Every year, Montana birders descend upon on Freezout Lake, between Fairfield and Choteau, during the last weekend of March or first weekend of April. Why do we show up in the out of the way part of the state? White geese…10,000′s of Snow Geese. It is a scene that is only experience of few times in a full life, the simultaneous lift-off of a 100,000 or more Snow Geese at once and the incoming waves of returning geese.
This year, Sam Koenen (partner in crime) and I left Bozeman at 5 in the morning headed up the highway to Freezout. The following is photo essay of our incredible day and experience we had at this unique place.
Full trip report from WilderTrack.com
A California Condor was found to be suffering from lead poisoning (that’s an entirely different rant), but it had been shot by some ignorant hillbilly. What the hell would possess a person to take aim and pull the trigger at a creature on the brink of extinction. What purpose does it serve? Does it make you a tough guy or is it some redneck form of protest against “pinko environmentalists and their damned Endangered Species Act” (I’ve actually heard these words from the mouth of an ignoramus). When will people finally start living up to our higher purpose?
Today on Facebook and Twitter, I posted a status, “Daylight Savings Time = Birding Time”. Upon reflecting on this statement and the responses from friends, I would like to examine this premise a little further.
With the springing forward of the clock, we birders have a couple of uniquely useful resulting circumstances that benefit most of us greatly. First, we can catch the dawn chorus an hour later in the day. The birds are still stirring with the rising sun as they always have done, but we get the illusion of an extra hour of sleep in warm beds before don our birding apparel. Second, we have that glorious extra hour of daylight after the workday. It is now possible to run out the door with binoculars in hand and rejuvenate ourselves with avian company after a day at the proverbial grindstone.
Daylight Savings Time is Birding Time!
Reversing a monumentally ridiculous ruling from the departed Bush administration, the current Obama administration restore the provision of the Endangered Species Act that requires review of government projects by biologists to determine what, if any, impacts would be caused. This is a great day for the ESA and conservation in general.
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| March 7, 2009 |
| 8:30 am | to | 2:30 pm |
We will cruise the backroads north and west of Bozeman and Belgrade, ending at Central Park Pond.
