May has come to a close. It’s been an amazing Wildflower Month. The Lab and I have walked on Mt Helena (or the other South Hills trails) a minimum of three times every day since May 1- literally morning, noon, and night, well evening. After six months of snow on the ground and the winter we had, it’s been a joy to bathe in the forest as the color has come back into the landscape.
It’s been a bit of a marathon.
Overall Wildflower walking miles- 157.24 miles. Total time spent looking for flower or birds- 93 hours 18 minutes. That’s an average of about 3 hours every day. Total number of flowering plants ID’ed- 97. Total birds ID’ed- 42.
May 1, 2023
Low 43f – high 81f. Recorded 9.05 total miles; 20,186 steps. Morning- 2.13 miles/433 ft of elevation gain | Evening – 2.55 miles/322 ft of elevation gain. Afternoon walk 1.01 miles, 164 ft elevation gain.
4 new flowering plants- Mountain Douglasia; Slimpod Shooting Star; Holboell’s Rockcress; Nuttall’s Rockcress.
3 new birds for the year – Spotted Towhee; American Goldfinch; Rock Wren
May 2, 2023
Low 63f – high 72f. Recorded 8.92 miles; 19,286 steps. Three walks across the ENE, N , and NW slopes of Mt. Helena. Totalling 6.08 miles.
Two new flowering plants- Hooker’s Townsendia and Musineon or wild parsley.
ELR picked up three new year birds – House Wren; Violet-green Swallow – and Red Naped Sapsucker.
May 3, 2023
Low 50f – high 77f recorded 9.89 miles; 21,466 steps Three walks across Mt Helena totalling 6.1 miles.
Two new flowering plants- Arrowleaf Balsamroot and Nineleaf Biscuitroot.
Two new year Birds- Common Grackle and Chipping Sparrow.
Also reported a Masked Hunter (Assassin bug) to iNaturalist
May 4, 2023
Low 46f – high 81f. Recorded 8.48 miles; 18,803 steps. Four shorter walks today- Including Tumbleweed. 4.5 miles of hikes.
Three plants in bloom- Needleleaf Sedge, Little Larkspur. Also found a pale (leucistic?) Shooting Star.
Evening Grosbeak and White-crowned Sparrow are postive ID’s and new for the year.
May 5, 2023
Low 49f – high 55f. Recorded 7.82 miles- 17,565 steps. 4.32 miles of hikes. New flowering plant- Early or Elegant Cinquefoil.
ELR found a Sora
May 6, 2023
Low 45f – high 57f. Recorded 18,455 steps. 3.55 miles of hikes.
New flowering plant for the year- Wollypod Milkvetch.
Picked up a Tennessee Warbler as a life bird today. Also new for the year were Northern Waterthrush, Yellow Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Brown-headed Cowbird, and Hermit Thrush. The Great-tailed Grackle has eluded me for three days.
May 7, 2023
Low 40f – high 57f. Huge hiking day. Recorded 23,847 steps. 8.15 miles of hikes.
New flowering plants for the day- Wartberry, or Rough-fruited Fairybells. Another half-dozen plants are on the verge of flowering. Hit trails on the front and back of Mt. Helena.
Today was a plant day- no new birds for the year for me. ELR found a Great-tailed Grackle in Gallatin Co.
May 8, 2023
Low 39f – high 63f. Big day again. Recorded 6.73 miles of hiking and 21,617 steps.
New flowering plants- Prairie Smoke, Lyall’s Rockcress, Prairie Milkvetch, Alpine Bladderpod, Nuttall’s Violet (yellow).
Tne Pasque and Shooting-stars are beginning to fade just a bit.
No new bird species.
May 9, 2023
Low 45f – high 55f. Hard rain and pea sized hail for part of the morning. Low activity. 1.48 miles of hiking and 14,870 steps.
Valley Yellow Violet is new today. Found along the cut-over trail between the quarry and the Bitterroot saddle. Golden Cushionweed and Forget-me-nots are leafing out.
No new birds, but had a close encounter with a Common Yellowthroat that appears to have hit a window and survived.
May 10, 2023
Low 37f – high 62f. Lots of activity today. 7.12 miles of hiking. 24,269 steps.
New flowers in bloom- Kinnikinik, Oregon Grape, and Slender Cinquefoil.
No new birds identified, but two individuals eluded me. One the size of a Kinglet, and one more like an Oriole.
May 11, 2023
Low 46f – high 63f. Lower energy day, 3.71 hiking miles,17,234 steps.
Several new flowers in bloom, bit still working out positive ID’s. One of the pussytoes, one of the biscuitroots, and one of the vetches. If all the Bitterroots I’ve been seeing bloom, it will be amazing
Finally saw the Great-tailed Grackle today. It flew over the road in front of me as I was driving.
May 12, 2023
Low 41f – high 66f. Three or four small rain squalls went past today. 4.7 miles of hiking. 7.42 total miles. 16,783 steps.
New flowering plants today; Maiden Blue-eyed Mary, Rabbitfoot Crazyweed, and Pennsylvania Cinquefoil.
No new birds.
May 13, 2023
Low 43f – high 59f. Rain in Bozeman, cloudy in Helena. Many small hikes and walks today. Walked or hiked 7.55 miles and logged 16,257 steps.
Today was about beauty, not numbers. I had a Curlew fly over me; I saw a Peregrine Falcon soaring across a cliff face. I saw many, many birds and flowers. Today, I coexisted with them instead of counting them.
May 14, 2023
Low 48f – high 68f. Partly cloudy and breezy all day. 8.52 total miles; 5.96 miles on Mt. Helena. 18,231 steps.
New flowering plants included Alpine Forget-me-not, Golden Currant, Wax Currant, Western Serviceberry, Cusion Goldenweed. Also found Lyall’s Rockcress on the Panhandle Trail. Still unable to get a decent photo of this sp.
No new birds.
May 15, 2023
Low 45f – high 77f. Rain squall with hail went through today. 5.58 miles of hiking. 7.95 total miles. 17,453 steps.
New flowering plants today; Field Pussytoes, Broom Snakeweed, Bearberry, Spreading Fleabane, and Prairierocket Wallflower.
Lark Sparrow is a new bird for the year.
May 16, 2023
Low 49f – hi 80f. Too warm too soon. 4.84 miles of hiking. 7.01 miles total. 15,204 steps. Mostly across Mt. Helena’s north side.
Plants new for the year include Woolly Groundsel, Fuzzy-tongue Penstemon, Valley Yellow Violet. Yellow paintbrush are almost in bloom.
No new birds.
May 17, 2023
Low 48f – high 66f. Smoke moved in from Canada late in the day yesterday and filled the valley today. 6.03 miles of hiking. 8.11 total miles. 18,083 steps.
New flowering plants today; Purple Clematis, Hook-spur Violet, Fairy Slippers, Death Camas, Wood Valerian. Also found a white Blue-eyed Mary.
Western Tanager is a new bird for the year. I think I saw a Canada Jay- but no confirmation.
May 18, 2023
Low 43f – high 70f. Smoke is thicker today. I went up to MacDonald Pass to get a little break for the thick valley-settled smoke. 3.5 miles of hiking- mostly on the continental divide. 15,876 steps.7.15 total miles.
New flowering plants today included Glacier Lily, Alpine Spring Beauty, and Arctic Willow.several other species will be blooming soon up there; Coral Root, Lambstongue Ragwort, and Lousewort.
New Birds included MacGillivray’s Warbler and American Three-toed Woodpecker. Both on the Continental Divide.
May 19, 2023
Low 43f – high 81f. Smoke is slowly thinning. I went up to MacDonald Pass to get a little break for the thick valley-settled smoke. 3 miles of hiking- mostly on the continental divide. 14,457 steps. 6.67 total miles.
No new flowering plants or birds today. New butterfly- Western Pine Elfin
May 20, 2023
Low 48f – high 84f. Smoke is thinning further, but still quite present. Several shorter hikes on Mt. Helena. 3.27 miles of hiking and a total of 6.52 miles of walking. 14,580 steps.
New flowering plants include Western Groundsel and Field Chickweed.
No new birds. Hoary Comma
May 21, 2023
Low 52f – high 84f. Smoke isalmost gone. Several decent hikes on 3 Passes. 6.18 miles of hiking and a total of 9.22 miles of walking. 19,535 steps.
Fourteen new flowering plants; Western Honeysuckle, Hairy Clematis, Bluebells, Field Horsetail, Carpet Phlox, Heart-leafed Arnica, Upland Yellow Violet; Franklin’s Phacelia, Pale Agoseris, Bee Balm, Fringed Puccoon, Montana Cryptantha, Bastard Toadflax, and Antelope Bitterbrush.
Dusky Flycatcher, Red-naped Sapsucker. Snowshoe Hare, Milbert’s Tortoiseshell.
May 22, 2023
Low 54f – high 73f. Cold front pushed through about 2pm. Rained hard for a bit. 2.54 miles of hiking; 5.9 miles overall walking. 14,556 steps.
New flowering plant for the day- Western Stoneseed.
New birds for the day, Blackpoll Warbler*, Eastern Kingbird, Spotted Sandpiper.
May 23, 2023
Low 48 – high 73. Nice weather today. 4.37 miles of hiking, 6.04 miles all walking. 20,189 steps.
New flowering plants included Field Locoweed, Sticky Cinquefoil, FAlse Solomon’s Seal, Threadleaf Sandwort, Groundplum Milkvetch, Lewis’ Blue Flax, Salsify.
New birds- Western Kingbird.
May 24, 2023
Low 52f – high 64f. Rained on and off today. 4.01 miles of hiking, 6.93 total miles of walking. 15,127 steps.
No new plants ot birds today, but a Tiger Swallowtail flew past as I was hiking on Mt. Helena and I saw a bird that I suspect was a Western Wood Peewee, but I was unable to get a confirmation.
May 25, 2023
Low 52f – hi 57f. Cool and damp. Rained on and off all day. 5.99 miles of hiking. 8.82 miles overall. 19,129 steps.
New flowers include Wild Strawberry, Cutleaf Anemone, Smallflower Penstemon, and Linearleaf Phacelia.
No new birds, but a Grizzly Bear was captured on a trail camera up Grizzly Gulch on the backside of Mt. Helena.
May 26, 2023
Low 52f – hi 61f. Another wonderfully cool and damp day. 6.11 miles of hiking and 8.96 miles total walking. 19,234 steps.
New flower- Western Blue Iris.
New bird- Calliope Hummingbird
May 27, 2023
Low 52f – hi 61f. Rained most of the day. 4.44 miles of hiking, 6.76 miles overall. 14,903 steps. Spent time on Mt. Helena and 10 Mile Environmental Trail near Rimini.
New flowering plants include Alumroot, Northern Bedstraw, Bog Violet, Canada Violet, Utah Honeysuckle, Scarlet Paintbrush, Alpine Milkvetch, and Chocolate Lily.
New bird- Warbling Vireo
May 28, 2023
Low 50f – 68f. Some rain, mostly cloudy. A nearly perfect day for wildflowering and birding. 6.53 miles of hiking. 8.26 total miles of walking. 18,454 steps.
Flowering plants include Pearly Everlasting, Starry False Solomon’s Seal, Western Meadowrue, Princes Pine, Missouri Foxtail Cactus, Cats eye Cryptantha, Textile Onion, and Western Wallflower. I am at 99 ID’ed species of flowering plants for the season.
Birds include Grey Catbird, Hammond’s Flycatcher, Black-headed Grosbeak, and Common Nighthawk.
May 29, 2023
Low 46f – hi 77f. 5.05 miles of hiking today. 7.26 overall walking miles. 16,326 steps.
New plant species for the day was a Monument Plant (close-up shown)
New birds for the year include Cassin’s Vireo, Purple Finch, Cordilleran Flycatcher, and Swainson’s Thrush. Arrastra Gulch was alive with bird song and Merlin was lighting up with these species over and over.
May 30, 2023
Low 48f – high 75f. 5.27 miles of hiking; 8.55 total walking miles. 18,389 steps. Rodney Ridge and Mt. Helena.
New plant species today was a Sticky Geranium. Found Cutleaf Anemone in red, pink, and white.
No new birds for the day.
May 31, 2023
Low 52f – high 72f. 6.89 miles of hiking; 10.57 total walking miles. 22,507 steps.
New flowering plant today- Common Blanket Flower.
New bird today- Western Wood Pewee.
Nature, every day. 
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