MOB-sters:
Last night after returning from Washington state I took a quick lap
of my usual spots around Somers. At Wiley Dike I heard an unusual
call note and chatter that I did not recognize. With some searching,
I got a good look at an adult female Rusty Blackbird, in the dense
shoreline tangle along the dike (typical habitat for the species).
This is the first time I have seen this species in the valley in
spring.
Other recent developments include a mass invasion by White-crowned
Sparrows; we have at least 30 around the yard (all "Gambel's", not
our local breeding subspecies), and the arrival of our first Brown-
headed Cowbird. We also had two Evening Grosbeaks once this week, a
species we have not had in a very long time.
I also got a call this week from Anne Morley of Swan Lake. She and
her husband saw a Great Egret at the mouth of Spring Creek along the
south shore of Swan Lake on Sunday the 27th.
I saw many Vesper Sparrows in the Camas Prairie area on my travels
through, but no Brewer's or Lark Sparrows in their usual haunts there
and at Perma.
Dan Casey
Somers
A LINCOLN'S SPARROW, our first MT [#161; and county #098 for 2008] 30
April & 01 May, at our feeder. 5 swans on the lake yesterday and I
heard a Common loon calling from somewhere on Thompson Reservoir; usual
and few late ducks still around; an Eared grebe was with 4 Bufflehead
yesterday where day(s) before were 4 Horned grebes. Sharp-shinned hawk
(or 2) hitting feeding areas a few blocks apart this week (ours and
Lark's mom's); a Merlin hit hers last week. White-crowned sparrow and
Cassin's finch numbers increasing, with over 20 and 30 respectively at
our feeder yesterday (Pine siskin, Evening grosbeak, Song sparrow, Ore
junco, House finch, B-c chick, Pygmy nut, Downy, Flicker, Robin, a male
House sparrow, Red-winged blackbird, rounding out birds). A BROWN-
HEADED COWBIRD male has been calling the past few days, in a large
flock of Brewer's blackbirds that forages along the tracks near Goose
Park. Saw what we presume is the Mother's Day Train pass through TFalls
yesterday, gave chase while the gropple storm passed, and got photos of
the cars while they were stopped on Eddy Flat - our 1st "train chase"!
Happy traillii -- Jim and Lark, Thompson Falls
I was treated to a Broad-winged Hawk flying over the school in Medicine
Lake yesterday afternoon...I usually see about 1 per spring. It almost
made it over to my yard for my yard list, but not quite. Also just saw FOY
Harris's sparrow out the Refuge HQ window.
Beth Madden, Medicine Lake
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Thanks!
Could someone please tell me what I should be looking for to try and
distinguish between breeding plumage Brewer's Blackbirds and Rusty
Blackbirds? In Maryland, when we saw Rusty Blackbirds, it was usually
in the winter and the only comparable birds were Brown-headed Cowbirds
and Red-winged Blackbirds. Here they are so similar to the Brewer's
that I am not sure what to look for. I ask because we have been
inundated with blackbirds with the storm and I want to be sure I don't
miss anything.
also decided to jump into the county listing frenzy and now have 66
birds for Roosevelt County having added Pied-billed Grebe and Double-
crested Cormorant today. Not too bad for someone who spends more time
working inside than anything. I know it doesn't compare to some of the
other county lists but maybe it will get my county on the map:)
Lisa Lister
Poplar, MT
After reaching 13 in number the TURKEY VULTURES seem to have disbanded
or changed location! Haven't seen them for several days. This
morning brought a small flock of WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS flitting about
and calling. The WOOD DUCK pair was found hanging around in my tree
yesterday and promptly told to head east to the river - they didn't
listen. Maybe all the squirrels we have will convince them it's not
safe to nest there.
Mo,
Sidney, Montana
No Harlequins seen in GNP — yet. I did some checking yesterday will check a
little more in
coming days. There's still lots of snow. It snowed on and off yesterday
(gropple, really). The
ospreys have arrived. Saw one at St. Mary Lake over the weekend as well as one
on Lake
McDonald yesterday.
--- In MOB-Montana@yahoogroups.com, "Kristin Olson" <kristin.olson@...>
wrote:
>
> Has anybody seen harlquin ducks on McDonald Creek yet? (In Glacier
> National Park)
>
Kristin et al.: Steve Gniadek, the ornithologist in the Park, just
called me and asked me to post that he saw a pair of Harlequins above
Avalanche Creek on Monday, and that a fisheries biologist there saw a
pair at Logan Creek (also above Avalanche) today. The road is still
currently closed at Lake MacDonald Lodge, so hiking or biking is
required to check upstream. They should be arriving in numbers during
the next week or so.
Dan Casey
Mob,
A strong easterly flow of moisture over night brought little rain, but
spectacular numbers of birds along with a few surprises to the park
this morning. I have never witnessed as many sparrows in nearly 40
years of birding, with numbers easily reaching many hundreds of
individuals for several species. Birding was so good, I postponed a
trip south to see the Whooping Crane! Here are some of the highlights.
Broad-winged Hawk – 2, FOY
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker – 1, FOY
Blue-headed Vireo – 2 FOY, My earliest spring arrival
Tree Swallow – 5, FOY, very early
Barn Swallow – 2, FOY, very early
W. B. Nuthatch – 1
Brown Creeper – 1, FOY
R. C. Kinglet – 6
Swainson's Thrush – 1, FOY, very early
Orange-crowned Warbler – 30+
Yellow-rumped Warbler – 75+,
Black & White Warbler – 2, FOY, my earliest arrival date
Ovenbird – 2, FOY, very early
N. Waterthrush – 2, FOY, very early
Chipping Sparrow – 4
Clay-colored Sparrow – 6, FOY
Fox Sparrow – 3, FOY
Lincoln's Sparrow – 35+, FOY, My highest single day total
Song Sparrow – 3
Vesper Sparrow – 3,
Harris' Sparrow – 75-100, FOY
White-throated Sparrow – 350+
White-crowned Sparrow – 350+
Dark-eyed Junco – 25
Purple Finch – 10 (all females)
To give you all some context for these numbers (which are quite
conservative), in my drive-way, from my kitchen window, I counted a
mixed flock of Harris', White-crowned, White-throated, Lincoln's, and
Dark-eyed Juncos numbering over 200! Walking the neighborhood, this
scene repeated itself a number of times. Additionally, I had several
small flocks of Lesser & Greater Yellowlegs, Willets, & Marbled
Godwits fly over.
Ted Nordhagen
Westby MT
This can indeed be a tricky ID. I found the following, put together by the Missouri Bird Records Committee, that you might find interesting. It was written primarily for MO birders reporting winter Brewer's:
Female Rusty is more uniformly dark than Brewer's, and with a whitish yellow eye; Brewer's has more contrast (darker wings and lighter breast/belly) and usually (but not always) a dark eye. Males are also a more even, less glossy black than Brewer's, with a smaller, thinner bill and slightly shorter tail. Male Brewer's are more irridescent, with purplish sheen to the head and greenish sheen on the body. Rusties have a call note more similar to a Red-wing, whereas the Brewer's is 'thinner' and toneless.
Even when in mixed flocks, Rusties tend to be around water far more often than agricultural habitats.
The female Rusty I saw last night was uniform very dark gray, without any supercilium or other contrasting light underparts, and with whitish eyes and fine-tipped bill. She was doing a two part call, a single chuck note like Red-wingeds, followed by a short series of notes on one tone, almost like a short sparrow or wren phrase. She was also in classic habitat, thick brush overhanging the water.
Dan Casey, Somers
--- In MOB-Montana@yahoogroups.com, "Lisa Lister" <lister39@...> wrote: > > Could someone please tell me what I should be looking for to try and > distinguish between breeding plumage Brewer's Blackbirds and Rusty > Blackbirds? In Maryland, when we saw Rusty Blackbirds, it was usually > in the winter and the only comparable birds were Brown-headed Cowbirds > and Red-winged Blackbirds. Here they are so similar to the Brewer's > that I am not sure what to look for. I ask because we have been > inundated with blackbirds with the storm and I want to be sure I don't > miss anything. > also decided to jump into the county listing frenzy and now have 66 > birds for Roosevelt County having added Pied-billed Grebe and Double- > crested Cormorant today. Not too bad for someone who spends more time > working inside than anything. I know it doesn't compare to some of the > other county lists but maybe it will get my county on the map:) > Lisa Lister > Poplar, MT >
Birders,
It has been a while since I posted (seven weeks) as we have been
birding in SE Arizona and Mexico. We had a great time with a total
count of 284 species. That included 44 life birds.
I went to the south valley to bird the Warm Springs area today. The
most interesting bird that I saw was a Eurasian Wigeon in the Fish and
Game ponds behind the hospital on the west side of the interstate.
There was a Short-eared Owl seen there on Monday, but no luck seeing
it today. A short-eared owl is a good bird in our valley as neither
Nate Kohler nor I have ever seen one in 27C.
Other than that there are still good numbers of Shovelers, Pintails,
American Wigeons and American Coots. At the Racetrack Pond there were
approximately 50 snow geese still lingering.
Good Birding,
Gary Swant
Mob,
This afternoon, I drove down to Medicine Lake to see if the Whooping
Crane was still in the area. I found it pretty quickly, grazing in a
stubble field, and it afforded me great looks. I park a sizeable
distance from the bird, but eventually it moved closer, at one point
approaching within a 100 meters.
I also had quite a few shorebirds at Medicine Lake, including many
Marbled Godwits, FOY Semipalmated Sandpipers, FOY Dowitcher species,
Avocets, and both Lesser and Greater Yellowlegs. I also had another
Broad-winged Hawk south of Westby, several A. Kestrel, a Merlin
(dark), Swainson's Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk & Ferruginous Hawk. When I
arrived home this evening I had a FOY Brown Thrasher in my yard.
Ted Nordhagen
Westby MT
There was a SINGLE Black Rosy Finch at the feeding area in our backyard this morning. It had a hard time deciding where to feed with the great numbers of Common Grackles, Red-winged Blackbirds, Brown-headed Cowbirds, and European Starlings to challenge. Finally, now, there are two. They have decided that a little pod of Red-winged Blackbird females make good feeding partners. Actually a Cowbird isn't bad either. The first little fellow actually had a stand-off with a Magpie. The Magpie had the last word in that round. I keep expecting that the Black Rosys will bring their flock with them. At that point they would own the whole neighborhood!
I cannot say whether there will be great numbers of Rosys or not. It will depend upon the weather. If it continues to snow and blow and the temperature stays in the 20s we may be in luck, or, at least, I will be. As usual the roads are NOT good!
It's about 10:00am and the Black Rosy count is up to about 200. It might be a good day to see them. If any of you decide to come and I am not here just come in the back door and stand by "the" first window that you come to on the porch.
Subject: [MOB-Montana] Black Rosy Finch and Brown-headed Cowbird
Greetings
There was a SINGLE Black Rosy Finch at the feeding area in our backyard this morning. It had a hard time deciding where to feed with the great numbers of Common Grackles, Red-winged Blackbirds, Brown-headed Cowbirds, and European Starlings to challenge. Finally, now, there are two. They have decided that a little pod of Red-winged Blackbird females make good feeding partners. Actually a Cowbird isn't bad either. The first little fellow actually had a stand-off with a Magpie. The Magpie had the last word in that round. I keep expecting that the Black Rosys will bring their flock with them. At that point they would own the whole neighborhood!
I cannot say whether there will be great numbers of Rosys or not. It will depend upon the weather. If it continues to snow and blow and the temperature stays in the 20s we may be in luck, or, at least, I will be. As usual the roads are NOT good!
As we wait for more warblers to start showing up in MT(it snowed again last
night but we really needed the moisture), I wanted to point out a couple of
places for some good warbler photos.
The first is our very own Alan Scheer from Wolf Point. He is pretty quiet when
he posts new photos but they are really worth checking out. His latest of the
Orange-crowned Warbler do a great job of showing where this bird gets it's name
- something we rarely see on these birds.
http://ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/MOB-Montana/photos/browse/4451
The other is a preview of things to come from Bill Thompson who did a Big Sit in
TX recently. You can see his photos here:
http://www.birdwatchersdigest.com/blog/2008/04/warblers-of-south-padre.html
John Carlson
Fort Peck, MT
jccarlson@...
www.prairieice.blogspot.com
_____________________________________________________________
Join the American Bird Conservancy today at http://www.abcbirds.org
Surfbirds.com - The World Birding Website
Hi all,
When I got home from work this afternoon I found what I initially thought was my
first Chipping Sparrow of the year bathing in my pond. It was a bit wet and upon
closer inspection I could see that it wasn't a Chipping Sparrow but a Swamp
Sparrow!
After it got done bathing it flew to the brush pile and remained hidden for
quite a while. I walked out to the brush pile and the bird emerged for a quick
bit and I was able to get a photo and I have posted it.
John Carlson
Fort Peck, MT
jccarlson@...
www.prairieice.blogspot.com
_____________________________________________________________
Join the American Bird Conservancy today at http://www.abcbirds.org
Surfbirds.com - The World Birding Website
Busy day in the yard today:
Orange-crowned Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler/Myrtle
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Northern Waterthrush
Black-capped Chickadee
Blue Jay
Robin
House Finch
Purple Finch
American Goldfinch
Pine Siskin
Collared Dove
Mourning Dove
Common Grackle
House Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Harris's Sparrow
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Alan Scheer
Wolf Point
A RED-NECKED GREBE [#099 for us for Sanders Co in 2008] was swimming,
diving, then roost-floating with a group of Common Goldeneyes south of
Goose Park, Thompson Reservoir, Thompson Falls (Sanders Co) at 8:30pm
02 May 2008. An Eared grebe continues in same area, associating with
other ducks. A female BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD fed from hanging seed
feeder in our yard; a Lincoln's sparrow and Rufous humbird continued
in our yard (latter chased away another RUHU earlier in day) (days 3
and 6, respectively), as have a growing number of W-c sparrows, Oregon
juncos, Evening grosbeaks, and 2-3 Song sparrows, a handful of Siskin,
a large group of Cassin's finches, 2 "pairs" of House finch, and an
English sparrow male. Lark's mom reports an American goldfinch male at
her feeder for two days, and has a Spotted towhee, as well many of the
above species. TREE SWALLOWS have joined Violet-greens inspecting all
options in the neighborhood, including bird houses already-owned by
Pygmy nuthatches on a pine in our yard (2 openings way too small, but
a VGSW attempted to enter, as did a male last year) - this prompted me
to take an old flower box and start converting it into bird houses,
figuring still time since the VGSW house under porch have still not
had more than a couple feathers placed inside in past 3 weeks... A
White-crowned sparrow with swollen right eye was at feeding area
mid-afternoon but was chased off; its flight was not very direct, but
it could see out the other eye when it did perch, and provided me some
photo ops [if anyone knows about bird eye problems, I'd be happy to
spam a photo for inspection; off-line]. Finally, a mystery warbler
landed in maple (yellow throat, breast, abdomen (did not see tail well
enough), dark above, dark wing with white wing-bar) - without having
chance to use binoculars on it, it will remain unknown [though I did
settle on Pine warbler? Lesser goldfinch? - it was that short a view,
and I tried to photo it with auto focus camera, which decided to seek
out infinity just as the bird posed so nicely, out of focus to begin
with] - I don't want to have to write it up based on what little I saw
;-) ... - Jim Greaves, T Falls
At the Dredge Cuts FAS this afternoon I found a FOY Spotted Sandpiper and two Forster's Terns. About 16 Bonaparte's Gull were feeding on an insect hatch on the river just below the powerplants, as were quite few swallows. Tree Swallows made up the bulk of numbers but there also some Barn Swallows that I kept trying to make into Cliff Swallows, and my first of year Northern Rough-winged Swallow, There were quite a few Yellow-rumps coming through and several were feeding around a small bush near where I was checking out the swallows. Amongst these butterbutts was one that appears to be an intergrade between the Audubon's and Myrtle forms. I'll post a photo. Any comments on it are welcome.
I had two separate intergrade Yellow-rumpeds today. I forget to mention the second which had only a little yellow wash to the chin patch. I posted both.
Good Morning MOBsters,
Just returned from a morning in my Ruffed Grouse Blind. It was a
nice morning with high overcast and a very cooperative Bull grouse.
I had Common Loons calling at the nearby lake as well as a pair of
Bald Eagles, several Wood Ducks and a Pileated Woodpecker. Half the
fun of photographing from a blind is being a "fly on the wall" and
hearing all the activity around the woods. I also had (again)
Townsend's Warblers as well as Orange-crowned and Yellow-rumped
calling overhead.
After the Morning shoot I moved the blind to another drumming log and
ran into a small group of FOY Nashville Warblers and a Red-napped
Sapsucker.
I forgot to mention that last week I found several singing Canyon
Wrens in the Kootenai River Canyon between Libby and Troy.
Have a great day everyone!!
Don Jones
Troy
Hi All,
A nice weather morning in north central Montana. I visited Freezout
Lake WMA this morning.
I found many new species for the year and recorded a total of 65 species
in the visit. Noteworthy (to me) were American Bittern, Clark's Grebe,
Osprey, Wilson's Phalarope, Marsh Wren, Barn Swallow, the first
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon's), White-crowned and White-throated
Sparrow. On a quick trip to Freezout on Wed. I saw a Semipalmated
Plover, Least Sandpiper, Golden-crowned Kinglet and Townsend's Solitaire.
The shorebird migration is just getting a good start. The low water
levels will sure move the peeps quite far away and complicate things as
the migration builds.
A flock of about 800 white geese returned from feeding before I left the
Area.
Good birding,
Mike Schwitters
Choteau MT
MOBsters,
For the last years we've had 4/26 for Calliopes and 4/28 for Rufous.
Not this year.
Finally we welcomed our first male calliope today at 1:48. We've
looked longingly at the feeder since our usual expectant date in
April. However, today as I finished "A Thousand Splendid Suns", there
was our new ray of sunshine and splendid sun.
I'm glad we remained close to home to experience the first sip from
our first colorful guy.
Pat McLaughlin/Glenn Violette
Happy Valley 4 mi s. of Whitefish
Mobsters,
A first of the year House wren appeared today as well as a first ever
Savannah sparrow. We live in the middle of a pine, fir, and larch
forest, so we were pleasantly surprised by this new addition to our
house list.
Jim Rogers
Jette Lake (Polson)
We saw "our" house wren for the first time this morning. He was hopping around in a bush just outside the kitchen window and then later on he visited a nearby wren house. We haven't heard him sing yet. We hope he will stay.
Best regards,
Roger and Kathleen Hogen
Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now.
I had a few personal first today - they are not county firsts as Allen
posted these a few days ago. At Poplar Community Hospital where I work
I saw 3 Orange-crowned Warblers scouring a tree for bugs. There were 2
Lincoln's sparrows in the hedges behind the hospital that line the
river bank. They are both Montana firsts for me. Finally, there was a
Yellow-rumped Warbler in a different tree.
Lisa Lister
Poplar, MT
Mob,
We still have quite a few sparrows, but markedly less than a day or
two ago. Had another Broad-winged Hawk in the park this morning,
several Swainson's Thrush, a FOY Hermit Thrush along with a
couple Ovenbirds, Black-n-white's & N. Waterthrush, and many
Yellow-rump's and Orange-crown's.
Ted Nordhagen
Westby MT
West Bank Park keeps giving me more lifers. One has to just look. This evening I was using my compact scope to look for the Common Loon that I saw tossing back some squirming creature and saw a couple of shorebird like birds swimming with all the Coots, No. Shovelers and Eared Grebes. Closer examination matched Wilson's Phalaropes - a new bird for me. Even fit the description - "if it is a swimming shorebird it is a phalarope". I clocked in 33 species today - that I can recall in about an hour. A few were FOY for me - Cormorant, Caspian Tern, Western Grebe, White-crowned sparrow and the Wilson's (of course). There were quite a few Black-necked Stilts. Great birding without the need of a car to get there!
Our yard has been host to quite the gathering of Yellow-headed Blackbirds this week. Beth Hill Great Falls
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