On A Good Roll

The weekend arrived, offering a bit of space for a few more “pushes” to expand the year list. The mornings remained quite cold, though the late afternoons teased us with a flirtation in the 30s.

At 9:00 AM Saturday, the Lab and I were walking down a dirt road through hundreds of acres of stubble fields. It was 9 degrees with a breeze. For about twenty-five minutes, we watched Horned Larks mount rocks to release their tinkling songs—though, in truth, I think they were just trying to coax warmth from a sun too weak to pierce the thin clouds.

By 10:00 AM, we encountered a second birder. We were hunting the same quarry: Lapland Longspurs. Their name is a bit of a misnomer; they don’t have spurs, just exceptionally long back claws. “Lapland Long Back Claw” doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, though.

They aren’t “rare,” per se, but they are uncommon enough that I only spot them every couple of years—hence my presence in this frozen habitat. They breed above the boreal forest in the Canadian tundra and only grace us with their presence in winter. Usually, they’re found in the company of Horned Larks and Snow Buntings. I’ll admit, whenever I hear the Longspurs are in the valley, I secretly hope the Buntings are here, too. I knew it was too early to see them in their striking breeding plumage, but one can dream.

My other objective was the Prairie Falcon. Simply put, the Prairie is my favorite raptor. Owls might take the title, but they are a rare “special treat”—elusive and hard to find. We usually see Prairies several times a year, typically in January, so their absence this deep into 2026 was becoming a point of concern.

My worry isn’t for my list, but for the birds themselves. I’ve seen them everywhere from the Helena Fairgrounds to Fairfield, Bozeman, and Lewistown; to me, they represent a healthy, wild environment. Their absence was loud.

Other than seeing the Longspurs, Saturday was a bust, but Sunday morning delivered: I found two.

With the Prairie Falcons finally tallied, we’ve hit a record-breaking 73 species. Next Saturday is the final day of February. We might squeeze out another species or two, but both TMD and I work full-time, and the remaining possibilities on the 2026 list will require significant effort to track down.

Oscar Wilde supposedly said that work is the curse of the drinking class. I prefer to think that work is simply the price we pay to indulge our true passions.

Onward