Spring Arrives in the Rockies
This past weekend was definitely the start of the Montana spring with sun, rain, and snow…you know, spring in the Bitterroot. The Lee Metcalf NWR was alive with Great Horned Owls hooting and Red-winged Blackbirds carrying on.
First Wildflower of 2017 – Sagebrush Buttercup
Woke up this morning with a vision of a buttercup in the snow. I rushed out to Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge, and intensely survey the areas under ponderosa pine. And what did I find? That’s right a Sagebrush Buttercup, and as one of our earliest bloomers, it is generally my first wildflower of the […]
Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge – Christmas Bird Count 2016
It was that season again…not the holidays, but the Christmas Bird Count season. Joined by Tom Forwood and Bob Danley at the Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge. We explored the back areas of the Refuge that are typically closed to the public, and we turned up 56 species through a long day. the highlights included […]
Morning spent in the blind
Managed to get out to Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge for a little birding and photography. Spending most of my time in one of two photo blinds where a number of waterfowl swam by at close range. Walking around the Wildlife Viewing Area, loads of California Quail scurried about and a broken top snag was […]
Birding along the Kenai Trail – Lee Metcalf NWR
[sgpx gpx=”/wp-content/uploads/gpx/Kenai Trail – Lee Metcalf NWR.gpx”] A place that I have visited many, many times, the Lee Metcalf National Refuge has always had a special draw on me. The series of ponds host a variety of waterfowl and other water throughout the year, and has one of the few extensive wetland areas in the […]
Horned Grebe at Lee Metcalf NWR
Found this lone winter-plumaged Horned Grebe at the Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge this afternoon. A sure sign of spring is the arrival of migrants, and this birds coupled with a pair of Tundra Swans heralds the turning of the seasons.
Winter’s last gasp
This past weekend, my pal Jorge and I took a winter’s walk along the Bitterroot River at the Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge. The light snow continued to fall and accumulate. The powder was already knee deep and the air had frigid edges to it, but there were cracks in winter’s facade. Red-winged Blackbirds sang […]
Birding on the Stevensville Christmas Bird Count
Mindful Big Year Prologue: 60 on the Christmas Bird Count
“Virginia Rail!”, Tom shouted. Rushing over, we catch a glimpse of the dark rail as it slipped through the dead blades of grass and cattails. The thin air bristled at the pig-like grunt call of this secretive species. This rail had taken us all-day to find, and it was our 60th species on our portion […]
Odes of Late Summer – Dragonflies of Lee Metcalf NWR
On Monday, Tom Forwood and I spent a couple of throughly enjoyable hours at the Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge and Bass Creek. The first we found was a racer near my home along the Bitterrooot River (what a treat to have a racer stay still and pose). We had originally arrived thinking of birding, […]
Plethora of Pied-billed Grebes
This year I have seen more Pied-billed Grebes than I can ever remember seeing before. The ponds of the Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge seem to have at least one pair in each of them. The following images come from April and May (I know I am very late in posting them).
Bobolink and Barn Swallow Morning
This was rather gloomy, so dark that taking any images was difficult. Luckily, I stumbled upon a cooperative Barn Swallow and Bobolink along the Bass Creek Road. The Barn Swallow was just one of fifty or so that were feeding over the fields of timothy, which were also full of singing male Bobolinks.
The continuation of the Wilson’s Phalarope
…When those marvelous sandpipers come around here, the little ones. While they’re in the air flying, they have one mind, they move all together. When they alight on the mud, they become individuals and they go pecking around for worms or whatever. But one click of the fingers and all those things go up into […]
The Greater of the two Yellowlegs
Today, I traveled down to the Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge in search of a Sage Sparrow that I thought I heard yesterday, but I irrationally passed it off (bad birder, bad). I missed the one day wonder, but my consolation prize was a pair of Greater Yellowlegs. Even though the light wasn’t terribly cooperative, […]
A furry kind of day with Columbian Ground Squirrels
Yesterday afternoon, I went out to the Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge for some birding and, fingers crossed, a little bird photography. Upon arriving at the Refuge, the season’s first Cinnamon Teals were feeding along the margins of the cattails. I waited for them to come within range of the 500mm lens, and they never […]