Red-breasted Nuthatch..."Happy, jolly little bird"

Arthur Cleveland Bent* nailed the description of this bird: "The red-breasted nuthatch is a happy, jolly bird, surprisingly quick and agile in his motions...winds about the little twigs out to the end...more sociable, too...feeding together they keep up a cheery chatter among themselves...high, tin-whistle note, 'kng'."

I encountered a good number of these "happy" birds yesterday at Maclay Flat (USFS at Missoula, MT), a dandy place for a lot of different wildlife. Got a halfway decent photo (below) of one. They always seem to be around here (permanent resident); this is not true for other parts of the country. Red-breasted Nuthatch is an "irruptive species"; it breeds/is resident in the boreal forest and when food resources aren't available there in winter, it "irrupts" or migrates to places that do have food. Audubon has a nice, colorful video explaining this concept.

To find this bird in your neighborhood, look for a substantial stand of pine or spruce. Look both at the trunk and twigs for movement. As omnivores they are eating seeds of the cones and wintering insects wedged in the bark. Listen for their call or hammering (much softer than a woodpecker) on the bark extracting insects. It can challenging to find them, but you get the secondary benefits of fresh air, exercise...and a good story of adventure :-)

*Mr. Bent compiled the 21 volume set "Life histories of North American Birds" with the first volume published in 1919 continuing through 1968 by the United States National Museum. I have the Dover reprint of this series published in 1964. An electronic version of Bent can be found here. These writings are very poetic, descriptive and will add flavor/skill to your birding experience.

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Great Gray Owl...Prepared, but Providential Find

Yet again (not a foregone conclusion), found Strix nebulosa at Maclay Flat (independently after a mere 5 tries:-)  Saw a great gray at this location two years ago. May be the same bird wintering at this spot for last couple of years...the Missoula birding community regularly checks for the bird and has nicknamed it "Waldo". I don't know of a pattern for finding this bird; it just takes plenty of scanning, attention, time and patience. Today, spotted the bird from about 150 yards away perched about 15 feet up in a Ponderosa pine bordering large open meadow.  Here's my look:

Great Gray Owl

Lucky to have caught sight of the white bow-tie against the gray background nestled in the greenery. It was great rush to find this bird. Might not have found this bird if I had not read Do The Work by Steven Pressfield; overcame internal resistance of...in my case doing the hard work in finding this species/bird. For sure birding does not typically work like this; birds fly and sometimes far away (duh). So got lucky:-) Hope your findings are also great!  

 

On a Mission...

Maclay Flat, USFS property along Bitterroot River in Missoula, Montana, has a wet meadow that is attractive to the Red-veined Meadowhawk (Sympetrum madidum) and perhaps the Bronze Copper butterfly (Lycaena hyllus). I don't have a real good photo of a male red-veined and I have never seen the copper species...hey, let's go for it. Of course did some homework beforehand. This species of copper is found on wetland edges that have 'dock' plant species (genus is Rumex) growing.
Arrived at the site about 2 pm, ~85F, WNW wind >10 mph at times. Right off found Melissa Blue butterflies (Plebejus melissa) along moist spots on trail.

Many meadowhawks were also seen the trail that borders an irrigation ditch, here's a Cherry-faced Meadowhawk (Sympetrum internum).

Cherry-faced Meadowhawk

A robust stand of sweet clover is growing along the trail in places...attractive for bees and...one Edith's Copper (Lycaena editha) butterfly.

Edith's Copper


Got to the wet meadow and found 'dock' growing, however found zero Bronze Copper and zero Red-veined Meadowhawk, hmmmmm. Called it a day and headed home. Decided to water some flowers around the yard and what do I find in the process...a Red-veined Meadowhawk 'hawking' insects from my garden.

Red-veined Meadowhawk

The nearest wetland is a mile away (riparian forest of the Bitterroot River)! It's funny that both butterflies and dragonflies aren't always found where they should be. Need to review the literature more for added understanding...or maybe not. Take home message, finding something great may just be out your back door.

1st Day of Birding for 2012

Went out twice, briefly, today to start the first of many wildlife watching lists. Had plenty of momentum from yesterday's Stevensville, MT Christmas Bird Count. Weather was good during a period of above normal temps. Recorded 50 species on Lee Metcalf NWR; highlights were Greater Scaup, Northern Shoveler, Trumpeter Swan and Wood Duck. Hardest 'get' was Wilson's Snipe, took until 3:34 pm to find on the fringes of a spring a mere 150 yards from the Refuge Headquarters:-). This morning stepped out on front porch and within 5 minutes recorded 5 species of birds (in order of sighting): Am. Crow, Bohemian Waxwing, Townsend's Solitaire, Raven, and House Finch.

Followed up the abbreviated birding foray with an afternoon field trip to Maclay Flat, USFS property along Bitterroot River in Missoula, MT. En route found a small flock of Cedar Waxwing in Mountain Ash along Blue Mountain Road which I video'd:


Maclay Flat was birdy at 32F and partly cloudy. Found all three nuthatch species within five minutes of leaving parking lot. This was followed up by an immature Cooper's Hawk chasing a Northern Flicker...not fast enough to catch this action or happy ending (woodpecker escape) on video :-). Last highlight of birding day started with Red Squirrel having pine seed dinner followed by Golden-crowned Kinglet descending to ground for late afternoon foraging:


Finished with 18 bird species for day; you surely can top that...go out and find something good!

October 24 in western Montana

The neighborhood merlin (Falco columbarius) is back for the fall/winter. There are many mountain ash plantings attracting waxwings (both species) which are the main prey item for this species. Here are photos of the bird perched and in flight.

With success birding on the homefront, ventured to Maclay Flat, USFS property in Missoula, to see other cool stuff. This public land is great just for fall colors without seeing any wildlife.


Bitterroot river looking east towards Hellgate Canyon

Good find was a northern shrike (Lanius excubitor) hunting on far east side (large meadow).



Northern shrike on mullein

Continuing on the trail encountered a set of tracks in the dried irrigation ditch, any guesses as to identity?

Hint: I believe this is from the largest cervid in the world

Fininshing up my walk near the the parking lot, encountered a large group (~18) of Clark's nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana) feeding on the ground. See the You Tube video of these birds in action at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iciD6QHlTSs