Category: Naturalist’s Notebook
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Rare Bird, Indeed!
I picked up a new lifer this morning following a 4.8-mile walk up to the Helena Ridge trail. The image is of an Ash-throated Flycatcher, which really ought to be a state or two south of us – they spend most of their time in the Southwest. It turns out this is only the 18th…
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Smoky Skies and Species of Concern
Today, the air quality at home was pretty rough – 159 AQI when I woke up at 5:30am. By 7:30, I was up in the hills hoping for a little cleaner air, and looking for birds and flowering plants. As the smoke started to thicken up there too, I decided to break for the plains…
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July Update
We’ve done several terrific bio-blitzes this month. Our first was a quick day trip to the fringes of Lewis and Clark County on July 4th to find a Lark Bunting. Then, July 10th to Yaak to explore fens where we hoped to see sundews; July 18th to the southern edge of the Scapegoat Wilderness up…
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The English Sundew Experience
We left Helena at noon on Friday, needing to be back by 7:00 PM Saturday. Thirty-one hours was our entire time allotment. In the end, it took us a hair over 32. But in that window, we managed to find 12 to 14 new plant species for the year (ID’ing is ongoing), most of which…
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Morrell Falls
Montana has 57 National Recreation Trails, 43 of which are designated for walking or hiking. These include the Mount Helena Ridge Trail and the Morrell Falls Trail. While I walk a portion of the Mount Helena Ridge Trail every year, it has been 35 years since I last visited Morrell Falls. The trail hasn’t changed…
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Holiday Weekend – Seized!
Lewis and Clark County is the 14th largest county in Montana. At 3,498 square miles, L&C is larger than either Delaware or Rhode Island. So, the idea that we could get up early, drive 75 road miles all trending north, and still not leave the county isn’t a foreign concept to us – though it…
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Oddball Plants in Montana
I’ve been walking and observing the trails in the greater Helena area for long enough now to know when and where I wam likely to come across some of our less common flowers. Our fairy-slippers and lady-slippers, as well as the slender rein- and bog orchids, tend to occur in small clusters rather than being…
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May Bioblitz
The Middle Daughter (TMD) and I took our annual Mid-May Bioblitz today. We tend to do a few blitzes every year, but May is usually a standout because it coincides with a strong surge in species due to the spring migration. This year was the earliest we’ve done the First Peoples Buffalo Jump State Park,…
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The Curlew’s Song
The genus of the Long-billed Curlew is Numenius – Greek for “of” or “like” the new moon. In various cultures, the curlew symbolizes a duality of sorrow and joy, comfort and sadness; a certain poignancy, I suppose. I’m not sure if the “new moon” refers to the fresh beginning of a lunar cycle – curlews do…
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Why Is SW Montana Such a Biological Treasure Trove?
Yesterday, The Middle Daughter (TMD) and I took off for a mid-day excursion to connect with nature outside the Helena Valley. We encountered an impressive array of birds suited to various habitats, mammals typically associated with alpine areas, and flowering plants found in only a handful of western US habitats – all within about 30…