Spring has arrived in a glory of rain and sun and flowers and green things growing. It's a great time to be out and about, observing the natural world! The staff at MNHC have been seeing lots of fun things: Great Horned Owl young in a nest at Council Grove; Lazuli Buntings at Bass Creek in the Bitterroots; American Dippers braving wild run-off waterfalls along Sweathouse Creek; Osprey soaring over the Clark Fork River, looking for fish; the bright colors of Western Tanagers in back yards around Missoula; and dozens and dozens of wildflower species, from lupine to paintbrush to side-flowering mitrewort to fairy-slipper orchids.
Where are you exploring this spring? What are you seeing? Please share in the comments!
Where are you exploring this spring? What are you seeing? Please share in the comments!
We have had an abundance of Cordilleran Flycatchers in our yard this year, perhaps the result of 7 years of successful nestings on our power meter tucked under the eaves. On June 9th, the first bit of moss appeared, today the female is incubating 4 eggs.
ReplyDeleteI won't be pestering them with my camera this year as the process is remarkably similar from year to year, but here's a link to a photo essay on this blog from 2010's nesting:
http://montananaturalist.blogspot.com/2010/07/cordilleran-flycatcher-nest.html