Volume 35 Number 3 November 2010
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VOLUME 35 NUMBER 3 NOVEMBER 2010 If you have not already renewed, you are getting this issue of The Pileated Post because a mail delay may have kept some renewals from reaching the Membership Chair in a timely manner. This delay occurred because an address change caused some mail to be diverted through Denver. If there had been no delays, people who did not renew would not be receiving this issue of the Post, as was announced at the October gen- eral meeting. Without renewal, you will not receive the next issue. Please renew, we do not want to lose any members. Big Thank You’s to all of the volun- ies, beverages and pats on the back. This year teers at the FAS OSNA Work Day on Septem- we had some “first timers” and several ber 25. You were perfect! Everything about “everytimers” (never missed a Work Day). Eve- the group effort was perfect: the people, the rybody had a good time and made a difference! weather, the work time, the refreshments, the One very important contribution to FAS, quality of the work, the resulting improve- besides the positive changes at the Natural ments, the safety, the fun and friendship and Area, is the fact that we qualified for considera- especially the place itself – the perfect riparian tion of a $1000 grant from Prudential Global area! Volunteer Day – submitted by Jane Lopp & As- Thirty-three determined volunteers pulled sociates Prudential agency. Jane and Bob Lopp are weeds, cleared trails, shuttled crews, repaired fence, longtime supporters and participants in FAS and mowed, clipped, pulled and sawed their way through a OSNA. successful 2+ hours, then landed at our base of opera- This year, the signup sheet logged in the fol- tion (Montessori School) for some lip-smackin’ good- lowing fine volunteers: Bob Lopp John Morris Lewis Young Richard Kuhl Thanks to all! You Jane Lopp Lorinda Baker Barb Lutz Jim Thormahlen made a BIG differ- Joanne Blake Dennis Hester Becky Williams Rod McIver ence at Owen Sow - Steve Gniadek Paula Smith Pat McClelland Donna Harrison erwine Natural Area! Kay Mitchell Bob Smith Larry Williams Brent Mitchell ********* Lois Drobish Roy Dimond Linda Winnie Mary Jo Gardner Brent Mitchell Bob Lee Randy Kenyon Ed Prach Former OSNA Nancy Zapotocki Gail Cleveland Phyllis Gantner Co-Chair Sheryl Hester Bruce Tannehill Terry Welder Monday, November 8, 2010: Flathead Audubon General Meeting. 7 PM, Conference Room 3, The Summit. Kate Davis presents a program on raptors, with live birds. See page 3 for details. Monday, November 1, 2010: Flathead Audubon Board of Directors Meeting. 6 PM at 295 Third Ave. E.N. All are welcome. Saturday, November 6, 2010: Birding Around the West Valley. 8-10 AM. See page 2 for details! PAGE 2 PILEATED POST NOVEMBER 2010 By Melissa Sladek O From my office window, I and wings. Her tail consists of a gray- see him. His stark contrast with the ish-brown or olive color. Both male dark and light greens of the sur- and female have two wing bars on rounding forest catches my eye. To- each wing. Males have one bright day, he is busy…I’ve now seen him yellow and one white wing bar, three times flying back and forth whereas both wing bars may be across the road. white on females or one may be pale My coworkers and I started yellow. to notice this male western tanager The male tanager flittering at some point in the summer. His through the woods of park headquar- birdsamore.com flashy yellow and black body and red ters was most likely helping his fe- head are show stoppers, causing me to freeze in my male partner with the young of the year. The female tracks during my expeditions in and out of the Re- builds an open-cup, shallow nest made of twigs, search Learning Center at Glacier National Park. grasses, and bark strips. It is typically placed in conif- The headquarters area in Glacier is actually a erous trees toward the end of horizontal branches and perfect habitat for the Western Tanager (Piranga ludo- is lined with grass, hair or plant fibers. The female viciana). During the summer months, this colorful bird produces three to five glossy blue, brown-spotted lives in open coniferous forests or mixed woods eggs, which she incubates for about 13 days. The across western North America. They range from the young leave the nest about 11 to 15 days later, but do U.S.-Mexican border all the way to southern Alaska, tend to stay close to their parents for two more weeks. making them the northernmost breeding tanager. By September, all Western Tanagers will be Their summer diet consists mainly of insects, although on their way to the warmer climates of Central Amer- the birds have been seen to eat berries and other fruit. ica and Mexico. Although they normally migrate alone, Once the rich growth of summer fades, the medium- they are also seen migrating in groups of 30. Migra- sized songbird prepares for the long flight to its winter- tion is often the time when they are spotted. Last ing grounds in Mexico and Central America. There, June, the Missoulian reported overwhelming numbers the tanagers settle in pine-oak woodlands, forest of Western Tanagers seen along the Clark Fork River. edges, and coffee plantations. Apparently, the wet spring we had this year gave life I remember first seeing this rainbow of a bird to an abundance of bugs and caused many a Western while hiking at Lone Pine State Park. The bird struck Tanager to stop for a snack on their way north. me due to its splash of color on an otherwise dreary, Unfortunately, we’re not always as lucky spot- rainy June day. For me, it brought hope that the sunny ting these bright beauties in the summer. Most often, happy days of summer in the Flathead were just the birds are foraging for insects in the tree tops, high around the corner. And, until then, I had the Western above most of our purviews. But, this summer I was Tanager to keep my spirits up. fortunate. My brightly feathered friend gave me plenty As with most songbirds, the male Western of opportunities to stop, watch and admire as he sped Tanager is more colorful than the female. Compared past. I’m sure I was just on his regular foraging route, to the bright yellow underparts of the male, the fe- but I like to think he knew that he brightened my day… male’s underparts are olive green. She also has less especially during those endless June days of rain and contrast between her breast and the gray of her back gloom. ! " #$$ % Alan Nelson Photo S ! " # $ %&'' #( ) *+,-*.+/ PAGE 3 PILEATED POST NOVEMBER 2010 Nate Kohler Photo Dave Menke/USFWS November 2010 Program KATE DAVIS AND RAPTORS OF THE ROCKIES RAPTORS—predators that “seize and carry away”—hawks, falcons, eagles, osprey and owls When Kate Davis “busts out Zoo Junior Zoologists Club. She earned the birds” at our November 8 meeting, it her degree in Zoology in 1982 from the could be Alisa the Red-tailed Hawk, University of Montana. A few years later, Sibley the Peregrine Falcon, iPod the she acquired the federal and state per- Northern Pygmy Owl and Jillian the mits necessary to care for the rehabilita- Great Horned Owl that she introduces tion, program and falconry birds that to Flathead Audubon. These raptors are come to live at Raptor Ranch. part of the 16-member “teaching team” Photo by Monte Dolack Kate’s passion for birds of prey from the Raptor Ranch in Florence, has led her in many creative directions: Montana. She is the author of RAPTORS OF THE ROCKIES, Kate Davis and her team of live birds are all FALCONS OF NORTH AMERICA and the soon-to-be about EDUCATION. They travel throughout Western published RAPTORS OF THE WEST, as well as re- Montana and Idaho delivering Raptors of the Rockies search articles published in scientific journals and programs in schools, to public gatherings and adult RAPTOR ROUND-UP. She is also a taxidermist and organizations to promote respect for birds of prey and an artist who photographs, paints, illustrates and wildlife conservation and habitat preservation. sculpts wildlife, and even helps kids make films! In Raptors of the Rockies is a nonprofit raptor fact, Kate’s breathtaking image of a Peregrine Falcon education project that Kate founded 22 years ago on flying against a Rocky Mountain backdrop was se- the banks of the Clark Fork River near Missoula. The lected by Montana Audubon to publicize Wings Across Raptor Ranch is now located on the banks of the Bit- the Big Sky, the June 2010 bird festival in Missoula, terroot River in Florence. Although the permanently and to adorn festival T-shirts. disabled birds of prey and falconry birds cared for at Kate was named the Montana Audubon Envi- the ranch cannot be released into the wild, they do ronmental Educator of the Year in 2000, the Montana well in captivity and serve as project ambassadors. Wildlife Federation Conservation Educator of the Year The birds are featured at venues as varied as Mon- in 2002 and received the Montana National History tana Public Radio’s Pea Green Boat and the David Center Natural History Educator Award in 2004. Sibley Birding Workshop at the Nature Conservancy’s Please join us at 7 PM on Monday, November Pine Butte Guest Ranch. Kate serves as the project’s 8 in the Community Room of The Summit, 205 Sunny- Executive Director.