Day Trip Before the Snow Flies

Such a nice day afield. By 8am, we had seen both species of deer and a stunning Red Fox. By 3pm we had 27 species of birds and added antelope and prairie dog to the mammal list. The Lab and I headed out to Freezeout Lake early today. In a typical year, this is the best time see 30,000 to 50,000 Snow- and Ross’s Geese, and Tundra and Trumpeter Swans in the greater Fairfield-to-Choteau area.

This year is different. The long-term average for todays date going back to 2004 is about 57,000 white geese and 2,300 swans. Today’ count was 4,200 geese and 32 swans. Not 3,200- just 32. I did not see any swans, but I saw a skein of Snow Geese fly past me that must have been 1,000 meters long. I estimate that skein had 1,500 to 1,800 geese. The combination of the geese calling as they fly and the sheer numbers is simply wonderful.

I also had a quick roadside encounter with a stunning male Ring-necked Pheasant. I turned the car around to try to get a photo, but pheasants are as skittish as they are showy. So I have a couple of poor images of part of the head of a pheasant. I added five year birds to the annual list, but all of the aforementioned info pales by comparison to the other roadside encounter I enjoyed.

I found a very tolerant Ferruginous Hawk on a telephone pole right at the side of the road. I slowed and stopped and snapped a few (like 40) images and he did not seem to care. So I walked slowly to the other side of the pole for better light and he stayed put! I think I was only 40 meters away when I found a good spot to shoot more pictures. So, I shot more pictures.

The Ferruginous Hawk is a species of concern in Montana. They are big and beautiful birds that tend to spend their time in the open country east of the divide during breeding season. I have now seen three year – more on that in a moment – but never have I had the opportunity to be so close to a calm, tolerant Ferruginous.

We were dive bombed by one about 6 years ago because we got too close to her nest without realizing it. Every other Ferruginous I have seen has been waaaaaaaaay up in the sky and could only be ID’ed because of the snowy white body and little black ‘commas’ on the underside of the wings. But this one- it sat and gave me a good 5 minutes to look at it.

The first one I saw this year was just a week or so ago. Flying over at nosebleed altitude and ID’ed through binoculars. The other one I have seen this year was likely this bird’s mate. I noticed the bird was not staring at me the whole time, but looking out into the field behind me. When I turned to see if there was an Eagle flying in or something, it turned out that there was a larger Ferruginous Hawk flying low to the ground carrying a stick.

I watched through the binoculars as the bird dropped to the ground on a small hummock and started moving the stick around on the ground- building a nest. I watched a Ferruginous Hawk add to a nesting site while the (likely) mate was watching me.

So, a few thousand Snow Geese and pair of Ferruginous Hawks. That is a nice day afield.