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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.
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.
https://ebird.org/checklist/S73744019
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!
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!
What dedicated Birding Dudes. Yeah, the smoke has been real sucky. We’re enjoying a respite at the moment.
Love the Falcon mano a mano photo! But which has the rifle? Looks like a battle among equals. Wonder what they think of each other.
NINE shorebirds in that photo?! Can I get some of whatever you’re drinking?
I’m feelin’ very impressed with myself with all my recent warbler sightings and photos. So pardon me if I can’t get excited about a Yellow-Rumped Warbler. Hey, can I get a bigger pair of briches here,? LOL
I’m just drinkin’ pure, cool water, compadre. You’ll probably need to zoom in to find them all. One is a veritable “Where’s Waldo” of a bird. Well, maybe two or three are.
Hey, you be nice to Yellow-rumped Warblers. Often, they’re all we got–and they are REALLY cool birds 🙂
I think you can safely call Roger a troll. But his comments are not too damaging to the banter, so I’d just let it go and resist the temptation to silence him from the blog.
I appreciate that you stood up to Roger’s disparaging remarks about Yellow-rumped Warblers, especially since a hormone from the lymphatic system shows promise in treating Parkinson’s Disease. (A Grad student of the esteemed Dr. Jonathan Bull at John Hopkin’s University did the initial research in 2018-2019, and only recently published. Consequently, an embittered response to Roger with a sarcastic Hah is neither necessary or justified.) It just goes to show that we all are ignorant about something.
On the other hand, Roger should not be allowed to run rampant out of control, so please notify me of any of his future disparaging remarks about warblers, shorebirds or the enigmatic American Dipper. And to think he took the Ohio thing out of context only last month!!!!
Yup, the hormone comments are entirely fabricated.
Notice I did not ask. I’m also thinking that YOUR hormones are fabricated.
I will share your thoughts with Roger—if I can find him on the Deep Internet where he resides.
First of all, the System did not notify me that there were additional comments on this post. I can only assume that this is a plot by the Deep State and the callow youth of MT to silence me.
Speaking of callow, If by “troll”, the erudite commenter means a devoted patron of the wonderful Trollekelder bier café in stunning Ghent, Belgium, then I plead guilty as charged – and you better be nice to me or else I won’t tell you how to find it or
recommend any beers for you to try.
https://visit.gent.be/en/eat-drink/trollekelder
If, however, the implication is that I am an internet troll in the modern sense of that word, then I got news for you: these Collard boyz are outta control and need an occasional smackdown to keep them lightly tethered to Reality. Yellow-rump shmump!
As for Ohio, check back with me on Nov 4th. Or 11th or 18th. If the SCOTUS allows all votes to be counted.
So enjoyed this. I beginning to thing that
the birds follow you guys! Ha!
Keep em coming ! Love and feather hugs !
Thanks so much, Penny. You would have loved seein’ them birds!