WilderTrack | RadleyIce

Sunday, Sam Koenen and I went on a twitch for the first presumed Eastern Meadowlark in Montana. The bird is located in some sedge meadow habitat within a large private ranch that graciously granted us access with a field researcher, Bo. Bo led us right to the bird and both of us were able to get plenty of images although mine were taken with manual focus (blasted broken lens). The song and field marks all lead me to the consensus conclusion that this individual is an Eastern Meadowlark. It was great to have a twitchable bird again in Montana.

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.