By John Parker
As I’m sure you are aware, we had an exceptionally mild early fall. The mild weather without any major storm systems moving through southwestern Montana during the peak passerine migration, made finding unusual birds a bit more difficult. Even so, birders in this area discovered a wide variety of birds in the past two months.
One of the big surprises this fall were Pygmy Nuthatches found at two different locations two days apart. While on lunch break August 17th, Andrew Guttenberg’s attention was drawn to a mixed flock of birds moving through the lodgepole forest in the Big Sky area. The flock included two Pygmy Nuthatches. Then two days later as Dave Benes was walking the Cliff Creek trail southwest of Bozeman, he saw at least three Pygmy Nuthatches. These nuthatches were also part of a mixed flock moving through a primarily Douglas fir forest. Pygmy Nuthatches are usually closely associated with ponderosa pine forests, so these nuthatches are not likely to be part of a resident population, but rather birds dispersing from another area.
Beside the nuthatches, Dave Benes also discovered a migrating Alder Flycatcher at the Cameron Bridge fishing access site, west of Belgrade on September 9th. This flycatcher, only the second record for southwest Montana, was feeding along a channel of the Gallatin River. Dave also spotted a Western Wood Pewee in Gallatin Gateway on September 29th, for a late local record.
Parasitic Jaeger by George Nixon
Harrison Reservoir always seems to produce a number of interesting birds during the late summer and on into late fall until the lake freezes over, and this year has been no exception. First on the list of great birds at the lake was the Parasitic Jaeger Sam Koenen and Josiah Kiehl spotted on August 18th. Then on September 16th the ten participants on the Sacajawea Audubon field trip were treated to excellent views of another adult Parasitic Jaeger. Later in the month on the 30th, Vic Fesolowitz and Kim Obbink found a single American Golden Plover feeding on the mudflats of the reservoir. Proving that every day is different at Harrison, the following day Andrew Guttenberg saw a Sabine’s Gull at the lake but not the plover. Finally, Andrew and John Parker returned to Harrison on October 8th and relocated a Long-billed Curlew that was first seen there on September 13th in the company of another curlew. Any curlew in Montana after the first of September in notable. This sighting of a Long-billed Curlew is the latest date documented for Montana, and is most likely an injured bird that is unable to fly.
Lesser Goldfinch sightings are becoming a bit more common in this part of Montana, with the first one being reported for the area only thirteen years ago. So, it was an exciting sighting for Beth Madden when one visited her south Bozeman feeder on October 1st.
The only notable warblers so far this fall have been the Chestnut-sided Warblers found foraging in the east woods of Glen Lake Rotary Park. On September 24th Stephanie Nelson and Lou Ann Harris found an immature Chestnut-sided Warbler, and then three days later Matt Keefer spotted a second.
On September 25th I was shocked to see a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher in our yard south of Bozeman. This bird was not on my radar for a possible yard bird. This sighting was only the third record for Gallatin County, and the first away from the dry hills along the Missouri River.
On September 30th while birding Graf Park in Bozeman, Robin Wolcott discovered and photographed an extremely late Calliope Hummingbird. The previous late date for Montana was September 27th. A week into October an unidentified hummingbird was sporadically coming to Tamie and John Parker’s flower boxes. Then on October 10th we were able to get photos of what turned out to be a female Anna’s Hummingbird. Anna’s Hummingbirds are quite rare east of the divide and this is only the fifth time one has been documented in Gallatin County.
This fall Ben Goodheart proved that spending time in a patch of good habitat pays dividends. Ben has frequently been birding the Indreland Audubon Wetlands in east Bozeman, and turning up many good birds. On October 8th Ben found a Swamp Sparrow at the wetlands, which is always a tough bird to find in this area. But Ben topped that two days earlier by finding a Bewick’s Wren in the hillside tangles at the wetlands. Bewick’s Wrens are very rare in Montana, and especially so east of the Continental Divide. This is only the second time one has been seen in southwest Montana, with the previous sighting coming eighteen years ago at the Sourdough Nature Trail, also in Bozeman.
