Flammulated Owls of Wood’s Gulch, Montana

The other night, Thomas Kallmeyer and I spent the evening along the ridges above Wood’s Gulch near Missoula. The object of our birding quest was the enigmatic Flammulated Owl. Starting shortly after 10 o’clock, the first male began giving his territorial hoot with its distinctive double-tap intro. This first calling owl was high (<50 feet) […]

Ponderosa Enigma – The Flammulated Owl

Say goodbye to Otus flammeolus and hello to Psiloscops flammeolus. Flammulated Owls have always been an enigma. They are tiny, secretive, and quite easy to overlook. Take the Flammulated Owl’s historical status in Montana, where the birds went largely undetected until the 1980s. The little, and I mean little, owls tend to live higher in the […]

Mat Seidensticker – The Naturalist’s Mercantile – Episode 6

What does every community need? A store specializing in bird feeding and naturalist knowledge, of course. In Missoula, we have the Naturalist’s Mercantile, the ultimate nature geeks emporium. The store’s co-owner, Mat Seidensticker, talks with about the store, bird feeding, and his past work as an owl researcher. My favorite portion of the conversation centered […]