This morning Sam Koenen and I went for a quick birding cruise around the Gallatin Valley. There are still quite a few Rough-legged Hawks in the area and the Red-tailed Hawks are definitely paired up and feeling frisky. At Central Park Pond, there were very few waterfowl on the open water. With the birding being a little slow, I glibly mentioned that a rarity would be “awesome, but it ain’t happening today”.
We decided to cruise Heeb Lane along the Gallatin River before heading for home. At the slough near the residences, we pulled over and listened to a cacophony of sounds and songs. One particular song seemed peculiar and, then, a female Rusty Blackbird (followed quickly by a male). We jumped from Skua (the ultimate birding rig – pics to come soon) and I was able to get a couple of passable documentation images. How awesome is that? We did, we did have rarity.
Full Sighting Report at WilderTrack
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