After a very hot start, Week Thirty-five ended on a bit of a cold stretch as I faced the looming ramifications of my needed car repairs. On Monday, though, at the kick-off of Week Thirty-six and September, I left the worry of the days to come behind and headed west to the town of Butte, birding along the way at the Blackbird Fishing Access Site, Old Town Road, Droulliard Fishing Access Site, and Milligan Canyon Road. Throughout these first few stops I snagged a handful of new birds including Marsh Wren, Ring-necked Pheasant, Sandhill Crane, Wilson’s Snipe, Tree Swallow, Clark’s Nutcracker, Rock Wren, Canyon Wren, Mountain Bluebird, and Yellow-rumped Warbler. After this morning wave of birds I took a brief break in Butte before hitting the road south, heading into the Pioneer Mountains with a big-time target in mind.
Back when I first got into birding in 2018 and learned more about birds, there were three birds that I put on my list of “Dream Birds”. Birds that someday, somehow, I wanted to see (or in the case of the second on the list hear). The first of these, Gyrfalcon, came during March of my 2022 Michigan Big Year. The second is a bird I tried for earlier this year but have yet to have success with, but I look forward to the day when I see or hear a Black Rail. Those two birds are two of the most sought-after, and the third bird on the list is no exception: Great Gray Owl. While Sax-Zim Bog has a reputation as the premier place to get looks at the Phantom of the North, my timing unfortunately was at the calendrical antipode of when they can be found and The Bog. Fortunately for me, a hidden gem of Great Gray Owls exists in the Northern Rockies.
At first my search in the Pioneers seemed it may be fruitless; I’d been told the birds become active about two hours before dusk and dusk was just an hour away with another hour of fruitless searching already behind me. Working my way up and down the road in a location that’d been recommended to me, I turned off on to a side road heading west to turn around, and after a quick U-turn to face east I found myself suddenly looking at a bird about 30 feet away in a tree. Not just any bird, the bird. Great Gray Owl, Lifer #616! The bird soon flew a short distance and perched on a rock, where it stayed for several minutes before eventually dropping into the grass and out of sight.
Once the bird was out of view I made one more pass through my out-and-back route, and within a few minutes I spotted a second Great Gray, then a third and fourth together in a field on the southern edge of the clearings. Beyond satisfied with how the evening had unfolded I made one more U-turn to head north back towards Butte, spotting the second Great Gray again before getting close to the spot where I’d seen the first, where this time I spotted two! Just thirty minutes earlier Great Gray Owl had been a bird I dreamed of someday seeing, and now at least five different Great Grays had lived up to that dream.
After snagging the owls at dusk I put a few hours of road behind me as I drove north to the Cracker Barrel in Missoula to spend the “night”. The reason why I put night in quotes is because I only slept for about two and a half hours before getting back on the road to head to Glacier National Park. Eventually I arrived at my final destination of Logan Pass, though finding a parking spot proved difficult as, even though it was only 6am, every single spot in the entire 245 parking spot lot was occupied. After searching for spot for a few minutes I headed about a quarter mile down the road and parked in a pull-off then hoofed it back, arriving just in time to see a car pull out of a spot.
Finally finding myself Hidden Lake Trailhead I booked up up the mountain to the west in order to put myself in position to try for the reason I arrived so early at first light. While searching diligently I picked up an American Pipit and heard a flyover Pine Siskin, but hope began to fide as time passed and I’d still not spotted my target until eventually I spotted a small, rock-colored blob out on a rock. How this lump drew my attention I couldn’t say, and at first I wasn’t entirely sure it wasn’t just a figment of my imagination – but eventually the blob moved and my suspicion was confirmed: Lifer #617, White-tailed Ptarmigan!
With one incredible target down, three remained in my sights for the day in Glacier. As I headed east down from the Continental Divide to search for the second I tallied American Three-toed Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Steller’s Jay, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Pacific Wren, Varied Thrush, Red Crossbill, Dark-eyed Junco, and White-crowned Sparrow at the Gunsight Pass Trail. Red-breasted Nuthatch soon followed at the Sun Point Nature Trail, as well as my second target of the day in Lifer #618 Cassin’s Vireo! After a quick stop at the Rising Sun Picnic Area I turned around and headed back west, heading to a spot to check for my third target of the day.
Not long after arriving at the Haystack Creek Falls I spotted the cliffside nest which Joshua Wade Covill (who had also provided much spectacularly helpful intel for my other targets for Montana) had sent me photos of, though the nest was empty and I assumed that my best bet was to head off in search of my other remaining target, but before I could pack up I was approached by a couple from Minnesota who chatted with me for a while, and then another from Wisconsin. After about ten minutes of talking I suddenly heard a distinctive chattering call that I immediately recognized as some kind of swift, and began franticly scanning for the birds in question. Eventually I caught the glint of some light off a bird’s wing, got said bird in my bins, and confirmed Lifer #619 Black Swift!
With the three Glacier-exclusive targets down, I made the decision to head out from the equally gorgeous and overcrowded park in search of the last target elsewhere, stopping briefly at the Lake McDonald Lodge and Apgar Visitor’s Center before making my way to the town of Columbia Falls and then the nearby Owen Sowerwine Natural Area. At Sowerwine added Wild Turkey to my Montana list but didn’t have much in the way of bird activity and none of my targets, so I headed back to my car and planned to move farther south. As I headed back to my car, though, my attention was again called to the sound of a swift in flight, and much like at Haystack Falls it was again my target, this time being Lifer #620, Vaux’s Swift. Before the day came to an end I gave an exhaustive several hour effort at the Duck Road Waterfowl Production Area in search of roosting Long-eared Owls, but as with every other time I’ve ever attempted to find a roosting owl I was unsuccessful.
With two great days of birding behind me the week, I then headed back towards the Bozeman area where on Thursday I would again be spending an entire day, dawn-to-dusk, waiting on my car to be repaired. You may have noticed I skipped over Wednesday, but that’s because outside of a single stop at Pablo National Wildlife Refuge it too was a birdingless day. Friday and Saturday weren’t much more eventful, with stops at Glen Lake Rotary Park, Cherry River Fishing Access Site, and Warm Springs Wildlife Management Area adding a few final birds to my Montana list, which totaled out at 142. These days weren’t entirely unproductive, though, as I utilized this downtime to get caught up on my blog and daily notes – which I had intended to stay caught up on until a slight delay that I will mention in next week’s post occupied all my attention for a few days resulting in this delay. Finally, though, on Sunday morning I returned to the originally scheduled program and hit the road headed south to Idaho.
I entered Idaho at 7:49 on the morning of the 7th, immediately spotting a Swainson’s Hawk just a few feet into the state on a utility pole. The Swainson’s was soon followed by a Red-tailed Hawk and Ferruginous Hawk, the latter of which was a solid pickup for having not yet reached my first stop in The Gem State. That first stop was soon to come, as I arrived at Camas National Wildlife Refuge just before 8:30.
Camas treated me exceptionally well, with my three hours there producing 36 species including highlights in Greater Sage-Grouse, Gray Partridge, Hammond’s Flycatcher, Cassin’s Vireo, Sage Thrasher, and Lark Sparrow.
I made two different passes through the refuge’s wildlife drive, where enjoyed the desert sage habitat but noted the total absence of water and as a result the absence of any of the seasonally expected “water birds” except for a flyover flock of Canada Goose. Those waterbirds came in force at my next stop, though, as the East End of Mud Lake Wildlife Management Area was packed to the brim with a wide assortment of ducks and more.
At Mud Lake, after drivingsome access “roads” through what initially seemed to dried-out desolation same as Camas, I hopped out of my car and headed up a small sandy bluff to take a glance at where I hoped there would be some water in Mud Lake itself. Upon cresting said bluff I was greeted with an overwhelmingly massive sea of birds, and immediately made my way back down the bluff to grab my scope and begin scanning. The bulk of the approximately 26,000 birds were American Coot, but also mixed in there were Trumpeter Swan, Blue-winged Teal, Cinnamon Teal, Northern Shoveler, Gadwall, American Wigeon, Mallard, Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal, Redhead, Ring-necked Duck, Lesser Scaup, Bufflehead, Common Merganser, Ruddy Duck, Franklin’s Gull, Ring-billed Gull, Pied-billed Grebe, Red-necked Grebe, Eared Grebe, Western Grebe, Clark’s Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, and American White Pelican. The flock on the water didn’t account for all of the birds at Mud Lake, though, as between field the nearby woods I added Western Kingbird, Dusky Flycatcher, Northern Waterthrush, Nashville Warbler, MacGillivray’s Warbler, Townsend’s Warbler, and Western Tanager along with a bunch of other new birds for Idaho.
Before calling close on the day I made one more stop at the Market Lake Wildlife Management Area, where Sora, Long-billed Dowitcher, White-faced Ibis, Snowy Egret, Northern Harrier, and Marsh Wren were among the nine birds that brought my day-one total in Idaho to 105 species – my first state to reach 100 in my first day since Delaware back in May. Despite it only being late-afternoon Market Lake marked the end of the day’s birding, but it certainly wasn’t the end of the day’s driving as I put another couple hundred miles behind me before settling in for the night in the town of Twin Falls, setting myself up for a foray into the South Hills at the start of Week Thirty-seven, targeting another two Lifers. After heading into the South Hills, next week will find me heading to Oregon and making an unplanned, surprise reunion with some familiar faces. That’s a story for my next post, though, which WILL come out on Wednesday – though probably not until the evening here in Oregon, so relatively late at night back in the EST.
Happy Birding!
eBird Trip Summary:
First and foremost - thank you to anyone who chooses to support me in this insane adventure of mine. When I initially had this idea and began planning I didn't even consider the possibility that others would want to support me, but I am extremely grateful to those who have reached out to do so. For those who are interested in supporting me, I have set up a Patreon, which can be accessed by clicking the logo to the left (or you can send me a message via the contact page). Again, thank you for your incredibly generous support!
All Patrons will receive my "Daily Notes" 12-36 hours after the end of each day, and Patrons subscribed to the "Sponsor" tier will receive monthly postcards, mailed out between the 25th and end of each month.
For anyone who wishes to support me without using Patreon, clicking the "$" Icon will link you to my Venmo as well. There is also an option on Patreon to purchase my Daily Notes Collection for a one-time $10 payment without becoming a paid member, which will give you access to the Daily Notes without having to subscribe to a monthly subscription. For those who it requests the last four of my number for, it's 1403.
Following recent suggestions I went ahead and created a GoFundMe in order to help ensure I can keep this adventure going and afford the costs of gas, vehicle maintenance, and food (including, with enough support, some more diversity in my diet). The GoFundMe can be accessed by clicking the image link with the coin going into the donation box. (If anyone knows how to add a custom icon on Elemetor to make the Venmo and GoFundMe Links their respective logos, I'd love to hear how to do it!)
Thank you again to those of you who have supported me so far, it's tremendously generous and greatly appreciated.
Follow me on my journey to see 100 species in every Lower-48 State during 2025, experience some of the incredible places and events in American birding, and meet and bird with as many local birders as possible along the way.
Posts will be made every Wednesday (I will try to have them out by 5pm, but situationally they might be a bit later) and will cover the previous Monday through Sunday. Additional posts will be made periodically with no set schedule.
