a NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL! My first ever! I'm shaking I run to the car only a few meters away and grab my camera!  The bird was calm and allowed me to get a few good shots of it before I left it in peace.

     What a wonderful surprise! A day I will not forget. This Northern Saw-whet Owl is my 462nd bird species I've ever seen, and my 297th bird for Montana.

A quick trip out east!

the Rocky Mountain Front as viewed from east of Browning

 
     This year has been the best year I've had in a while, and it's only half over!  I've found my groove again, and have been birding every chance I get, along with just about every other outdoor activity one can do in this great state!
     With all the birding and trips I've taken so far, I have amassed a personal Montana bird list larger than any other year!  Being on such a role, I decided to try and keep it going by running out to the NE of Montana and looking for the prairie specialists I have not seen this year.

     I set out Wednesday the 13th for Malta.  The plan is to camp in Malta Wed. night and bird Bowdoin first thing in the morning, moving to the surrounding area in the late morning/early afternoon before driving home (a 6 hour drive!).

     On the way to Malta, once I got to the east side, I saw several Ferruginous and Swainson's Hawks!  I have seen these species earlier this year, but no one can get tired of seeing a Ferruginous Hawk!
     Somewhere east of the small town of Inverness, I happened to spot a Swainson's Hawk nest along the highway!  I stopped to snap some pictures and left in a timely manner as to not disturb the birds.  The parents were not happy that I stopped to check them out!

Swainson's Hawk nest with 2 young

     In this cropped in photo, you can see 2 young hawks, and a ripped-apart ground squirrel hanging from one of the branches! 

     Just east of Chinook, I turned north onto Bagan Road.  This is a good, known spot to find Sprague's Pipit, Baird's Sparrows and other prairie specialists.  I decided to check it out on my way east, just in case I miss Sprague's or Baird's elswhere, I can at least try for them on Bagan Rd.

     The first half mile goes through some lush fields and crosses a river with thick riparian habitat around it.  After that, the road climbs a hill and plateaus on the native shortgrass prairie.  Almost immediately after I stopped and stepped out of the car, I heard a singing Sprague's Pipit!  The first year bird of the trip!  There were a few Lark Buntings and Loggerhead Shrikes along the road, and Vesper and Grasshopper Sparrows singing in the field, but I did not hear a Baird's Sparrow.  I could have spent hours here but I was running out of time if I wanted to make camp in Malta before the sun went down!
     Driving back to the highway, just after the river, I spotted a female oriole on the fence.  I hit the brakes and skidded to a stop and craned out the window with my binoculars.  Here, it could be a Baltimore Oriole or a Bullock's.  Sure enough, it was a female Baltimore Oriole! Second year bird of the trip!  She flew to a shrub, and I got out and walked closer to get a better look.  I discovered 4 more orioles, including an adult male!  It was a family group with 3 juveniles! I managed a few poor shots to record this sighting!

adult male Baltimore Oriole

juvenile Baltimore Oriole

     After snapping a few shots of the orioles, I was back on the highway, with another hour to go before I reached Malta.

     Making it to Tafton Park around 8:30pm, I found a good spot and set up camp. It was quickly getting dark as I took a quick walk around camp after the tent was up.  Gray Catbirds, American Robins, Western Kingbirds, and Common Nighthawks were the abundant birds as it got dark.  Sometime in the middle of the night, I awoke to an Eastern Screech-Owl calling in a tree fairly close to my tent!  I laid in tent, half away, wondering if I should get up and try to see the owl as it would be a lifer if I saw it.  Unfortunately, my half awake/half asleep brain prioritizes more sleep above all else, and I fell back asleep.  In the morning, and throughout the day, I kicked myself for not getting up! I could have seen a screech-owl, and a lifer at that!  Maybe next time...

      I got out of town, and made it to Bowdoin National Wildlife Refuge (7 miles east of Malta) around 5:50am.  It was a beautiful and calm morning, lots of birds about, and no shortage of mosquitoes!
     One of my main target birds, the Nelson's Sparrow, has been seen on the south end of the driving route, which I found out was CLOSED! Yeah, the auto tour route was closed at the railroad crossings, effectively blocking access to the area the Nelson's Sparrow is.  I drove down the sw portion of the route to see just how much area I can access before the RR tracks.  Also, this section is the area the Sedge Wrens have been found, which was my other top target bird.  They inhabit dense and tall wet Timothy grass fields, and once I reached the first patch of good habitat, I stopped the car and got out to see what I could find.  Almost immediately, I heard a singing Sedge Wren, and saw an additional bird foraging fairly close to the road!  I grabbed my camera and spished the bird to a higher perch and snapped some record shots!

Sedge Wren

Sedge Wren

     I have only seen the Sedge Wren 2 other times; once in Florida (Feb. 2008), and once in North Dakota (Jun. 2008).  This means it's a new Montana state bird for me, bringing my personal state list to 291!

     Continuing east on the auto tour route to 'Patrol Pond', I counted 11 total Sedge Wrens!  That's huge! These habitat specialists are fairly uncommon in eastern MT and to find a local breeding population with this many birds is great! Records from earlier in the season at Bowdoin have only counted 2 to 3 birds.  I believe the early morning with calm weather allowed me to locate more birds that would have been possible later in the day and/or with stronger winds.

     After reaching the end of the line, where the road meets the railroad tracks, I turned around and headed back to the other end of the auto-tour route.  after about the first half mile or so, the route opens up to grasslands and great views of the main lake.  I heard singing Sprague's Pipits, Grasshopper Sparrows, and a few Baird's Sparrows!  The Baird's Sparrows, although they never showed themselves, were my next yearbird!  Slowly, I'm getting the prairie specialties I set out to find.   

The natural prairie that surrounds the lake

A passable photo of one of the many Grasshopper Sparrows I encountered

A photogenic female Lark Bunting along the auto tour route

    Where the route gets closer to the road, I had good views of the resident birds that breed on or near the water.  Franklin's Gulls, American Avocets, Black-necked Stilts, White-faced Ibis, and Willets were plentiful.

White-faced Ibis

Franklin's Gull

American Avocet

     On this stretch of the route, I spotted a small group of shorebirds on the close shore.  Looking through them, I spotted one that was larger than the Semipalmated Sandpipers near by.  A Sanderling!  A great unexpected find!  Until that moment, I have not seen a Sanderling in the state, making that my state bird #292!

     Working my way back along the route after turning around at the train tracks again, I spotted a Short-eared Owl in a shrub!  It's always a good day when you see an owl, especially close enough for a photo!

Short-eared Owl

     Finishing my time at Bowdoin NWR, I set off for Bentonite Road southwest of Glasgow, MT.  There I hoped to find the resident Mountain Plovers.
I started down the road at about 2pm after the hour drive from Malta.  It was sunny but there were rain clouds on the horizon.  The road starts out in agricultural fields and then moves to all native short-grass prairie.  In the first stretch, I was lucky enough to snap a photo of one of the most striking sparrow species we have in Montana; the Lark Sparrow.

Lark Sparrow

     Moving down the road, I encountered several Lark Buntings, Vesper Sparrows and a small herd of Pronghorn.

Vesper Sparrow with a meal

3 of the 15 or so Pronghorn along Bentonite Road.

     Unfortunately, a rainstorm was fast approaching, and a local stopped me to warn me that the road because impassable in the rain.  I turned around and abandoned the search for the Mountain Plovers, but not before get a shot of the storm that stopped my search.

The big and beautiful storm that halted my quest for Mountain Plover

     I returned to Glasgow, joined Montana Highway 2, and headed home.  On the 6 nearly 7.5 hour drive home, I saw several Ferruginous Hawks, Loggerhead Shrikes, and Western Kingbirds.  The beauty of the northeast Montana prairie always amazes me.  I will be back; I don't know how soon, but I will be back.

Sunset on the Montana praires (taken just east of Browning)

Lesser Goldfinch!

     That's right! I got my lifer Lesser Goldfinch!  BJ and I spent the morning of July 11 birding my "secret spot" in Flathead County (see blog post below) and found a male LEGO!
     At the 1.1 mile of Cromwell Creek Rd, it splits and a lesser road goes left, and the main road continues right up the backside of the knoll.  It was here where we stopped and spent some time looking around at the mass of birds around.
     I noticed a small finch fly in to the bottom of a thick bush.  I assumed it was a Pine Siskin, but once it landed, I saw it had much more yellow on the body! I quickly raised my binoculars and instantly recognized it as a male Lesser Goldfinch!  I yelled with excitement and BJ ran over and we observed the bird for less than a minute before it left as abruptly as it arrived! We tried but failed for a photo.  Nevertheless, an amazing find and lifer for me! That makes my life list 405!!!

     This area continues to produce a plethora of birds, in diversity and sheer numbers!

Gray Catbird, a common bird in the dense shrubs along Cromwell Creek

a male Lazuli Bunting, common along Cromwell Creek

Flathead county's secret spot!

     Flathead County is a Montana's 3rd largest county, with 5,099 square miles.
It includes the parts of Glacier National Park, The Great Bear and Bob Marshall Wildernesses west of the Continental Divide; the north end of Flathead Lake, and large tracks of the Flathead National Forest up to the Canadian Border.

     The area that has become a focus of my interest lately, is the small section circled in green on this map.  The little "appendix" swings down and grabs some large areas of native grassland and dry pine forests.  It is accessed by highway 28, between Elmo and Hot Springs.

     This is the only large and basically untouched plot of this habitat in the county, so naturally I had to check it out.

     First was Thursday night, June 30th.  This is the best habitat in the county for Common Poorwill, and in my recent poorwill searches, I had to try for a county poorwill!  I drove down and took Brown's Meadow Road north from the highway, stopping ever so often listening for poorwills.  At about 10:45pm, I heard at least 3 birds singing from the hillside a few hundred yards away! Success!! This could be the first spot in the county to hold reliable and probable breeding Common Poorwills!

     As I drove back home that night, I planned my return in the morning.  The grassland area holds the prospect of several birds that would be found no-where else in the county.

     5:45AM July 1st:  I pulled off the highway onto Brown's Meadow Road, and go 150 yards before stopping to listen for whatever is out there.  My target was Grasshopper Sparrow, although, none have been reported there before, it was the right habitat.
Nearly first thing I heard was a singing Grasshopper Sparrow! New county bird for me!
I spotted it sitting on a small bush, and watched it sing a few more times before continuing on down the gravel road.

Where the Grasshopper Sparrows are: looking west, in the first half mile of Browns Meadow Road

     The next 2 miles had loads of Western Meadowlarks, and Vesper and Savannah Sparrows.  I even heard a few Horned Larks and a Long-billed Curlew!

Western Meadowlark

     After the first 2 miles, the road splits and Brown's Meadow Road (BMR) continues to the right. Along here, there are many small cliff faces and in them, Rock Wrens!  The whole while birding this area, I was looking for Lark Sparrows, but no luck this time.  In 2 miles (again) the road splits, and Cromwell Creek Road takes right as BMR continues left.

Rocky cliff faces along Browns Meadow Rd; where the Rock Wrens are first detected

     Cromwell Creek Road is the one to take.
Crossing the cattle guard, I only made it about 1 mile up in 1 hour and 40 minutes! It is loaded with birds! There are many the same birds I could find in the valley, but with this setting and lack of people, it was magical.  Also, it might be tougher to find a few species that seemed to be standards on this road.  Cassin's Finch, and Rock Wrens to name a few.

Along Cromwell Creek Rd.  Great habitat on both sides!

     The family of Rock Wrens I ran into were very entertaining to watch!  I even managed a few shots of one of the fledglings!
   

     The road makes it's way into a dry, Ponderosa Pine-mix forest as it climbs the hill.  Here, I had 3 Gray Jays and a few flyover Red Crossbills!  I ran out of time, but this forest definitely need more attention!

One week later, I make it down again.

     5:45AM July 8th:  Craig Hohenberger had saw a Lark Sparrow and Say's Phoebe on BMR on the 7th, both birds I had missed the week prior.  First thing, 150 yards up from the highway on BMR, I heard a singing Grasshopper Sparrow probably the same bird I heard last week.  In my search for Lark Sparrow, I end up locating 5 individual Grasshopper Sparrows!  They were all withing the first 0.8 miles of BMR on the west side of the road.  This is most likely the first and only spot in the county that they are reliable and possibly breeding!

     I continue up BMR, finding 4 Long-billed Curlew and a juvenile Prairie Falcon! This seems to be a reliable spot for curlew, which would be the only spot for the county also!

     This time, I try the first mile of Battle Butte Road, looking for the Lark Sparrow and Say's Phoebe. Same as BMR, its littered with Western Meadowlarks, Brewer's Blackbirds, and Vesper Sparrows are singing all over, but no Lark Sparrows this time.  On this road, I found a very squashed snake! It's hard to say but I believe it is a rattlesnake of some kind!

rattlesnake squished on the road

     Trying the cliffy stretch of BMR, I find another family (separate the first family) of Rock Wrens on the cliffs about 0.5 miles from the turn.  Watching them, I spot a Say's Phoebe!  County year bird #207! Driving to the cattle guard and back, I fail to locate a Lark Sparrow but I pick up a singing Brewer's Sparrow!

Along Browns Meadow Rd, after the right turn.  Cliff area to the left, sunflowers to the right.

2 Mule Deer along Brown's Meadow Road.

     What I am finding is a area rich in birds, several that are not easily (or at all) found in the valley!  It is proving to be a good spot for Grasshopper Sparrow and Long-billed Curlew, as well as Horned Lark and Say's Phoebe.  With the great habitat and little human use, I believe this is an area worth many more explorations!  Maybe even a Flammulated Owl in the forest above the grassland!

Eastern Kingbird - Brown's Meadow Road