There has been a Long-tailed Duck or Oldsquaw (more on that later) at the ponds near Warm Springs. It was first reported on Sunday, and I though it’ll take off before I can drive the 2 hours. Then it was seen again on Monday, and once again, I said to myself, “It’ll fly the coop.” On Tuesday, it was still present, and I pondered, “I’m going!”.
I decided to left Bozeman at 6 in the morning and picked up Andrew Guttenberg for the chase. A storm had blown through the valley during the night and laid down about 3 inches of fresh snow. The roads were the usual slick and dangerous, and we took off slowly. The weather continued to spit snow occasionally as we crossed the Continental Divide and descended to the source of the Clark Fork River and the ponds that held the duck.
As we exited the interstate and turned onto the gravel road that runs along the south side of the pond, an all-white appearing duck was evident on the pond in the milky twilight. Then it dove, so we parked at a higher overlook, and there was the Long-tailed Duck and man, did it put on a show. It made long dive after long dive, and we watched it for about 1 hour. The light was very murky, so the images aren’t the greatest but what the hell.
Oh yeah, the excitement…as we were observing the duck, a loud crushing sound followed by scraping erupted from the slick highway. as we turned a van was sliding down the road, but only it was up side down. The driver was okay and no else was injured or delayed. What’s more exciting, the wreck or the Long-tailed Duck? C’mon…the duck hands down.
Now back to the name. Is it a Long-tailed Duck or an Oldsquaw? I know that it is politically incorrect, but I do prefer the old name. But the AOU changed the name not out of PC concerns, but due to the rest of the world referring to the bird as a Long-tailed Duck. So, I guess it’s a Long-tailed Duck and a Squawfish is now a Northern Pikeminnow…things changed and no use offending Native American folks.
On Saturday, Sam Koenen and I decided to take a swing down to Ennis Lake and then up to Harrison Reservoir for the chance to see a Sabine’s Gull or a scoter or two. We actually came up with a single female White-winged Scoter at Ennis Lake. It was a great trip, especially since the high winds caused both gulls and eagles to kite.
Researchers in Indonesia have rediscovered the Banggai Crow (Corvus unicolor) on a small island in the archipelago. The species was first discovered in 1900 and not seen since. Full story is on LiveScience.
An interesting article from Japan describes a research project that placed small cameras on Black-browed Albatrosses to passively gather data on their lives. One very intriguing behavior came to light. The Albatrosses were actively following Killer Whales to probably feed on the scraps from the orca’s kills. What a great strategy to find a meal in an otherwise featureless expanse of blue.
As fall (or is it winter with 3 inches of snow on the ground) comes Montana, we are starting to see rare gulls with a Lesser Black-backed and Mew Gulls observed already. So, I went on a search for gull identification tools, and found a great key by Dennis Paulson from Puget Sound University. You can find the original with links to gull images at http://www.pugetsound.edu/x6183.xml.
Breeding Adult Identification Chart
Identification Chart for Pacific Northwest Gulls (Breeding Adults)
White Head, White Tail
| Species |
Mantle |
Bill |
Legs |
Iris |
Eyering |
| Ivory |
white |
yellowish with greenish base and orange tip |
black |
brown |
red |
| Glaucous |
very pale gray |
yellow with red spot |
pink |
pale yellow |
yellow to yellow-orange |
| Iceland |
very pale gray |
yellow with red spot |
pink |
pale yellow |
red |
| Herring |
pale gray |
yellow with red spot |
pink |
pale yellow |
yellow-orange |
| Thayer’s |
pale gray |
yellow with red spot |
pink |
brown to dull yellow |
reddish-purple |
| Ring-billed |
pale gray |
yellow with black ring |
yellow |
pale yellow |
orange-red |
| Ross’s |
pale gray |
blackish |
red |
brown |
red |
| Glaucous-winged |
neutral gray |
yellow with red spot |
pink |
brown to pale brown |
pink to purple |
| California |
neutral gray |
yellow with red and black spots |
green to gray |
brown |
red |
| Mew |
neutral gray |
dull yellow |
dull yellow |
brown |
red |
| Black-legged Kittiwake |
neutral gray |
yellow |
black |
brown |
red |
| Western |
dark gray |
yellow with red spot |
pink |
yellow to pale brown |
yellow-orange |
| Red-legged Kittiwake |
dark gray |
yellow |
red |
brown |
red |
| Great Black-backed |
very dark gray |
yellow with red spot |
pink |
pale yellow |
red |
| Slaty-backed |
very dark gray |
yellow with red spot |
pink |
pale yellow |
reddish |
| Lesser Black-backed |
very dark gray |
yellow with red spot |
yellow |
pale yellow |
red |
White Head, Dark Tail
| Species |
Mantle |
Bill |
Legs |
Iris |
Eyering |
| Heermann’s |
dark brownish-gray |
red with black tip |
black |
brown |
red |
Dark (Black, Dark Brown, Gray) Head, White Tail
| Species |
Mantle |
Bill |
Legs |
Iris |
Eyering |
| Black-headed |
very pale gray |
dark red |
dark red |
brown |
maroon-red |
| Bonaparte’s |
pale gray |
black |
orange-red |
brown |
black |
| Little |
pale gray |
blackish |
reddish |
brown |
brown |
| Sabine’s |
neutral gray |
black with yellow tip |
black |
brown |
red |
| Laughing |
dark gray |
dark red |
dark red |
brown |
red |
| Franklin’s |
dark gray |
red |
red |
brown |
red |
|
I finally have a Mew Gull on my Montana list. The bird was discovered by Ed Harper, Robin Wolcott and Andrew Guttenberg at Harrison Lake on 3/1/2009. After my presentation on Saturday at the Bridger Raptor Festival, Byron Butler, Sam Koenen, and myself decided to run out to Harrison for this rarity. upon arriving at the lake, the weather was inclement to say the least with cold and windy conditions. We scanned and searched the lake, and we worked on our Ring-billed Gull ID skills Found one juvenile Herring Gull, We eventually spied an immature gull that had a graceful, darkish head, an all-dark tail, and a distinctive dorsal wing pattern It was an immature Mew Gull! The list now stands at 328.
When we left Harrison, we were enjoyed a large flight of Sandhill Cranes that were returning from feeding in a stubble field.
Full trip report at WilderTrack
I had the great opportunity to give of talks at the Bridger Raptor Festival. This festival is a great educational event with many great exhibits and live rehab birds, including the Turkey Vulture that once threw up on me. The talks went well with great attendance. It has been a long time since the last time I spoke publicly, and it felt good to get back up on that horse.
I have just released the latest version of WilderTrack .
Add video and images to your sightings, trips, locations…just about anything.
Integrate Twitter, Facebook and your blog to your WilderTrack account
The launch of WilderTrack for Mobile
Multiple Bird Taxonomic Systems – including WilderTax incorporating the latest research
Improved user interface with the of jQuery
Added site search using Bing API
All this for the low. low price of free.
We are also excited for our third newsletter, and you will be receiving another one about every month as we continue to grow and improve WilderTrack.
An article from BirdLife International is announcing the great news that a recently undertaken survey of White-shouldered Ibis Pseudibis davisoni has revealed a record count of 310 individuals. It is always good to hear a bit of good news when we seem to be deluged with gloom and doom.
There has been a Long-tailed Duck or Oldsquaw (more on that later) at the ponds near Warm Springs. It was first reported on Sunday, and I though it’ll take off before I can drive the 2 hours. Then it was seen again on Monday, and once again, I said to myself, “It’ll fly the coop.” On Tuesday, it was still present, and I pondered, “I’m going!”. 
Oh yeah, the excitement…as we were observing the duck, a loud crushing sound followed by scraping erupted from the slick highway. as we turned a van was sliding down the road, but only it was up side down. The driver was okay and no else was injured or delayed. What’s more exciting, the wreck or the Long-tailed Duck? C’mon…the duck hands down.
