Saturday Morning Bird Walks and Field Trips

Every Saturday morning, from late April until late October, there are a number of opportunities for birders to join others in walks around Helena and field trips lead by members of Last Chance Audubon and by Birds and Beasleys, our local birding supply and Montana Artisan store. The Audubon walks and field trips are listed on their website, and Birds and Beasleys walks scheduled for every Saturday morning at 7:30am leaving from the store. These activities provide excellent opportunities for birders - beginners or long time - to share their enthusiasm with others and hone their birding skills with the help of experts.

Yesterday morning, I joined a small group at Birds and Beasleys lead by Coburn Currier, a local birding expert, to some local birding hotspots including the Fairgrounds Pond area and Spring Meadow Lake State Park. The weather was great and the birding was good with 42 species noted in several hours. Five of these species were First-of-Year(FOY) for me so migrants continue to arrive in the area. One of my favorite local shorebirds - the spotted sandpiper - was present for the first time this year on the shores of Spring Meadow lake. This is a bird that just can't sit still, with its rump seemingly never ceasing to stop bobbing up and down.
Other FOY birds included orange-crowned warbler, brown-headed cowbird, common grackle, and chipping sparrow. Also of note for their presence so late in the spring were 2 Bohemian waxwings, which have usually departed for their breeding ranges farther north by this time of year.
We are into the best time of year now to see an excellent diversity of birds, most in breeding plumage, so get out there and take of advantage the the opportunities that surround us.