Continue reading »]]> Some creatures hold a mystic grasp on my birding imagination. They are rare, elusive, or just plain odd. The Black-backed Woodpecker may just possess all three of those attributes in a single animal. Incredibly patchy in distribution due to their requirement of recently burnt forests for both nesting and feeding, Black-backed Woodpeckers are scattered widely across the landscape. Once a forest fire has blacken the trunks, wood-boring insects soon arrive to reap the harvest of the deceased timber. The Black-backed Woodpecker, in turn, preys upon those insects, primarily Monochamus spp. and Dendroctonus englamanni. Once the insects have exhausted the food supply, they disappear as do the woodpeckers. This constant seeking of new opportunities creates a nomadic lifestyle. They are always dissolving into memory.

The odd characteristic of the Black-backed Woodpecker is a trait that it shares with its close cousin, the American Three-toed Woodpecker…it is the fact that Black-backed Woodpeckers have 3 toes, well actually not quite, 2 toes are fused into a single functional rear toe.

Last week, I received word that Black-backed Woodpeckers were being seen at a recent burn along the Clark Fork River. Vida and I made it to the site around 5 in the afternoon, and within 10 minutes, we had found the nest hole and its rather cooperative occupants. The male showed particularly well, and with his indulgence I was rattled off a few quality shots of the ever elusive Black-backed Woodpecker.

The wonderful yellow crown of the Black-backed Woodpecker

Male Black-backed Woodpecker

Continue reading »]]> I have not seen a California Quail since moving back into western Montana, and I decided to take a break and find a few of the little buggers. And boy, did I find a whole mess of California Quail. I even managed a couple of images.

California Quail is Montana’s introduced species problem. They have had an apparently self-sustaining population in the Bitterroot Valley for more than 10 years, however, they are not on the official Montana checklist. In my opinion, if Ring-necked Pheasant, Gray Partridge, and Chukar are on the checklist than California Quail deserves to be countable. Oh well, they are gorgeous in any case.

Male California Quail

Classic California Quail pose

Continue reading »]]> Harsh questions and answers resonate through the Douglas-fir and ponderosa pine. The first note is always an upward, plaintive infliction, and the following an answering second, upward note. This questioning is relentless as if I am being grilled in a Turkish prison. The Cassin’s Vireo is one of three members of the former Solitary Vireo, which was split into 3 species.

Cassin's Vireo in profile

Singing Cassin's Vireo

My first Cassin's Vireo image

Continue reading »]]> So many posts left un-writtened…I will attempt to catch up on this blog and my photography-centric blog, http://www.raddphotography.com.

I have always wanted to observe a Western Skink, but alas, the little buggers always eluded me. I remember seeing a lizard on a fencepost when I was a kid, but nothing since. That was true until yesterday when I spied one running across the Bass Creek trail in the Lolo National Forest.

Western Skink at Bass Creek

The smooth, shiny appearance of the Western Skink

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Bitterroot River is home to many pairs of Common Mergansers

One of the benefits of living next to the Bitterroot River is the near constant presence of Common Mergansers has they float on past. Dressed in stately garb, the male is strikingly black and white with a bright red bill, whereas the hen possesses a russet head adorned with a ragged crest of feathers. These outfits make the moniker of Common unbefitting such eloquence.

Common Mergansers spend the majority of their time cruising the riffles of our rivers where they seek a variety of fish, usually the slower species (easier to catch). Occasionally they will haul out onto a mid-stream rock for a loafing session. These rocks are normally coated white with layer of merganser excrement. The merganser’s morphology is uniquely fitted to the pursuit of fish. Fine serrations line each side of the mandibles, and the body is hydrodynamical, torpedeo-shaped with huge, propelling feet placed at the rear of the body. The body design has a lot in common with our submarines.

Common Mergansers are secondary cavity nesters, meaning that they nest primarily in the abandoned nest cavities of Northern Flicker and Pileated Woodpeckers. These two woodpeckers inhabit the cottonwood forests that line the rivers, and they are large enough to create appropriately sized nests that are suited to the Common Merganser’s needs. Once in the nest, they lay anywhere from 6 to 17 eggs! This explains the large family groups that crowd the eddies by mid-summer. Young are fishing on their own immediately upon leaving the nest, although insects are the right-sized prey for the first weeks of life.

Common Mergansers enjoy distribution across the entire Northern Hemisphere, and they are known by many names with each locale and language. In the UK, they are the goosander, a name that I particularly relish. Goosander is name of unknown origin, but it appears that it came into use around 1766 in Britain. It has a certain poetic flair to it, though.

Some greedy fishermen claim that Common Mergansers are detrimental of game fisheries. This position is largely unsubstantiated with studies showing that Common Merganser do occasionally consume game fish (between 10% and 20% of their total diet), but the research also shows that non-game or rough fish represent the vast majority of the diet. Think about it, would you waste your time chasing the fastest fish or the slowest? Timken and Anderson (1969) is the best Common Merganser food habit study that I was able to find.

Common Merganser pair on the Bitterroot River

Female Common Merganser bathed in late afternoon light

Common Merganser - Flight Sequence 1	Common Merganser - Flight Sequence 2
Common Merganser - Flight Sequence 3	Common Merganser - Flight Sequence 4

Continue reading »]]> Today, I traveled down to the Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge in search of a Sage Sparrow that I thought I heard yesterday, but I irrationally passed it off (bad birder, bad). I missed the one day wonder, but my consolation prize was a pair of Greater Yellowlegs. Even though the light wasn’t terribly cooperative, the waders were close and tame.

Sometimes you just can't take anymore

Feeding Greater Yellowlegs

Continue reading »]]> Yesterday afternoon, I went out to the Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge for some birding and, fingers crossed, a little bird photography. Upon arriving at the Refuge, the season’s first Cinnamon Teals were feeding along the margins of the cattails. I waited for them to come within range of the 500mm lens, and they never did. They simply refused to budge from their patch of feeding area. This pattern of noncooperative birds was repeated with a pair of Buffleheads, a beautiful drake American Wigeon, and even the American Coots were being pills.

But, the Columbian Ground Squirrels were more than happy to posed for a few snaps. Columbian Ground Squirrels possess a reddish-golden wash on the chest, face and front legs, which contrasts against the mottled gray and brown back and upper limbs. They are about a foot in length with individuals being rather small and others HUGE (by ground squirrel standards – 16 inches). The Columbian Ground Squirrel is the ground of Montana west of the Continental Divide (other than the Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel, which found in the higher reaches of the mountains).

Columbian Ground Squirrel with a mouthful of eats

They are found in a wide of habitats in western Montana from valley bottom agricultural fields, meadows, ponderosa woodlands, and, even, alpine tundra. In Glacier National Park, Columbian Ground Squirrels are simply crawling all over the Logan Pass area. They are typically seen feeding upon fresh shoots, roots, and seeds, although they will occasionally eat insects, carrion, and fish (how the heck anyone saw this is simply beyond me).

Fresh grass shoots must be delicious

Columbian Ground Squirrels live in colonies that help to provide security for the little furry packets of protein. Alarm calls are given whenever a potential is spotted. These calls even differ for ground-based versus aerial predators, so they have some inkling from which direction the impending doom is coming. Within the colonies, males and females defend individual territories centered around their own burrows.

The kings of sleepy time, Columbian Ground Squirrels hibernate for about 8 months per year, which means they can be going back into their burrows for good around the end of August. During the 4 or 5 months that they are running around, they run a gauntlet of predators and bullets. They are viewed as pests by most farmers and ranchers, and to be honest, they can really rip up a pasture. Many are simply shot for shits and giggles, which I can never understand the fun behind killing. Maybe the shooters would gain an appreciation for these wonderful creatures if they were to simply sit down in the midst of a colony and watch the ground squirrels dig their burrows, chase each other around, and bask in the spring sun.

Oh, and they are not gophers…I repeat they ARE NOT gophers. Gophers are gophers.

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Atop of the nest

Each spring, I await the return of one particular raptor with particular anticipation, the Osprey. Always around the first of April when the ice has disappeared, they re-appear to their platform nests that sit atop numerous snags along the rivers and lakes of western Montana. All at once, there seems to be a pair occupying every available nest site. They are returning from Mexico and Central American where they spent the winter plunging into warm, tropical waters for their meals. The sheer numbers of Osprey can make seem as if they are an incredibly common.

This was not always the case. When I was a small kid around 1980 – I am starting to feel old – I remember when the first Ospreys returned to the Clark Fork River near Plains. I can still see that bird in my mind’s eye. During the years preceding this first observation, Osprey populations had declined significantly due to DDT, which caused thinning of the egg shells causing them to break easily. DDT was used of mosquito control through the 1940s to the 1970s, when it was banned from use in the United States. As most people know, Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring (1962) cast a monumental light on the various detrimental effects of introducing organochlorine and organophosphate insecticides into the environment. With the bans, Osprey populations began to rebound across North America. I remember how large that first Osprey seemed to my small eyes. Its wings covered the sky as it leapt from a cottonwood snag near the river. My father told me it was an Osprey, and upon learning that one word, I was hooked by the proverbial talons of this raptor.

Osprey in full dive

Raptor is an odd moniker to place on the Osprey as it is radically different any of its relatives. While it looks superficially like an eagle, it is quite different structurally. The feet of Osprey are particularly well evolved to deal with catching fish, which make up the entire diet of the bird. The bottom of the toes are covered with spicules - little fleshy spikes that help the grip on a slippery fish. The arrangement of the toes is called zygodactyl, meaning that the first and fourth digits are back and the second and third digits are forward. This arrangement of digits creates grappling hook effect that grips tightly on fish with two digits on either side. This digit arrangement is not found in any other member of Accipitriformes (birds of prey other than falcons). The talons of the Osprey are rounded in cross-section, rather than the grooved talons of all other birds of prey. The talons are ideally suited to perched the scales and tough skin of fish.

Taxonomically, the Osprey is an enigma with its variety of unique physical characteristics. and so it is placed within its own monotypic family, Pandionidae. There are 4 acknowledged subspecies of Osprey across its immense cosmopolitan range, which includes every continent other than Antarctica. But, these 4 subspecies may actually constitute 2, 3, or 4 full species (depending on your source).

“Pandion haliaetus, as currently recognised, has a cosmopolitan distribution (Poole 1994). Genetic distances (based on almost complete nucleotide sequences of the cytochrome-b) between subspecies of Osprey (1.9-3.8%) are equivalent to, or greater than, those seen between members of several closely related sister species within Aquila and Hieraeetus (Wink et al. 2004a). This, combined with small, but consistent, differences in plumage and morphology, led Wink et al. (2004a) and Wink and Sauer-Gürth (2004) to suggest that three species of Pandion could be recognised. Acceptance of this recommendation means that Australian birds become Pandion cristatus (Eastern Osprey).” - Christidis & Boles 2008

At Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge yesterday, 7 Ospreys were vying for two adjacent nests, in the form of man-made platforms placed atop of a couple of snags near the ponds. They would circle one another and engage in battles without ever making contact. The wind blew strongly across the landscape, and the snags swaying heavily. The larger of the two seemed to be in danger of toppling over at any moment, but this did not stop an Osprey from landing on the platform and hunkering down. I admired this trust in a structure of seemingly dubious integrity. As the wind cycled through periods of calm, one Osprey made several diving attempts at the fish in the pond. It streaked through the sky several meters in front of me, and I reeled off hundreds of shots in the hope of obtaining at least one decent image. The Ospreys have returned to western Montana in terms of this year and historically.

Braced against the strong wind	Incoming Osprey, Incoming
Osprey in flight profile	Upper wing coverts in detail

The best Osprey image I have ever taken

Continue reading »]]> American Coots are just plain goofy. They swim and feed like ducks, and yet, they are a rail (that’s right I said it). Coots, actually, look a lot like a chicken,a frickin’ swimming chicken with a large white bill. They have lobate feet, which means that each toe has lobes of skin surrounding the digit, which function the same as the webbed feet of a duck.  Coots are lazy, or are they smart? Either way, they steal most of their meals, usually from ducks that have done all of the work of diving to the bottom, plucking the nutritious aquatic vegetation, and bringing to the surface. All of this strangeness is wrapped into one loud, raucous package. The perfect of April Fool.

Synchronized preening

Trying to look stately

Continue reading »]]> During a quick drive through visit of Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge, I spied a couple of new brown bumps on a log that I have looked at dozens of times. The brown bumps turned out to be a couple of Western Painted Turtles, my fist herps of 2012. This is the first time that I can recall seeing this species before April. The reasoning for this emergence can be a matter speculation, but either way I am blessed to see this armored reptiles.

Continue reading »]]> The fog froze in layers to the antenna and windshield as Freezeout Lake came into view, and a a flock of 200 Snow Geese cross overhead. These were the last Snow Geese that we would see for the next couple of hours. The weather man completely lied. His prediction of mid-50s with sunny skies had turned into 30 degrees with freezing fog and mist. The geese blew out in the dawn twilight and they stayed dispersed out in the fields. We eventually found a group of several thousand in a field with a couple of Sandhill Cranes. This pattern was repeating 4 times through the day. Among the white geese, there were roughly 0.5 percent blue phase geese and one Ross’s Goose.

In-bound Snow Geese	Miniature version of the classic V
Scores of feeding Snow Geese	Landing gear extended

The ponds were filled with Tundra Swans, and my estimate was around 3,000 of the lovely white beasts. Even in these numbers, the pair bonds were obvious as they were almost always in the company of their favorite other swan.

The swan way of saying "Come here often?"

Eloquence in white

Even though we missed the colossal numbers of 100,000 or more, Freezeout and the Snow Geese is one my birding highlights every year.

Continue reading »]]> Spent some time with a family of 5 Northern Raccoons at Lee Metcalf NWR. They were foraging on newly emergent cattail shoots, and they fed no more than 10 yards from me for the better part of 1/2 an hour. Quite an experience. After they were done feeding, they swam across the pond, and slipped into the cattails on the opposite bank.

Seeing what's above the cattails	Little ones were taking a look as well
Raccoon portrait	The family that swims together...

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The Flathead Gullery

As I cleaned my over-flowing edited images folder from the past few months, I came across a series of photos from an afternoon spent with the gulls from the lovely Flathead County Sanitary Landfill or as we call it, the Flathead Gullery. Ok, it’s a dump, it stinks, it looks apocalyptic, and the gulls love this place. In the not too distant past, the gulls seemed to favor the Polson Landfill, but with the closure of that dump, the gulls packed up and moved a bit north. The Flathead Gullery absolutely swarms with gulls every winter. As you drive past the bewildered front gate attendant, “I’m here to watch your gulls. Nope, no garbage,” you begin to see swirls of gulls as they avoid the dump machinery that makes no attempts to avoid the birds.

This place is near and dear to the hearts of Montana birders. Despite its muddy roads and garbage-infused aroma, birders that have been coming this dump have been treated to Glaucous, Glaucous-winged, Iceland, Thayer’s, Mew, California, and Ring-billed Gulls. The first five species in that list can be incredibly difficult to find in Montana. The Glaucous and Thayer’s are regulars to the Flathead Gullery, and Mew Gulls are seen almost every year. The Glaucous-winged has been seen 2 out of the last 3 years.

I am always prone to day-dreaming, I wonder about what will be the next rare gull species to turn up at the Flathead Gullery. I am placing my bets on the Lesser Black-Backed Gull, which was sighted at Fort Peck this past winter.

Vicious-looking Herring Gull	Another Herring Gull
Herring Gull with pink legs	Ring-billed Gulls in the semi-frozen mud
Glaucous Gull strolling	Posed out Glaucous Gull
Glaucous Gull standing at attention

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Rough-legged Hawk launching into flight

As sightings of Rough-legged Hawks become fewer and further between, I have been reviewing this past winter’s images, and I notice a series of images of hawk hovering. Rough-legged Hawks are our only buteo that regularly hovers. In fact, the only other North American raptors that regularly hover are the Osprey and the collective kites. Hovering is defined as remain stationary in flight while continually flapping the wings. During hovering, the entire lift is generated by the action of the wings. Other raptors, including Red-tailed Hawks and Golden Eagles, can wind stall, which is remaining steady in the air by using an oncoming wind to compensate for the stall speed. Hovering requires a great deal of energy expenditure, and, even so, they have been known to hover for hours as they scan below them in search of a hapless prey. Their legs may be extended as they hover. For now, I will have to wait until next winter, when I will scan across some open field and see a silhouetted form flying without progress, a hovering Rough-legged Hawk.

Rough-legged Hawk hover flight pattern 1	Rough-legged Hawk hover flight pattern 2
Rough-legged Hawk hover flight pattern 3	Rough-legged Hawk hover flight pattern 4

The best book on raptor flight that I have found is Hawks at a Distance by Jerry Liguori. You see my review of this great text at http://www.radleyice.com/2011/09/review-hawks-at-a-distance/

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Pygmy Nuthatch in full view

I have always been fascinated by Pygmy Nuthatches. When I was living in the Bozeman area, I rarely got to see the,, and as soon as I moved to Missoula, I have been seeing unreal numbers. They seems to be in each and every ponderosa pine, picking at the branch-tip cones. Like a circus act, they hang upside down and walk along the thinnest branches and needles. Their high-pitched calls pierce through the thickest stands.

Frenetic is the word most often used to describe the Pygmy Nuthatch, and it is indeed apt. They seem to be in constant motion, so you can imagine the difficulties that present the photographer. A small bird that feeds normally high in the canopy and it never slows down.

This winter season, I have observe the Pygmy Nuthatch foraging in the company of its cousins, the Red-breasted and White-breasted Nuthatches, along with Black-capped and Mountain Chickadees. Even in several occasions, Golden-crowned Kinglets joined the buffet.

Typical view of the Pygmy Nuthatch	Foraging partner - Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch	Mountain Chickadee

Even with all of these frenzy of motion, the Pygmy Nuthatch lives within an incredible social framework. During these winter months, you will see the nuthatches traveling through the ponderosa pine forest in large groups that exhibit a high level of cohesion. Once they entered into breeding season, a breeding pair will typically have several helpers. These helpers are thought to offspring from the previous year. Outside of the breeding season, Pygmy Nuthatches communally roost in a cavity, and these jars (the collective term for nuthatches) of nuthatches can number up to 100 individuals. in fact, a lone Pygmy Nuthatch has never been reported to be roosting alone. Now that is what I call a social creature.

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American Dipper standing mid-stream

Short film and images of American Dippers gathering moss for their nest, which is located underneath a bridge that spans rattlesnake Creek in Greenough Park. Notice that the birds are consistently dunking the nesting material, namely moss. The wetting is thought to keep the moss alive and, therefore, more pliable. The American Dipper nest is ideally placed under a cliff overhang or bridge that is above the home range stream. The nest itself is a large (~1 foot), mossy dome, which consists of an outer shell of moss and grass, and interior cup is made of grass, bark stripes, and leaves. The entrance of the nest is towards the bottom of the dome. Both sexes are responsible for the nest construction, although the female chooses the nest location.

Plumped up American Dipper	Selecting the right moss for the nest
Wetting down the moss	The moss is ready for the nest

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The emblematic character of the Red Crossbill

Of course, this title is presented with tongue firmly planted in cheek. They, or at least the males, are red, and the bills are crossed. These little finches (both Red and White-winged Crossbills) have evolved the only crossed bills of any North American bird. This arrangement of the mandibles is highly suited to prying open pine cone scales in order to remove the fatty, pine nuts within. The Maclay Flat area, near Missoula, MT, has been absolutely loaded with Red Crossbills this winter. They can seen flying in the typical bounding finch flight pattern between the treetops. They rarely seem to come down to our inferior level.

The most unique fact about the Red Crossbill is that the “species” may actually be comprised of up to 9 cryptic species. These “types” are divided by variances in the call notes and the morphology of the bill. These differences in bill size and shape seem to be related to the dominant type of conifer utilized as a food source. Types 2 through 5 and 7 have been found in Montana.

• Type 2 - ponderosa pine
• Type 3 - western hemlock
• Type 4 - Douglas-fir
• Type 5 - lodgepole pine
• Type 7 – seems to be a generalist

Pair of Red Crossbills exchange a glance	Female Red Crossbill being characteristically yellow
The crossed mandible tips are evident	Notice the unique undertail covert pattern