10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 14, 2014

For some reason, this is the year that the masked butcherbirds have been around in my corners of Montana, with as many sightings for me in 2014 as in the rest of my life (including the other three years I lived in Montana) combined. Birding Montana New York Northern Shrike'

Montana 224

Montana 2014 New York Sparrows 224

10,000 Birds

APRIL 20, 2012

One of the admirable things about Montana is how it contains prime examples of not one, but two iconic North American landscapes. But eastern Montana contains the equally though differently stunning high plains, a world unto itself with very different wildlife meeting very different challenges.

Ferrets 227

Ferrets Wildlife Montana Prairie Dogs 227

Critter News

MAY 3, 2009

Montana has passed a law making it difficult to challenge the building of a horse slaughtering facility in that state. The last such facility in the US closed in 2007. This bill specifically makes for groups that might oppose it to use the court system to do so. From the bill, which you can read here : Section 2.

Montana 100

Montana Horses Horse Slaughter Slaughtered 100

10,000 Birds

JULY 22, 2016

New York has wonderful birds. I love New York’s birds with a passion, from the parti-colored pigeons to the spring warbler fiesta to Jamaica Bay’s herons and ibises (but not the sandpipers. Never the sandpipers.).

Montana 100

Montana Bald Eagle New York Jamaica 100

10,000 Birds

JUNE 20, 2014

The species that calls western Montana home is the black cottonwood, while plains and narrowleaf cottonwood call the rest of the state home. Each of the seeds that blows by me, in short, has not much more of a chance than an actual snowflake. Humans have not helped.

Montana 201

Montana Cattle Deer Shelters 201

10,000 Birds

JULY 4, 2014

Moving to Montana was not even exotic – it was a non-possibility. I didn’t go to grad school or move to Montana until my 30s, and I didn’t see the Bullock’s Oriole until I had been in Montana almost four years. It was not mine, and I couldn’t miss what I had never had.

Baltimore 204

Baltimore California Condor Montana Cleveland 204

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 16, 2016

Last week many birders were shocked and saddened by the deaths of thousands of Snow Geese who, trapped by adverse weather conditions, landed at the Berkeley Pit in Butte, Montana. As an Explainer of Montana, I am here to help. You may be curious about what exactly is the deal with that.

Montana 177

Montana Geese Collecting Species 177

10,000 Birds

MAY 24, 2013

When you move on to Montana, you discover that there are worse things that one species of tiny screaming mammal tricking you each year as you try to cope with an influx of songbirds and a winterized memory bank that contains only Black-capped Chickadees and Dark-eyed Juncos (and only about half their calls at that.) You sigh and move on.

Chipmunks 214

Chipmunks Squirrels Rodents Montana 214

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 20, 2013

I also ran into a local birder who was unimpressed when I gushed about how much I was enjoying my morning — until I explained that I was from Montana. Well, I am sort of am from Montana now, I guess. My last species in the park was Wood Duck , which we have in Montana too but which is always fun to see.

Montana 187

Montana New York City New York Nashville 187

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 28, 2011

The University of Montana Symphonic Wind Ensemble, to be precise. October 13 found me doing something very unusual, even for me: learning about birds while watching an orchestra. At a concert called “Winged Messengers”, which included a piece called “Chickadee Symphony” by Craig Naylor.

Montana 246

Montana Owls Science Research 246

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 12, 2011

The Sage Grouse is getting a boost in Alberta with the work of The Sage Grouse Recovery Group , which is seeking to augment the dwindling population in Alberta with birds from Montana.

Montana 165

Montana Groups Birds 165

10,000 Birds

JULY 12, 2013

As I’ve noted before, floating is not ideal for birding, but sometimes it’s all you’ve got and if so, it’s time to learn to appreciate the Spotted Sandpiper — along with the Bald Eagle , the Common Merganser , and other commonplace water birds of Montana.

Bald Eagle 175

Bald Eagle Montana Eagles Birds 175

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 16, 2013

Of last round’s candidates, the Gallinaceous Bird TBD is now out, as I’ve since seen both Greater Sage and Ruffed Grouse , stolid Montana natives of good repute. And the Golden-winged Warbler still presents logistical difficulties.

Montana 169

Montana Blackbirds Birds Eagles 169

10,000 Birds

MARCH 7, 2014

This is my first season with the ranch, and I’m very excited to being putting some of my theories about nest cams into practice. We’ll see how it goes.

Montana 232

Montana Horses Eggs Morals 232

Critter News

FEBRUARY 25, 2009

Great, just after we managed to get rid of the last one "It doesn't mean you have to do it.

Horse Slaughter 100

Horse Slaughter Horses Legislature Montana 100

10,000 Birds

JUNE 6, 2014

Birds Montana names Ospreys web cams' Fortunately, I can now put my irrational fears aside, because one of my favorite sets of names won. Introducing this year’s Dunrovin osprey chicks – Lunar, Sol, and Shadow, named for the eclipse that took place the night the first egg was laid.

Montana 170

Montana Eggs Birds 170

10,000 Birds

JUNE 7, 2013

Since I moved to Montana I’ve been updating it sporadically at best, and over the past year or so, not at all. Perhaps, too, it doesn’t hurt that the number of lists from Montana is large enough to create meaningful pictures in the data, but small enough that I feel like I’m really contributing in some way.

Montana 195

Montana 2007 Game Birds 195

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 12, 2021

There is also a research institute dedicated to wilderness: the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute is an interagency facility located at the University of Montana. For example, hunting is not permitted in most NPS wilderness areas, but it is often allowed in wilderness areas managed by the other agencies.

Puerto Rico 297

Puerto Rico Alaska Protection Montana 297

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 22, 2014

But the turkey vultures would certainly leave the places we saw them – Montana, North Dakota, Illinois and Indiana, Pennsylvania and Ohio and eventually New York – and head south. The only bird we saw in every state was the Turkey Vulture. No vast kettles, yet, only ones and twos.

North Dakota 182

North Dakota Turkey Pennsylvania New York 182

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 14, 2021

The Collective added six new states in the past three years, but none have eclipsed the century mark: Wisconsin ( 74 ), Utah (55), Hawaii (38), Oklahoma (18), Rhode Island (9), and Connecticut (5).

West Virginia 255

West Virginia United States Puerto Rico Minnesota 255

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 16, 2011

Female White-browed Shortwing ( Brachypteryx montana ) at nest with two nestlings. Practically the entire time we were on these trails (both days) we were surrounded by male and female shortwings frantically searching for food for their nestlings.

Thailand 229

Thailand Montana Birds Africa 229

10,000 Birds

MAY 19, 2015

If you’ve ever wanted to understand why warning calls by one bird species seem to spread rapidly, like an avian version of the Wave , to birds of other species, Professor Erick Greene from the University of Montana is your man.

Montana 154

Montana New York Times Science New York 154

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 24, 2014

Though hardly common, Great Gray sightings are a yearly occurrence in Western Montana, and it is one of the twelve species of owl known to breed in the state. As a result, its territory in the Rocky Mountains extends far south of the bulk of its range.

Owls 254

Owls Minnesota Montana 2014 254

Critter News

SEPTEMBER 6, 2009

Montana is another state where wolf killing is allowed. Tags: cull montana idaho wolves. The state government is as crazy about wolf killing as she is. But a US District Court Judge has granted a hearing on stopping the killing to wolf advocates represented by Earthjustice.

Idaho 100

Idaho Killing Culling Wolves 100

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 5, 2012

I just chalked this up to my friends being weird, until I took the Master Naturalist Class at the Montana Natural History this fall. Way, way back, during our inuagural game of Gone Birding , my friend Molly developed a theory of birds. There were, in her book, three kinds: Owls, Pigeons, and Ducks. water birds (ducks!)

Montana 172

Montana Bald Eagle Owls Ducks 172

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 25, 2013

It’s not that they’re not around — I’ve seen them at the National Bison Range, to name but one definitively Montana location — but they’re not AROUND, like they always used to be back on the Olde Homestead. I miss Eastern Kingbirds. Instead we have other flycatchers, and I am not a fan of other flycatchers.

Montana 211

Montana 2009 Eagles Birds 211

10,000 Birds

APRIL 13, 2012

Last week was spring break at the University of Montana, and so, for me, a chance for a brief flying visit back east. Yesterday, there were none. Today, Tree Swallows are here, flashing light and dark above the river. Now, let’s back up. Though spring migration is only just starting to ramp up there, of course I had to visit the Ramble.

Chicago 213

Chicago Litter Louisiana Montana 213

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 2, 2012

With all my traipsing about this year I’ve actually been shamefully lax on birding Montana. Montana offers little in the way of flamingos, generally speaking. No Snow Geese or swans yet, and no Sandhill Cranes , but it did renew my taste for some of the simpler, homier pleasures of birding.

Bald Eagle 130

Bald Eagle Montana Italy Owls 130

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 6, 2013

The subject of birds faced with extreme cold recently became a matter of great interest to me, if only because I would like to believe that there will still be some Gray-crowned Rosy-finches left alive in the state of Montana after our temperatures rise back up out of the sub-basement.

Montana 199

Montana Shelters Suffering Ducks 199

10,000 Birds

MARCH 2, 2012

I haven’t lived in Montana long enough to feel jaded about Bohemian Waxwings, so I concentrated on them at first. A good thing about those berries, too, since the ground was still covered by not only a layer of fresh snow but also, in many spots, the crusty ice of previous freezes and thaws. Definitely not spring.

Downers 193

Downers Montana Fish Wildlife 193

10,000 Birds

MARCH 21, 2014

And yet, perhaps ironically, the biggest sign of spring in a Montana March is when the skies fill with white. As ponds thaw open reports are coming in of Barrow’s Goldeneye, Pied-billed Grebe, Cinnamon and Green-winged Teal, Gadwall and Wigeons and Shovelers.

Geese 208

Geese Montana Breeding Pelicans 208

10,000 Birds

JULY 26, 2013

The swallows here in Montana have an admirable ability to assort themselves into nesting niches. Bank Swallows live in our many sandy banks. Tree Swallows live in trees — and nest boxes. I have seen Cliff Swallows on cliffs, but even more than that, they enjoy bridges.

Montana 169

Montana Woodpeckers Eggs Raised 169

Critter News

JUNE 14, 2010

The University of Montana study, aimed at exploring the effects of climate change on mountain goats, got under way this month with preliminary field work in the Many Glacier Valley. Tags: animal research montana. From the Daily Interlake. However, a second male goat died after it was darted on Thursday.

Mountain Goats 100

Mountain Goats Goats Montana Killing 100

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 2, 2016

Whether there is one Sandhill Crane in a camas field in Montana or 1,000 in a flock on their wintering grounds, they put the charismatic AND the mega in charismatic megafauna. They share a noisy charisma with the Common Loon and a predatory grace with the Great Blue Heron. That’s not even counting the fact that they dance.

California Condor 187

California Condor Mississippi Florida Montana 187

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 17, 2012

A good number of times – looking at a White-browed Shortwing ( Brachypteryx montana ) or the like – it struck me just how incredibly sharp the image was. I was expecting them to be better than the current EL32s (which I use a lot), but what I did not expect was just how much better they are.

Austria 214

Austria Thailand Montana Protection 214

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 13, 2019

Lee Metcalf NWR (Montana): 178,000; $4.5 John Heinz NWR (Pennsylvania): 358,000; $4.6 million; 35 jobs. Kilauea Point NWR (Hawaii): 1,148,000; $34.3 million; 293 jobs. Laguna Atascosa NWR (Texas): 485,000; $12.1 million; 412. million; 45. Malheur NWR (Oregon): 210,000; $30.1; Minnesota Valley NWR (Minnesota): 274,000; $4.2 million; 31.

Wildlife 279

Wildlife Maryland San Francisco Minnesota 279

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 18, 2015

The landscape known as the Crown of the Continent extends from northern Idaho and Wyoming through Montana to the Canadian border, linking the Greater Yellowstone and Salmon-Selway ecosystems and including Grand Teton, Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks.

Legislation 182

Legislation Montana Wyoming Idaho 182