by John Parker Overall, the first half of this fall has been fairly mild without any extended periods of stormy weather.  Due to the mild start to the season, there were no major fallouts of birds.  The two largest storm systems occurred at the end of August and mid-September, both…

by John Parker Spring has definitely arrived, notwithstanding the occasional snow storm.  As is typical, the first waves of bluebirds began arriving early in March.  The first reported Mountain Bluebird in Park County, was seen March 1st by Mike Himmelspach, near Dailey Lake in Paradise Valley.  The following day Tim…

Bird Notes  by John Parker As I’m writing this, we’re still locked into deep winter, with abundant snowfall and sub-zero temperatures. Most of the former lingering birds are long gone, with a few exceptions, like the five Snow Geese Mel McCarver found along Cameron Bridge Road February 4th. It’s the…

by John Parker It was an exceptional year for most of this area’s Christmas Bird Counts.  Most of the Christmas counts had a high number of bird species, and a great many unusual winter birds were discovered on the various counts.  The extremely warm fall and early winter was the…

by John Parker The mild weather this fall noticeably delayed the movement of waterfowl from the north.  By mid-November the expected push of Snow Geese and Tundra Swans still had not occurred.  While the Snow Geese flight seems to have been sparse in southwest Montana, many of the geese have…

By John Parker What a mild fall it’s been. Day after day of sunshine and temperatures pushing record highs deep into October. This weather pattern hasn’t been conducive for any large-scale fallout of migrating passerines, with few notable warblers or other songbirds. On his way to work September 12 th…

by John Parker A wide range of unusual birds moved through this area during the spring and early summer.  Whether in the backyard or out on the prairie, the variety of birds was impressive.  Red-bellied Woodpecker by John Parker The rarest bird of the summer to…

As far as the birds were concerned, spring arrived right on schedule this year.  During early March Mountain Bluebirds, Sandhill Cranes and Ring-billed Gulls are the first migrants, other than waterfowl, to arrive in numbers.  The bluebirds are first to arrive during the first week or two of March, the…

Greater Yellowlegs by Andrew Guttenburg Late winter has been full of large and small surprises from around the Gallatin Valley and beyond.  Most of these birds were seen after the severe cold spell mid-January, so they somehow found a way to survive -40-degree temperatures.  You have…

Christmas Bird Count 2023 by John Parker Overall, participation for this past season’s Christmas Bird Counts was quite good. No doubt the relatively mild weather conditions played a part in the good turnout. All the counts before Christmas even had bare ground to go with the warm weather. Thank you…