As always, we appreciate you sharing this page, and hope that all of you are staying healthy and sane during these difficult times!
Very Unhealthy. That’s what Missoula’s air quality had been pegged at for the last five days, thanks to smoke from the catastrophic fires raging across the West. Braden and I were supposed to stay indoors, but faced a huge problem: fall migration, when waves of birds were traversing the state. Birds we could only see now. What to do? Simple. Go birding.
Unlike our past few outings, we decided to stick to the Missoula Valley, and began by heading out to Frenchtown to see if we might catch a rare Sabine’s Gull or Greater White-fronted Goose. We arrived at our intended water-filled gravel pit and what did we see? Exactly one American Coot on the water. Then, we spotted some action in a few sad-looking invasive trees along the road. We sauntered over to discover a delightful assortment of American Goldfinches, Yellow-rumped Warblers, and Lincoln’s Sparrows, along with a surprise Red-naped Sapsucker, a species we thought would be long gone by now. A duet of American Pipits flying overhead capped off our visit.
Even though Yellow-rumped Warblers are our most common Montana warblers, it’s so much fun to see them moving through in big fall groups.
After an uneventful stop at the Frenchtown Slough, we headed to our main destination, Mocassin Lane. This road is always hit and miss for us, but in previous years runoff irrigation has created muddy pools that sometimes attracted shorebirds. Since we’d had fairly dismal luck in our last few outings, we harbored no real expectations, but we hit the jackpot! Setting up our spotting scope, we identified a surprising assortment of ducks, and then focused in on our real treasure: shorebirds. “There’s a ton of Wilson’s Snipe out there,” Braden said, scanning slowly. “Oh, wait. I’ve got a Pectoral Sandpiper!” In fact, there wasn’t just one, but 17—the most we’d ever seen at one time. It was also the most snipe—13—we’d ever seen in one place. Other delights included a lone Red-necked Phalarope and more than twenty pipits. It was a great chance to study birds we rarely came in contact with, and we spent a good hour enjoying them.
How many shorebirds do you see? This photo perfectly encapsulates how challenging it is to detect, observe, and identify species. See what you come up with—answer at the end of the post!
Our outing yesterday was by far our best look ever at Pectoral Sandpipers. The striped breast and yellow legs are distinguishing marks for these handsome birds.
After our big shorebird score, we thought we’d exhausted the day’s luck, but at Council Grove State Park we again landed amid a great assortment of birds including the Nuthatch Trifecta (Pygmy, White-Breasted, and Red-breasted), another Lincoln’s Sparrow, and a late-season Spotted Towhee. The highlight? A Merlin and American Kestrel perched face-to-face on a bare branch. We couldn’t tell if they were trying to make friends or face off like Clint Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef in a spaghetti western. Either way, it was a great cap to a great day that netted us 55 species, firmly sending us into record territory for September birding. Meanwhile, our Montana Big Year totals now stand at 256 species for me and a whopping 263 for Braden. Take that, fire smoke!
Falcon Stand-off: “A bird with a rifle will win over a bird with a pistol any time.”
Shorebird Answer: Well, I count at least nine shorebirds in this photo including at least four Pectoral Sandpipers, one Killdeer, and four Wilson’s Snipe—with a couple American Pipits thrown in for good measure!
Ever since learning about it, my dad and I have always wanted to attend the self-proclaimed “Biggest Week in American Birding” at the Black Swamp Observatory in Northwestern Ohio. This festival, set in the “Warbler Capital of the World” in mid-May, may be among the largest in the United States and even the world! In recent years up to 70,000 birders have attended the festival, funding (well, almost) the entire Midwestern economy for months on end. The reason that so many birders flock to this out-of-the-way state this time of year is the same reason we drive out to Freezeout Lake every March: spring migration. Instead of Snow Geese, though, the Black Swamp Observatory’s main attraction is passerines; specifically, warblers. Rivaling the giants of Central Park and High Island,Texas, thirty-warbler days are not uncommon.
Flocks of Western Tanagers have been a delightful sight the past couple of weeks, both in Missoula and Helena—and have allowed us plenty of practice with our ID skills.
Unfortunately, thanks to a strike by the BWWLU (Blue-winged Warbler Labor Union), the festival shut down this year (oh, and perhaps COVID-19 played a role?), and our chances of getting a slot next year before I graduate are fairly slim, so it looked like we’d have to find the warblers in our own state instead. This May, we scored Tennessee and Blackpoll Warblers in the east, but recently we were given a second chance to snag rare Eastern warblers: the less well-known but possibly more productive month of September. The first two weeks of September in Montana may be the best time for songbird migration statewide, with Westby delivering large numbers of Magnolia, Mourning and other, rarer warblers to those who make the drive. Across the rest of the state, we can always depend on a few wandering warblers to show up, and this year has been no exception.
A few days ago, my dad and I woke up at 6, planning to drive up the Ninepipe valley to look for shorebirds and some reported Mew Gulls. On our way out of the house, though, a Montana Rare Bird Alert email changed our minds—a place called “Nature Park” in Helena had reported Chestnut-sided and Black-and-White Warblers the day before. Soon, we found ourselves driving to Helena for the second time in two weeks.
Northern Waterthrushes are notoriously difficult to catch out in the open, but this one obviously wanted to show off for the Helena birding crowd!
We pulled into the parking lot of the uniquely-named Nature Park, and almost immediately spotted some migrants: the White-crowned Sparrows and Wilson’s Warblers that Montana fall migration was known for. After scouring the trees and bushes for anything rare for 100 meters, we found a wet impression filled to the brim with members of Helena Audubon, including a few people and names we recognized: Sharon Dewart-Hansen, Kyle Strode, and Pat Grantham. Wilson’s Warblers coated the shrubs, and we picked out American Redstart, MacGillivray’s, Yellow-rumped, and Orange-crowned Warbler, Northern Waterthrush and Cassin’s Vireo among the splendid mixed flock. After talking birds for a while with the other birders (both rare warblers had departed), we headed to Warm Springs and then home, energized by the experience.
Breakfast anyone? Several American Redstarts were putting on a show, and it’s always amazing just how much food they can find!
Today, we were given another opportunity for an Eastern warbler closer to home. I had just sat down for the evening to work on my Calculus homework when Nick Ramsey, who had recently started school in Louisiana, called me.
“Cole Wolf just reported a Blackpoll Warbler in Greenough Park, you should check it out!”
“I’m on it,” I said, swatting my Calculus homework aside like an annoying younger sibling.
I hopped in the Forerunner and was at the Northeast corner of the park before even Cole had been given the chance to drop his dogs off.
“You got here quick,” he said, and we quickly found the bird again high in a Ponderosa. I snapped some decent photos before it disappeared. Upon showing the photos to Cole, he squinted.
“That actually looks more like a Bay-breasted,” he said, showing me the fall-plumaged Bay-breasted on the Sibley app on his phone.
Not being Eastern birders, my dad and I have never experienced the difficult identification of Blackpoll vs. Bay-breasted Warblers in fall migration. As more birders began to arrive in search of the rarity, I picked up some ID tips from each of them on distinguishing between the two similar plumages.
After about forty minutes, half a dozen more birders had arrived, but the warbler had not shown itself. Other birds kept us entertained for a while, primarily a Merlin snacking on a siskin and a particularly tame Pileated Woodpecker, but the passerine pickings were slim. I headed back towards the bridge at the top of the park, ready to head home, when I glimpsed a dull yellow bird with obvious wingbars in a bush next to me.
“I’ve got it!” I said, waving the rest of the birders over. While they watched it hop between cottonwoods and mountain ashes, I called my dad.
“You need to get down here!”
Though perhaps a little drab to other birders, this rare Bay-breasted Warbler was a thing of beauty to the Western Montana birding crew!
He arrived just as the last of the birders headed out, and we continued searching the areas where I had seen it. The day grew dark, however, and most of the birds that had been active earlier had disappeared. Nick, meanwhile confirmed via text that the consensus on the bird on the Montana Birding Facebook page was that it was a Bay-breasted, based on buffy undertail coverts, faded spectacles, and black legs. This was definitely rarer than a Blackpoll, which would have been a treat by itself!
I couldn’t refind the bird for my dad, so we headed back to the cars. In the trees next to the street, though, I could hear chickadees, and I held up my binoculars, hoping for another mixed flock. A Warbling Vireo passed through my vision, and my hopes began to rise—there had been a WAVI with the warbler last time we had seen it! Sure enough, the tiny yellowish warbler hopped into view again, alongside several Western Tanagers, and my dad got great looks! Maybe we didn’t need to travel to Ohio to find Eastern warblers after all.
It continues to be a crazy year for everyone, and we feel deeply for all of those who are being directly or indirectly affected by the coronavirus, either through their physical or mental health, loss of employment, or simply missing their friends and family. It stinks. One bright spot is that many people are rediscovering the simple pleasures of spending time outdoors, and for many, birding is a big part of that. A reminder that Braden and I have posted several bird-related educational videos on my YouTube channel, including a Birding Basics that introduces people how to bird and some common birds to look for. Our friend, ornithologist Dick Hutto, and his wife Sue Reel, have also been posting some great short tip videos for you to look at.
Cassin’s Kingbirds were one of seventy Year Birds we found on our epic Eastern Montana birding safari.
As you can see from our last post, we haven’t been blogging as much—but we have been birding. In fact, once we returned from Israel, we decided to shoot for 250 Montana birds as our goal for the year. We spent an exhilarating week taking an eastern Montana birding safari, during which we saw more than 180 species of birds—including about 70 Year Birds. Braden also has been conducting an independent bird-related science project for his upcoming senior year of high school. So how are we doing?
A great thing about climbing a mountain is that it can put you at birds-eye level with spectacular species you usually just see from below. Meet a Townsend’s Warbler!
By the beginning of this week, Braden had seen 243 species of birds while I was pegged at 234. Now for non-birders it might seem like a shoe-in for us to hit 250, but believe it or not, we were (and remain) more than a little anxious about our prospects. For one thing, we have seen virtually every one of the “easy” species there is to see in Montana. For another, birds are “quieting down” now that they are in the process of, or have already finished, nesting, making them more difficult to find. In other words, every new Montana Year Bird we get from now on will take significant effort, luck, or both. Undaunted, we woke early Wednesday morning to investigate a new birding location for us just west of the town of Lolo. A logging road led up into the high country from there, and even more intriguing, it passed through a two-year-old burn area where we hoped to see one of our most coveted species, the Black-backed Woodpecker.
On the day, we located five of the dozen or so common warbler species that breed in Montana, including this stunning Yellow-rumped.
It was a flawless day, and we pulled over a couple of times to listen for birds in green, lusher forest. Thanks to Braden’s sharp ears and ear-birding skills, we immediately picked up a host of species including several kinds of warblers, Swainson’s Thrushes, Warbling Vireos, and a surprise flock of Gray Jays (I refuse to cede this species to Canada!). Driving further, we finally reached a burn area where Braden had seen a Three-toed Woodpecker several days before. The burn had mostly smaller trees and I wasn’t optimistic, but Braden played a Three-toed drumming call and a Hairy Woodpecker immediately responded. Then, a blacker bird swooped in. “Three-toed!” Braden shouted. Ka-ching. A Year Bird for me.
Black-backed Woodpeckers aren’t endangered, but can usually only be found in burned forests 1-5 years old that have NOT been salvage-logged. This one immediately leaped into our Bird of the Year competition!
A mile or so further, we reached an even better burn area with larger-diameter trees. I pulled over and we played a Black-backed drumming call. Within fifteen seconds, a gorgeous female Black-backed arrived to investigate, but that wasn’t all. Another half-mile up the road, we found a yellow-crowned male! “A Black-backed! We found Black-backed Woodpeckers!” Braden exulted several times. They were our first since doing our Big Year in 2016. The day was far from finished, either. Over the next couple of hours, we added Sharp-shinned Hawk to our Year lists, and I added two more that Braden already had: Fox Sparrow and Golden-crowned Kinglet, both of which Braden found me by ear. We also found Wilson’s Warblers on their nesting grounds—our first time doing so near Missoula.
The day brought our totals to 245 and 239 respectively. Will we make it to 250? We’re finally starting to feel better about our prospects, but stay tuned. We still have a lot of birding to go!
We hope you enjoy Braden’s new post about our visit to Jordan. Braden and I know first-hand what a difficult time this is for many of you, and we hope that you are all staying healthy and safe. We encourage you to share this post with all of the kids and educators in your lives to help education continue during these tough months. I have also posted a virtual author visit to the Galapagos as another resource for teachers, librarians, and kids. It can be found on my YouTube Channel. Please feel free to share this as well. Most of all, keep birding!
Frigid wind raced under our raincoats as we tore across the sand. My dad and I were perched on makeshift benches in the open top of a Toyota (the proud sponsor of deserts, apparently), squinting at our dramatic surroundings as grains of dust flew into our eyes. We turned a wide corner, and found ourselves at a makeshift settlement at the base of a mountain. The truck slowed to a halt, and our driver, Ahmed, helped us get out.
For a birder in Arabia, a camel is mandatory equipment!
“Welcome to Lawrence’s Spring,” he said, gesturing towards small pockets of vegetation that apparently indicated underground water. Above us, a huge canyon opened up, spilling boulders down the mountainside. To the left sat a large, black tent where locals and tourists warmed their hands by a smoking fire while eyeing trinkets. Young boys and dromedary camels lounged around, and Brown-Necked Ravens soared above us. After bouldering a little, my dad and I took a short camel ride, with two friendly boys leading our surprisingly tall camels in a large circle. The boys took special interest in our binoculars, just as the guards at the Jordanian Border Crossing had earlier that morning. Thankfully, our binos were returned to us both times.
The National Bird of Jordan, the Sinai Rosefinch became one our favorite birds of the Middle East.Braden got this great shot of both the male and female in their natural habitat.
We got off the camels, preparing to board the truck again, when a large flock of birds caught my eye. My dad and I had already grown accustomed to the striking white and black Wheatears, of which there were several species, but along with these, several other birds had gathered by the rocks behind the base of the tent. One was an unusual subspecies of the Black Redstart, one we hadn’t seen before, and several bland but new Desert Larks hopped around on the sand. Some of the birds were vividly pink and red-patterned, though! We hadn’t seen these before, and I guessed they were finches based on their thick beaks. I got fairly close, snapping several hundred shots, before our guide called us back to the truck. Upon later investigation, we discovered they were Sinai Rosefinches, the National Bird of Jordan! We’d now seen two National Birds on this trip, the other being Israel’s Hoopoe.
The sheer scale and color of Wadi Rum will steal the breath from even the most experienced traveler.
The next few hours, we continued across the desert to various small attractions, hiding from the wind behind mountains each time. We climbed a sand dune, summited an arch and explored two desert canyons. One canyon had ancient Nabatean glyphs carved into the walls, and fig trees sprang up wherever water was to be found. The coolest part of Wadi Rum, though, may have just been the ridiculously awesome scenery. Huge, limestone mountains jutted out of the red and white sands, giving off the impression of massive Rosetta Stones with their unique, melted-wax type look. Star Wars and The Martian, both of which had been partly filmed here, didn’t show off every part of the desert, though. Some areas had rocky ground rather than sand, and there were large patches of low brush in other locations. Unfortunately, this vegetation acted like nets for trash, and we saw more white plastic bags than White-Crowned Wheatears perched atop the shrubs. It seemed the tourists, of whom there were quite a few, did not respect the desert as much as they should’ve.
As my dad and I exited one canyon, we spotted two tiny birds racing from one bush to another. They reminded us of the brush-loving Graceful Prinias we’d seen the rest of the trip, but since every other bird we’d seen today was new, we decided to check them out. Sure enough, we finally flushed them, and took pictures as the pair of sharply-streaked birds ran up the canyon walls like Canyon Wrens. Later, as we sat in our hotel, we identified our photos as Scrub Warblers!
The birds of Wadi Rum tended toward the small, cryptic, secretive side, as this Scrub Warbler demonstrates.
We eventually were driven back across the desert to the town of Rum, the only permanent human settlement in the valley. Other people did live here, called the Bedouins: these people, who were traditionally nomadic sheepherders, now made money off of tourism, by running hotels (or at least as much as a tent can be a hotel). Ahmed told us, that if we ever came back, we should spend the night in the desert.
Bedouin hospitality definitely took the chill off of our spectacular winter Wadi Rum tour.
Back in Rum, as we marveled at the large congregations of Tristram’s Starlings (black birds with unexpected orange wing-patches), we said goodbye to Ahmed, and went on our way as the guide who’d brought us to Wadi Rum drove us onward towards one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, Petra. It was there where we were to spend the night, and take a tour of the area the next day.
Please follow Braden’s and Sneed’s birding adventures by subscribing to FatherSonBirding.com using the box on the right below. As always, feel free to share this with other birders, bloggers, editors at big high-paying publishing houses—anyone you wish!
Last week, to celebrate the final days of summer, Braden and I did something we’ve always wanted to do: bird banding. This, however, wasn’t just any bird-banding session. We were lucky enough to accompany the team of biologist Debbie Leick, whom we first met during last year’s Christmas Bird Count.
When Braden and I got to hang with them, Debbie Leick and her bird banding and recording partners had a productive morning, capturing thirty birds of fourteen different species.
Debbie works for MPG Ranch, a wonderful operation that supports a host of restoration and academic science. Debbie’s project? To see if she and her crew can count migrating birds by listening to their flight calls with a large array of microphones spread throughout the Bitterroot Valley. Before she and her team can start counting birds, however, they have to be able to distinguish their calls.
Birds in Bags! Birds extracted from mist nets are kept warm in bags while awaiting banding, measuring, and for a lucky few, recording.
Braden, Debbie, and I joined the University of Montana Bird Ecology banding crew at a trapping station up Miller Creek. The team had set up mist nets to capture birds, and when we arrived, the action was in full swing. A Swainson’s Thrush, Yellow-rumped Warbler, MacGillivray’s Warbler, and a surprise (to us) Northern Waterthrush kicked off the bird parade. Some of these were recaptures, as evidenced by the bands around their legs. New or recaptured, each bird was carefully removed from its net, weighed and measured, and released. Some birds, however, got special treatment.
This MacGillivray’s Warbler submits to a thorough health inspection by expert warbler wrangler Sasha Robinson before being banded, measured, and released back into the wild.
When we caught a Townsend’s Warbler, Debbie’s colleague Boo Curry (and yes, no typo there) led me and the bird to a PRS or Portable Recording Studio. The warbler was gently placed in its own soundproofed recording booth and then Boo piped in some warbler calls (a bird’s version of elevator music) to see if she could get the Townsend’s to respond.
A Townsend’s Warbler prepares to audition for Debbie’s flight call library. It passed with, ahem, flying colors.
It did! In fact, it was the team’s first successful flight
call recording of the season. Which just goes to show how painstaking field
biology can be. The work of Debbie’s team, though, has great promise to improve
not only our counting of migrating
birds, but our understanding of them. Stay tuned for more when Braden and I
follow up on their progress at a later date!
Debbie’s colleague Kaitlyn shows Braden how to release a thoroughly-processed, somewhat bedraggled Ruby-crowned Kinglet.
