Audubon gears up for Christmas bird counts
Audubon groups throughout northwestern Montana are preparing for the 113th annual Christmas Bird Count season.
Dan Casey will set the stage for the season at the Flathead Audubon’s meeting on Monday, Dec. 10. As the statewide editor of Christmas Bird Count data, Casey will offer his unique insight into what has been learned from the annual counts across Montana.
He will also summarize the history of the Bigfork and Kalispell counts, using his extensive bird photo collection and stories from the field, to illustrate and prepare participants for the 2012 counts. In keeping with his annual tradition, some “virtual birding” will be incorporated into his talk.
Audubon will meet at 7 p.m. at its new location in the United Way Conference Room at the Gateway Community Center on US Highway 2 West in Kalispell. The Conference Room is accessed from the parking lot on the west side of the Center.
BIGFORK
The 39th annual Bigfork Christmas Bird Count is set for Saturday, Dec. 15.
In 2011, Bigfork set a new benchmark by becoming the first Montana count to report 90 species.
Last year, record numbers of horned grebes, tundra swans, American coots, herring gulls, Eurasian collared-doves and black-billed magpies were found. Other highlights included two trumpeter swans, three snowy owls and two white-throated sparrows.
The count began in 1974 and the count circle is centered at the Little Brown Church north of Bigfork. It includes over 30 miles of the Swan and Flathead Rivers, the north end of Flathead Lake and diverse habitats. Nearly 150 bird species have been seen over the history of the count.
The Bigfork count depends on veteran group leaders to scour their usual areas. Additional participants are always sought to help Audubon gain a better understanding of early winter bird populations in the Flathead.
Preparation for the count begins with the Dec. 10 meeting of Flathead Audubon and groups are made final Dec. 14.
KALISPELL
The Kalispell Christmas Bird Count is set for Sunday, Dec. 30 and starts with a group breakfast at 7 a.m. Birders will meet at the Montana Club on Highway 93 South to finish assigning circle segments and field teams for the day’s efforts.
The 2012 count is centered at Reserve and Highway 93. The count circle includes Evergreen, much of the Flathead River corridor including the Owen Sowerwine Natural Area, Happy Valley, Herron Park and the Kuhn’s Wildlife Area.
A new high of 76 bird species was found on the 2011 Kalispell count. These included the first-ever regional sighting of turkey vultures, a ferruginous hawk and glaucous-winged gull. There were also high counts for 10 other species, including a remarkable 409 Eurasian collared-doves.
SIGN UP
Sign up for the Bigfork and Kalispell counts at the meeting or contact Casey at danielcasey55@gmail.com or dcasey@abcbirds.org or 857-3143 or 756-2681 or 270-5941. All bird identification abilities are welcome.
Other Northwest Montana Christmas Bird Counts
• Eureka — Saturday, Dec. 15. Contact Lewis and Linda Young at llyoung@interbel.net or 889-3492.
• Libby — Saturday, Dec. 15. Contact Sandra Gerber at skariver@frontiernet.net or phone 293-4948.
• Ninepipe — Sunday, Dec. 16. Contact Brian Williams at bwilliams@montananatural ist.org or phone 721-1467 or 327-0405.
• Glacier National Park — Meets at Crown of the Continent Research Learning Center on Sunday, Dec. 16. Contact Susan Sindt at sjsindt@hotmail.com or phone 892-7406 or 249-7355.
• Upper Swan — Sunday, December 16. Contact Jody Wolff at jmw4002@black foot.net or 754-4002.
• Troy — Saturday, Dec. 22. Contact Donald Jones at gr8gray@frontiernet.net or 295-4291.