Montana Wildlife July 09

Had a wonderful time visiting my brother Jeff and his family over the 4th of July weekend. While there got out the 4oomm 2.8 and walked around a bit. Most of the shots were taken within a few hundred feet of the house along the river. My brother John and I also drove up onto the bench above the valley and some of these were shot up there. All shots in and immediately in the vicinity of Twin Bridges, Montana.


Cedar Waxwing Couple. Watch closely. (About 7 inches)



One of the stars of the weekend was this Sora working the swamp not 200 feet from Jeff's back door. This rail is about 9 inches, and announces itself with a distinct KEEK, KEEK. First good look for me of this bird.







Fairly common this time of year in this area of Montana is the Long Billed Curlew. At nearly 2 feet tall, it is pretty conspicuous. We got some good looks at both the adult and a couple of chicks.





The Curlews are among the birds typically found up in the dry grass on the bench. Also in the same area was another new bird for me, the Mountain Plover.



Derided by many birders, and often disliked by farmers because of their camp robbing tendency's, the 19 inch Black Billed Magpie is nothing if not flashy. I kinda like them!



Although the Western Meadowlark is the Oregon state bird, I have seen it much more often in Montana than in Oregon. This 9 1/2 inch bird is beautiful both to see and to hear.

The Spotted Sandpiper nests in the grass pretty much out in the open. It will fly up and try to attract attention, and is really noisy. This 7 1/2 incher bobs and teeters as it walks, but is really agile when it wants to be.




While out by the river early in the morning, I surprised this White Tail Deer. Three points on one side and four on the other, all still in velvet.


The House Wren may be common, but it's song is not. Really fun to hear and then see it singing. About 4 3/4 inches.


The only Oriole found in the Northwest is the Bullocks Oriole. Usually found high in trees, about 8 inches.

At over 5 feet in length and with a wingspan of more than 9 feet, the American White Pelican is found both on the coast and on inland water. It is numerous in the valley around Twin Bridges.





Another unusual but fairly numerous visitor to this valley is the Sandhill Crane. With it's distinctive red crown, this bird is so large that you often need to take a second look to confirm that it is really just a bird. About 42 inches, here just visible in the tall grass.


Up on the bench we saw the Prairie Falcon perched on the big utility poles along the dirt road. About 17 inches, with a wingspan of about 40 inches.


At 19 inches with a wingspan of more than 4 feet, the Red Tail Hawk was magnificent soaring above the mountains. This one even had prey in its talons.




Also up near the mouth of the mountain canyons is the very beautiful Mountain Bluebird. About 7 1/4 inches. This one has an insect.


Right after we saw the bluebird, we saw a bird we had not seen before. This is a McCowan's Longspur. About 6 inches, these sparrow like birds are only found in a very narrow range. They are unmistakeable though with their very distinct feild marks.



Found in basically the same high-bench grassland habitat is the Horned Lark. Larks are mostly European birds, but this one is found in the short grass almost throughout the US. It has the ability to fluff it's feathers to show it's "horns". About 7 1/2 inches.




Another really hard to see bird in the west is the Gray Catbird. Note the Rufous under the tail on the male. About 8 1/2 inches.


From the favorite family of our South American guide Rudy Gelis is the flycatcher known as the Western Wood Pewee. There were lots of misquito's out, and these little guys (about 6 1/2 inches) were having a field day!



We saw several mixed flocks including this group of several blackbird/cowbird species. Included among them was the flashy Yellow Headed Blackbird. About 10 inches.


Up on the high bench the Antelope were really beautiful. I learned for the first time that the females of this species also have horns. There was a very large male however standing off by himself.



Finally with one of the most beautiful songs around, the Marsh Wren (about 6 inches) is a tough one to photograph because of it's tendency to stay hidden in the grass and reeds.