by John Parker
It’s mid-December, well into the winter season, and the fields are showing green instead of being covered in whiteness. What an amazing stretch of warm weather that has enticed a surprising number of birds to linger well past their normal departure dates.
This past fall was also notable for the seemingly low numbers of waterfowl moving through this area during the fall migration. There were two late season sightings worth mentioning. On November 21st, Andrew Guttenberg four Long-tailed Ducks on Hyalite Reservoir. The following day, Hilary Turner had four Greater White-fronted Geese at the McAllister pond north of Ennis.
There was a substantial late movement of Sandhill Cranes in November and into December. On the 26th Bill Akin watched 23 Sandhill cranes as they moved south over Pine Creek Bridge in Paradise Valley, then three days later, Don Profota watched 55 cranes fly over his house south of Bozeman. 3 Sandhill Cranes were seen by Stephanie Nelson, Lou Ann Harris and John Parker near the Meadow View Cemetery south of Manhattan on December 3rd. Then on December 13th, while on another raptor survey, Cherie Barth and John Parker saw another 3 Sandhill Cranes fly to some fields west of Gallatin Gateway. Any cranes in December are quite unusual, but 2025 has been different with such an extended snow free period. Prior to the last three years there had been only a handful of December Sandhill Crane sightings in this area, including a couple of injured birds. There does seem to be a strong correlation between lack of late fall early winter snow cover and late season cranes.
On December 7th, Josiah Kiehl saw a single American White Pelican on a pond next to the Interstate east of the Three Forks interchange.
The most surprising bird for this period was the Burrowing Owl that Kevin Cox saw along Bench Road south of Manhattan on December 1st. There is only one other Burrowing Owl reported during the winter period (Dec-Feb) in Montana; a single owl seen near Dillon during the winter of 2006-07.
It’s always a fun surprise to have a Pacific Wren anywhere in southwest Montana, and a winter encounter is especially cheering. So, it must have been a happy day for Jason Gregg when he heard a Pacific Wren up the Bear Canyon Trail south southeast of Bozeman on December 1st.
And in Gardiner, Katy Duffy and Howard Weinberg had a Yellow-rumped Warbler lingering around their yard from November 26th to December 2nd.
