Category: Birding
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Birding vs. Birdwatching: A Difference of Intent and Effort
Here in Helena, we are blessed with an abundance of birds. From the back porch feeders to our high ridges, birds are our nearly constant companions. Several times out in the field, I’ve had someone refer to me as a birdwatcher. I always silently bristle just a little, because I was out in a field…
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The Montana Quintfecta: A Curious Morning at the Fairgrounds
Montana is home to five native goose species. According to the definitive book Birds of Montana (Marks, Hendricks, and Casey), the list includes the Canada, Cackling, Snow, Ross’s, and Greater White-fronted goose. While the Greater White-fronted goose is uncommon across most of the state, it is a frequent visitor to Northeast Montana during the spring migration. (A…
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Going Well, If A Bit Odd
So, we find ourselves on January 20, 2026 with 54 species of birds ID’ed and two species of wildflowers in bloom. In addition, we found two other wildflowers close to ‘in bloom’ status. If you’re interested you can see our past efforts and progress here. Let’s talk birds first. Our goal is to get 6…
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Off To A Good Start
The first was a full day, and while we did not see Redpolls, we did see Long-tailed ducks and a lot more. In the end, we tied last January’s number. So, For the second year running, we kick off the birding year with 43 species tracked down from Marysville to Gates of the Mountains to…
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End of Year Wrap – 2025
By the Numbers- Steps – 5,113,235 Trail miles – 650 Paved path miles – 772 Total miles – 2,422 Birds ID’ed – 175 Wildflowers ID’ed – 159 Butterflies ID’ed – 37 Weeks in a Boot – 7 The story of 2025 Last year was interrupted by a couple of significant lifestyle changes. First, there was…
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First Day Birding Blitz Prep
Our, now eight year old, annual New Year’s Day ritual is simple: grab the Labrador and head into the far-flung fringes of the Helena Valley. From Marysville to the Gates of the Mountains, and from Black Sandy to the Spokane Hills, and Mount Helena (of course) we spend the day hunting for a positive ID…
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Equinox Effort- 2025
Spring Awakening: A Birding Blitz Around Central MontanaThe vernal equinox arrived, heralding the official start of spring, and we celebrated in the best way we know how: with a whirlwind birding adventure! Our goal? To identify 55 bird species across two days of exploration in a month not known for a lot of species depth.…
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Winter Birding
Winter Birding It’s winter, and it’s been quite cold, but the birding has surprisingly good. The lack of leaves on the deciduous trees and bushes helps quite a bit. The warm fall allowed us to have open water will into January and that helped, too. Some birds are more visible in the Helena area in…
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February Freeze
Much of the country spent the last couple of weeks working through a cold snap. Montana has been no exception. Last weeks’ wekdays hovered in the mid single digits above and below zero. We also received about a foot of snow in the valley. So trails have been off limits. The Lab has a very…
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Warming Thoughts
As the morning light slowly builds at the eastern edge of the Helena valley on this frigid January morning, I am inspired by these two quotes: In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer. And that makes me happy. For it says that no matter how hard the world…