Continue reading »]]> Imagine my surprise when the inbox blazed with an email proclaiming that Montana’s 2nd confirmed Western Scrub-jay was present at a feeder in Thompson Falls, which is in the northwestern part of the state, of all places. I had always imagine that this species would destined to make its appearance in the southwestern corner of state or in the Pryor Mountains region.

The jay was in the yard of a birder who has keenly observed this bird, the ever-present Blue Jay, Golden-crowned Sparrow, and a Tufted Duck near his home. Without him, the statewide birding community would missed all of these incredible finds.

I arrived at the site just after dawn. That initial aching feeling of missing a target bird when I first venture out to see one was creeping up on me. This notion was quickly dispelled as the Western Scrub-jay and its Blue Jay competitor flew into a tree overhead. I shook hands with the birder, and he quickly ushered me into the basement, which serves as a blind, complete with burlap screen, for his feeders in the backyard. The yard is a splendid setup for attracting birds with many feeders and a very nice pond with a water drip.

Both of the jays were particularly attracted to the peanuts that were set out on a thick piece of ponderosa pine bark. They would invariably fly down from a large pine to within a few feet of there intended food. From there they would hop into the bark, quickly select a peanut, and take it up into the pine or beyond for a bit of private dining.

Continue reading »]]> Imagine the surprise of John O’Neill and Gary Graves of Louisiana State University when they mist-netted a strange little owl in the cloud forest of northern Peru in 1976. A strange, small creature with wispy feathers flaring out from its facial disk and peculiar amber eyes. Its legs were bare, and it lacked ear tufts. Bristles covered the base of its bill. The bird was obviously new to science, and it was so unique that it was placed in its own monotypic genus, Xenoglaux (strange owl). It was not seen again until 1978. It call wasn’t even recorded until 2002.

So, a strange little owl had only been observed 3 times, and then only with the assistance of mist nets. Guess what happened on January 24th of this year? An Israeli researcher named Shachar Alterman and Edin Fonseca, a local guide,  actually managed to capture images and video of a Long-whiskered Owlet without the aid of capture. For the first time a wild Long-whiskered Owlet was observed in its habitat. The video done with an illuminated bird and a bit shaky, but it is incredible to view this species.

Just another aspect of the Peru’s amazing natural world that makes my upcoming in June with Kolibri Expeditions and Gunnar Engblom even more exciting and enticing. I will be visiting the Manu lowlands for 8 days, and hope to see a great number of the terrific species that live there. I’m having dreams of Harpy Eagles, the famous macaw lick, and Giant Otters. You can join me on this trip or book your own with Gunnar here.

Continue reading »]]> Once again, there is a claim of a recently captured image of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker. This time it comes from the Sabine River Basin of Texas by a fellow named Daniel Rainsong via an obtuse press release. He has, rather strangely, not released the images citing some obscure “right of discovery”. Does he intend to patent the damn bird? On the other hand, he does list some prominent ornithologists in his press release as potential examiners of the images…supposedly. A Google search of Daniel Rainsong yields precious little information. It seems that he as not been active in the birding community to any sufficient degree. In fact, most of the top results are for a gambler (aren’t we all, though) with a system.  Is this a hoax or a self-aggrandizing move by some casino boat lounge lizard become birder?

I want to believe that a great woodpecker stills pounds away at massive trucks in some remote region of the South, but I have to be realistic. Unfortunately, I doubt that the Ivory-billed still exists given the scarcity (read absence)  of definitive proof and the degradation of and patchiness of any remaining habitat. So I beg, please, please Daniel Rainsong prove me wrong.

Continue reading »]]> The day was a rather ordinary day of winter birding. A few Townsend’s Solitaires, a long Northern Shrike, and many Rough-legged Hawks. The star of the day was a Ferruginous Hawk. This is my first winter Ferruginous Hawk in the Gallatin Valley. You can get all the sighting details from the WilderTrack link below. I managed a few shots (not the best by a long shot).

		I hate power lines!

Continue reading »]]> 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.

Continue reading »]]> 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

Continue reading »]]> As I heard the news of a Band-tailed Pigeon that had taken up residence in Elliston near Helena, I was hoping beyond hope that the bird would stay for the couple of days it would take for me to clear up my business in Plains and head out there. How many times I have chase a bird only to be greeted with silence and the wind? I left Plains in the milky twilight, and down the road I went with a supply of coffee and Diet Coke (a typical caffeine-fueled rarity chase).

Just before I arrived at Elliston, I called the gracious home owners to alert them of my impending arrival, only to hear the most dreaded news – “We haven’t seen the bird today.” Upon entering their driveway, I went for a walk around the neighborhood in a snowball’s chance in hell mission – maybe I’ll scare it up. I scanned the cliffs for anything. I scrutinized the tops of Douglas-firs and Ponderosa pines for a tell-tale figure. All I found where Cedar Waxwings and a single Clark’s Nutcracker. Then, I heard a subtle and deep cooing coming from the northeast corner of the property. I rushed back into the yard to find the pigeon perched atop a Douglas-fir in the yard and over the feeder.

The bird was very skittish and never left its perch during the 2 hours of my observation. However, I managed a few distant shots of the pigeon and a few of the mostly immature Rufous Hummingbirds that were quite quarrelsome around the sugar-water feeder.

A great start to the restart of my life.

WilderTrack Trip Report

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By the way, I did get my first-of-year Ferruginous Hawk, just north of the ranch along the highway.

We went on to Ennis and Yesterday’s Cafe for the best hash browns with sausage gravy ever. Don’t believe me, try it, I dare you. From the cafe, we traveled along the south and east sides of Ennis Lake to the north side, and then onward to Beartrap Canyon. The shores of the lake were thick with Double-crested Cormorants and American White Pelicans. Franklin’s Gulls were swarming over the adjacent grasslands for presumably flying insects along with 6 species of swallows. We come across a cooperative Osprey pair as well.

On the Madison River, the concentrations of American White Pelican and California Gull were outstanding. Along the Beartrap Canyon, we managed a few Spotted Towhees, Hammond’s Flycatcher, and White-throated Swift. The swifts were calling loudly as the caddisfly hatch from the river was bountiful.

What a day. I am so grateful to have the opportunity to see this bird, and I wish to thank Garrett MacDonald, Bo Crees, and the O’Dell Creek Ranch.

WilderTrack trip report

Continue reading »]]> Every year (well almost), Sam Koenen and I make a trip to the Pryor Mountains and specifically Bear Canyon for bird species that cannot be found elsewhere in the state or are very difficult to find. These include Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Canyon Wren, Blue Grosbeak, and rarities such as Black-throated Gray Warbler. Full trip report at WilderTrack.

Our route took us first to Itch-Kep-Pe Park near Columbus and Barb Jaquith’s house in Red Lodge. The park produced White-breasted Nuthatches and a multitude of songsters. The sunrise was spectacular and Barb’s house kick ass as usual. At Red Lodege, there was lots of interesting variations of plumage coloration among the Red Crossbills. There was also a female Broad-tailed Hummingbird and several Cassin’s Finches among the Pine Siskins.

Leaving Red Lodge, we headed for Bear Canyon. When we arrived the morning was cool and ground was actually damp. Immediately, the Rock Wrens and Dusky Flycatchers were singing. We found many Blue-gray Gnatcatchers as the Sagebrush Lizards scurried in the undergrowth. White-throated Swifts were very active and vocal. Say’s Phoebes were in abundance as well. Besides the birds, we had several great butterflies; Acmon Blue, Melissa Blue, Sagebrush Checkerspot, Nevada Skipper and Juniper Hairstreak.

Leaving the canyon, we headed towards Gyp Spring for Mountain Plovers (hopefully). As we drove to the spring, we turned up Loggerhead Shrikes and Sprague’s Pipit. Arriving at the spot, we started scanning the short vegetation for the plovers, and there it was, a lone Mountain Plover followed by woo-hoos and high fives. After this we decided, to keep driving until we were south of the border – the Wyoming border that is. We had no maps or experience in this area, but we managed to come out at Cowley, Wyoming. We headed back into Montana and stop at the traditional Blue Grosbeak spot, and we could not find any grosbeaks. We did, however, turn up a Northern Mockingbird (my second state record). I managed a few documentation images. From here we headed back to Bozeman.

Full trip report at WilderTrack.

Continue reading »]]> 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

Continue reading »]]> After having made a shorebird faux pas with the Baird’s Sandpiper, I had completely forgotten to mention some of the other birds seen at Freezout over the weekend. At Pond 1, a Whooper Swan was swimming no more than 15 feet from the parking area. We proceeded to the backside of Pond 5 where a trio of waterfowl rarities lingered; Baikal Teal, Tufted Duck and far ranging Upland Goose. In the grassy areas, there was an abundance of Red-throated Pipits and Citrine Wagtails. At the headquarters, a Ferruginous Pygmy-owl was calling and provided great views.

Unfortunately, my camera was malfunctioning at the time of each of these spectacular sightings.

Happy April Fool’s Day…hope everyone has a great spring of birding!!!