More Orchids and Odes

Wednesday morning found me headed toward the Sun River Canyon on the Rocky Mountain Front. You might think that perhaps I was headed to this beautiful area to look for some special bird species. But this time, my goal was to find some of the wild orchids that are supposed to grace the abundant stream courses and wetland bogs in this special location. A secondary objective of this jaunt was to see what sort of dragonflies - Odes - might be flying in the wetland and pond areas.

The entry into this area cannot be described in any term other than SPECTACULAR. Besides the private lands, the Sun River Wildlife Management Area encompasses much of the foothill land area and provides winter range for the elk that migrate out of the wilderness areas to the west.
My quest for capturing photo images of new (for me) Montana orchid species was mildly successful with the finding of 3 new species. The first of these - Round-leaved Orchis - is a very small little plant with beautiful flowers no more than 1/2 inch or so long. The second species was the white bog orchid which seems to be rather common in this location and other suitable habitats in MT.
I will not show an image of the 3rd species because is is a much smaller version of the bog orchid.

When the morning chill had abated with the warming rays of the sun, I shifted my attention to a small, very shallow mountain pond I had passed on my way up the Beaver/Willow road. On that passing, no dragonflies seemed to be active at all, so I noted the location for later inspection.
What a difference some sun and warmth make for dragonflies. My return to this pond was greeted with an abundance of dragonflies along the vegetated edges. The most common and easily identified species was the Four-spotted Skimmer. If you take a close look - click on image - at the posterior right wing of the image below, you will note the wing does not seem to be fully extended. This is an indication of a dragonfly that has just recently emerged from its aquatic, nymphal life stage. While this species is not especially colorful, the "glowing" quality of the brownish tones makes it quite attractive to me.There were several other species present in much smaller numbers, but my skill level at catching them with a butterfly net is in need of considerable improvement. In fact, a video of my wild, sweeping swings with the net would make for a pretty humorous TV spot! But I laugh at myself with each failed attempt and revel in this wondrous place with its magnificent beauty and diversity of plants and wildlife!

Blackfoot Valley Trumpeter Swan Reintroduction

In early July, 1806, as Meriwether Lewis and a group of his men were passing the mouth of the Clearwater River in the Blackfoot Valley, they saw 2 swans. That evening, Lewis noted the sighting of what were most certainly trumpeter swans in his diary. This is one of the very few anecdotal records of probable breeding of these great white birds in this spectacular valley. But subsistence and market hunting likely extirpated these birds from the valley well before the end of the 19th Century. The following is an abbreviated account of an effort to bring this species back to the Blackfoot Valley over the past decade. A more detailed account can be seen here.

Advancing several hundred years to the year 2000, Louie Bouma, who owns a post and pole mill in the upper Blackfoot Valley, noticed a pair of trumpeters on the pond adjacent to his mill. They returned each succeeding year and in 2003 initiated what was the first recorded nesting attempt of this species in the Blackfoot Valley in well over 100 years. Unfortunately, when the female left the nest late one night to forage in an nearby pond, she ran into a power line on her return flight and was killed. Louie gathered the eggs the next day, made several frantic phone calls to government officials, and the eggs were taken to a facility where they were successfully hatched. Several weeks later, the young were released back into the pond with the male who readily accepted them. However after migrating out of the area to spend the winter farther south, they never returned.But Louie's dream of trumpeters returning to the Blackfoot to breed would not die with this disappointment. His love of these birds drove this soft spoken businessman to garner support from private, state, and federal participants to form a partnership for the reintroduction of trumpeters to the Blackfoot Valley. His efforts - and those of others - have resulted in a partnership that is a great model for how some energetic and dedicated folks can make something positive happen in the face of tremendous odds. The major players in this effort include many private landowners, The Blackfoot Challenge - a coalition of Valley interests, Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks, The Montana Wetlands Legacy, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Hopefully, I have not omitted anyone. If so, I apologize.

The reintroduction effort began in 2006 with the release of swans raised in a captive facility near Jackson Hole, WY with eggs taken from wild trumpeters in Canada. Last Saturday, 20June2009, I had the pleasure of witnessing just one cog in this reintroduction program. Public interest in this program is high so a rather large - but intentionally limited - crowd of folks gathered at Trixie's Saloon parking lot near Ovando to get details on the third release of swans for 2009. Eleven birds were scheduled to be released on a gorgeous pothole lake owned by the very gracious Geoff and Kathy Foote. Remember, you can click on the images to make them larger! In order to raise funds for the acquiring and releasing swans, private donations were sought and many of those who donated or won lotteries were selected to release the birds.

All of the swans to be released had neck collars for future ID purposes and several of them were fitted with special GPS collars so that their movements could be tracked on a regular basis. This information is important to determine where the birds migrate to for wintering and for locating them next year when they again head north. Greg Neudecker of the USFWS along with members of The Blackfoot Challenge were the in charge of the mornings activities and Greg gave a brief history of the program and explained how the swan release would be handled. Tom Hinz with the Montana Wetlands Legacy was another individual who was instrumental in getting this this effort moving. Not everyone in the crowd was attentive to Greg's briefing, but they certainly took interest when the swans were retrieved from their temporary home in the trailer.The Last Chance Audubon Society and other folks from Helena -Sandy Shull of Birds and Beasley's and Del Straub - contributed funds for the purchase of several of the swans to be released. The individuals who participated in and won the opportunity to hold and release a swan were Lisa Pena' and Carolyn Straub. Lisa was accompanied by her daughter and grandson. And Carolyn got lots of help from one of her grandsons! Fortunately for Lisa and the other releasers, the swans are generally quite docile when being held and rarely even do any "pecking" with their large bills. Is everyone ready? On Your Mark! Get Set!! AND GO!!! Now the swans can look over their new summer home. Trumpeter swans mature in 3 to 5 years, so there has yet to be any nesting by the swans that have returned to the Blackfoot Valley. But at least one of the released birds from a previous year has returned with a mate this year so everyone is hoping that next year - 2010 - will produce the first nesting attempt. Mortality of released birds is fairly high and many do not return to the Blackfoot after wintering farther south, so this is a long term effort to get them reestablished here. But certainly, if there was ever a chance to see to Trumpeters return to breed in the Blackfoot, a monumental cooperative effort such as this would be the very best way to insure success!!

Fairy Slipper Orchids

I searched again today for some fairy slipper orchids and found a hillside with a conifer over story and mostly herbaceous under story that had quite a few of these beautiful flowers in full bloom. So this post is for your viewing pleasure with no additional verbiage to dull the moment.

Orchids - A Temporary(?) Detour

Late last winter, I called a homeowner living in Unionville, about 5 miles south of Helena in the mountains, to talk about some birds she had coming to her feeders. The conversation broadened a bit and she talked about all of the orchids she had growing on her land - a reclaimed mining site with large trees and a very small stream. The fairy slipper orchids she mentioned really caught my attention because they had always fascinated me. Unfortunately, I did not get around to visiting her until today and most of this species had already bloomed and were now drying out. I did find one that was not completely dry, and while its beauty was waning, you can get an idea of how magnificent it must have been. Click on the images to enlarge them.
But that was not all that this beautiful area supported in the way of orchids. The very observant landowner walked me around the property for quite a while and showed me several other orchid species that were about to bloom. The one below has many small flowers on a longish stem with the lower florets just beginning to open. It is named Spring or Wister's Coralroot. This plant has no chlorophyll and obtains its energy from parasitism on tree roots.. By far the most abundant species was the mountain lady's-slipper. They were not quite in full bloom but many will be there in a few days. Last summer, I found some of these in a nearby moist mountain area, but this "yard" was adorned with dozens of them. There was one other species present that the landowner showed me. It is in the Lily family and seems to have may common names. The Montana Natural History Field Guide refers to it as Chocolate Lily, but of the other common names for it, Leopard Lily is the one that appeals most to me.

So do today's nearby excursion and the resulting photo opps mean that I may succumb to another addiction - macro flower photography? I don't think I'm headed that way, but must admit that orchids are certainly fascinating for me - and many other folks for that matter. And I'm planning a jaunt maybe next week to a location on the Rocky Mountain Front that is supposed to be one of the best in the state for orchid variety. But instinct tells me that this may be just a passing phase and is unlikely to expand to other varieties of flowers! Lets hope so anyway!!

Westby Works It's Magic - Again!

After leading a field trip for the Montana Audubon Festival last Sunday, I headed east to Westby. As I mentioned in a earlier blog, this small farming community in NE Montana - on the North Dakota border - has cast some sort of spell over me. It calls to me each May and September to come look for some memorable birding experience - and it usually produces. This year, I altered my traditional timing a bit with a specific goal in mind - to find and photograph several bird species that were on the rare side there and not found in other parts of Montana. The targeted species were sedge wren and Nelson's sharp-tailed sparrow, and they were noticeably absent from my bird image library. These species sometimes do not arrive until the beginning of June so I scheduled this years spring trip about 10 or more days later than usual.

The drive to Westby is a long one, but the anticipation of potentially great birding plus stops along the way at Bowdoin National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) and Medicine Lake NWR combine to perceptively make it shorter. The weather did not look all that promising with showers and associated cold but that did not dampen my spirits. I arrived at Westby about 3pm on Monday, after spending the night in Culbertson. On the way into town, some nice groups of shorebirds graced the shorelines of the alkaline potholes. Species diversity was somewhat lacking but included white-rumped sandpipers, one of my favorites. Westby City Park was my first point of interest in town. Since spring bird migration was just about over, I didn't expect too much for variety in the park and that was indeed the case. Only several warbler species - including a beautiful male mourning warbler - plus some vireos and orioles showed themselves. After getting settled at Ellis Hagen's B&B where I usually stay, I returned to the park for an evening look see. Local birding legend Ted Nordhagen joined me and we mostly talked and exchanged family news for more than an hour - as birding was slow.

Tuesday morning broke foggy and cold so prospects for accomplishing my birding/photography goals seemed slim. After spending an hour or so in the park, I headed north of town in fog toward the State Line road where my search for the targeted species would focus. As expected, the road to my birds was muddy and impassible. Having driven State Line Road many times in the past, I knew that after I got past the initial muddy portions, the base would get firmer and walking would be pleasant. So I parked my vehicle, put on rubber boots, strung and hung cameras, binoculars, spotting scope, and other paraphernalia on my back, and headed out. The fog began to lift a bit as I walked the mile or so to my destination. But despite the heavy clouds that remained, the air was calm and it was a very serene setting with the potholes I passed reflecting the clouds like a mirror.

As I approached my destination, I dug my birding IPod clone out of my pocket and selected sedge wren as my first objective. Not 2 seconds after the recorded call began, a sedge wren popped up along the roadside vegetation and began calling. Then another down the road joined him. Replacing the spotting scope on my tripod with a camera, I began capturing digital images about as fast as the camera could handle them. WOW! What a great start to the morning! After what I considered was an ample numbers of camera clicks for this species, I looked over and listened to the sounds of the adjacent marsh. Several soras called nearby, and then an American bittern uttered its very strange "gulping" sounds several times. Even though my hearing is a bit challenged, the stillness of the morning and the sounds of the marsh were hinting at one of those great and memorable Westby days. Common yellowthroats and marsh wrens perched on last years bulrush stalks and uttered their vocal challenges to anyone who would listen.As I prepared to head back to my vehicle, I decided to try a Nelson's sharp-tailed call with my IPod. Just as I played it, a jack rabbit came ambling down the road towards me. So I got camera ready for some possible closeups. Somehow, he noted my presence and decided to head back the other way. Just as he did, a small bird flew across the road in front of me and sat on a fence wire. About 20 feet in front of me sat the very first Nelson's sharp-tailed sparrow that I have ever had a real good look at! And he posed long enough for me to get several nice pictures and then moved even closer onto another higher wire. My Westby goal for this trip had been accomplished in a matter of a half hour or so on a perfectly calm and beautifully cloudy morning. Among the many memorable days I have spent in this birding mecca, this one ranks in the top 2 or 3!
The remaining 1 1/2 days of my stay were pretty relaxing as I pursued other grassland and specialty species. Nelson's sharptails were located in several other locations. And Baird's and grasshopper sparrows were pretty easy to come by.

Chestnut-collared longspurs were always conspicuous when present.
Plus the relatively high water levels pushed piping plovers to the edges of alkaline potholes and even occasionally on to roadsides.I will return, Westby!!

A Sibley GREAT Audubon Festival!!

By any measure, except maybe weather, last weekend's annual Montana Audubon Festival in Great Falls was a huge success! The Helena Audubon Staff and volunteers from the Upper Missouri Breaks Audubon chapter combined their talents, organizational skills, and hard work to set a standard of excellence that will be a benchmark for future Festival organizers to strive for.

Friday evenings Keynote speaker was Vince Yannone, retired Fish, Wildlife and Parks education specialist. Vince had folks rolling in the isles with laughter with his stories of Montana birds and his experiences with captive disabled birds he has housed at his home south of Helena for decades. His imitations of the calls and behavior of hawks, owls, and ravens were sometimes difficult to distinguish from the real thing.
Saturday's early morning birding field trip activities were greeted with rainy skies and even some snow at higher elevations. But that didn't keep festival birders from joining their groups, donning rain gear, and heading out on their appointed trip - selected from the great diversity offered by festival organizers. Despite the weather conditions, most folks were pleased with the opportunity to bird new places and habitats of their choice.

Not withstanding all of the wonderful opportunities for entertainment and interaction at the festival, the hands down highlight of the event was the appearance of David Allen Sibley. His birding books and field guides are known to all with an interest in our feathered friends. Fortuitously, he had previously scheduled a birding trip to the Rocky Mountain Front for the same time frame as the festival, and his travel schedule allowed for his visit to the festival for a book signing session and luncheon address. Long lines of birders snaked through the lobby of the Holiday Inn well before his arrival. Many folks had arm loads of books David authored that they wanted him to sign, either for themselves or for presents to family and friends.

For his luncheon address, David showed a few slides of and talked about his interest in birds as a youth and more specifically about the beginnings and progression of his bird sketches and how they evolved through years of almost continual observation of and obsession with birds. The early examples of his sketches shown in slides were a really interesting aspect of his talk. For most attendees, David's presence was a once in a lifetime opportunity to visit with and listen to one of the pillars of the birding community, whose artistic talents will rank him among the best ever.

The Saturday evening banquet was followed by Great Falls photographer extraordinaire Allen Nelson who presented a slide show of his gorgeous bird images from around the world.

What a great event this Festival was. Next year's festival will be held in or near Missoula, so mark you calendars for June 4-6, 2010. I'll see you there!

Picturing Bannack!

When the name Bannack is mentioned, most folks envision the old territorial capitol of Montana, located about 30 miles southwest of Dillon. And , indeed, this ghost town brings back great memories for me since it is a real treasure of a State Park for Montanans and others plus one of the most photogenic places I've visited.
But when many birders hear mention of Bannack, a different picture often come to mind - because the sagebrush communities surrounding and to the the south of this beautifully restored ghost town are home to a number of bird species that are not easily found in any other part of the state. The first of these species is the gray flycatcher. While it is occasionally reported in other areas, it is an established breeder here and may actually be expanding its range.
And then there is the sage sparrow. Rather easily found, particularly during breeding season, they breed in the shorter sage communities to the south of Bannack. Besides these specialties, sage thrashers are found in abundance in the same sagebrush areas - although they are also breeders in other sage stands well to the north and east if Bannack.Another species that frequents these extensive stands of sage is the Brewer's sparrow.So if you are a birder and looking to add to your yearly or state or life bird lists, a late spring/early summer trip to this beautiful area of southwest Montana will serve a dual purpose. Not only can you enjoy wandering through the old buildings and early history of Montana in Bannack, but great birding opportunities present themselves in the town itself and the surrounding countryside.

Centennial Valley - Montana Audubon BirdingTrip

This past weekend(May 29-31), Montana Audubon sponsored a birding trip to the Centennial Valley in southwestern Montana, adjacent to the Idaho border. At 6500+ feet, this is one of the highest valleys in the state and offers spectacular scenery and exceptional birding. Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge is the focal point of this area and provides 45,000+ acres of nearly pristine wildlife habitat. It was established in 1935 to protect a remnant population of trumpeter swans. Steve Hoffman, Executive Director of Montana Audubon, and expert birder - specializing in raptors - organized and lead the excursion.

Participants from various parts of the state car-pooled to Belgrade where we picked up two vans to begin our journey. Heading south through the Madison River Valley, the wide open spaces and snow-capped mountain peaks provided a preview of better things to come. Steve's unbounded enthusiasm for raptors became quite evident when he executed a perfect u-turn on the highway so that everyone could get a better view of a prairie falcon he had just spotted on a power pole.

Accommodations in the Centennial Valley are tough to come by, but fortunately Elk Lake Resort located at the east end of the Valley offers comfortable rooms, great food, and very friendly hosts - Craig and Lerrina Collins. Our stay there added measurably to the enjoyment of the trip. The scenic setting was a joy to return to each evening, and the morning sun on the Centennial Mountains was a great beginning to each day.Trip participants ranged from newcomers/novice birders to experts with years of birding experience. No matter what the level of experience, everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. For most, these trips are taken for more than just the birding. Meeting new people, making new friends, enjoying the scenery, getting a little exercise, and many other aspects of the birding experience combine to make excursions such as this memorable occasions. Steve's every present enthusiasm and birding expertise always kept things lively!OH! And then there were the birds! And other critters! For the trip, over 120 species of birds were notched, ranging from the smallest - calliope hummers - to the largest - golden and bald eagles, trumpeter swans, and sandhill cranes. Also noted were 12 or more mammals plus some amphibians. Unfortunately for me, it was a bit too early for my new interest - dragonflies - to be found.

There were mountain bluebirds on the resort cabins.
And white-crowned sparrows in the willows!
Swainson's Hawks liked to sit on fence posts when not hunting ground squirrels.
And sometimes, there was just so many options that folks looked in opposite directions!

The Centennial Valley of Southwestern Montana should certainly be on everyone's list of "must places" to visit!!