Spring/Summer 2020 MONTANA

NTO PROMOTE ANDa CULTIVATE THEt APPRECIATION,u UNDERSTANDINGr AND STEWARDSHIPa OFli NATURE THROUGHs EDUCATIONt

Bison and Biodiversity: History of a Keystone Species

Heartbeats & Hibernation | All About Antlions | Birding in Spain and Montana | Visions of Earth MONTANA Naturalist Spring/Summer 2020 inside Features 4 BISON AND BIODIVERSITY: A CASE STUDY Exploring the history of North America’s keystone herbivore BY GIL GALE 8 HEARTBEATS AND HIBERNATION 4 8 IN THE ROCKIES Getting at the heart of surviving winter in Montana Departments BY HEATHER MCKEE 3 TIDINGS 10 NATURALIST NOTES Antlions: A Conversation of Observations 22 12 GET OUTSIDE GUIDE Book review: The Lost Words; 10 nature writing activity; phenology scavenger hunt; Kids’ Corner: tree painting by Lila Farrell; Pablo 4th-grade science projects 17 IMPRINTS Farewell to Lisa Bickell; upcoming exhibits; new summer 24 camp offerings; welcome to 24 Jennifer Robinson; Drop in with a FAR AFIELD Naturalist; As To The Mission; Birding in Spain 2019 auction thank yous BY PEGGY CORDELL 17 19 26 VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT MAGPIE MARKET Cover – A Bullock’s Oriole (Icterus bullockii) Alyssa Giffin perches on a branch above Pauline Creek at the National Bison Range on a gorgeous June 27 22 REFLECTIONS day. Bullock’s Orioles are summer residents COMMUNITY FOCUS Visions of Earth in Montana. Photo by Merle Ann Loman, Working for Wilderness: amontanaview.com. The Great Burn Conservation No material appearing in Montana Naturalist Alliance may be reproduced in part or in whole without the BY ALLISON DE JONG written consent of the publisher. All contents © 2020 The Montana Natural History Center.

2 MONTANA NATURALIST ~ SPRING/SUMMER 2020 Connecting People with Nature 120 Hickory Street, Suite A tidings Missoula, MT 59801 406.327.0405 MontanaNaturalist.org Late last summer I hiked, with my husband, son, and three friends, into Kid Lake in the Great Burn STAFF Recommended Wilderness. The Ser Anderson Teaching Naturalist landscape was stunning: rocky ridges Alyssa Cornell-Chavez stretching into the distance, blue sky Front Desk Associate arcing above the glimmering jewel Allison De Jong of the lake, and the scent of fir and Communications Coordinator warm earth and ripe huckleberries Thurston Elfstrom Executive Director infusing the air. A two-hour drive Laura Lee followed by an easy two-mile hike Bookkeeper brought us to a beautifully wild Drew Lefebvre place. My 16-month-old son and Museum Programs Coordinator & Volunteer PHOTO BY KARA HANSON Coordinator our friends’ four-year-old daughter Enjoying warm sun and cool water at Kid Lake in the Pat Little loved it. They ate huckleberries off lovely wildlands of the Great Burn. Front Desk Associate the bushes and splashed in the lake all Jenah Mead Teaching Naturalist afternoon and had to be dragged away, sun-kissed and dripping. Christine Morris These wild places exist in spite of us. Community Programs Coordinator These magnificent, unique landscapes are home to wolverines and pikas, alpine Stephanie Laporte Potts larches and beargrass, glacier-carved valleys and sparkling streams, and so much more. Youth Programs Manager When I visit our wild places, I am constantly in awe of their diversity and allure, and Jennifer Robinson Program Director that of the wild creatures that inhabit them. Mark Schleicher This issue honors such wildness and variety. From biologist Gil Gale’s exploration Development Director of bison and their fascinating history—species diverging and converging and diverging Glenna Tawney again amidst a backdrop of ice sheets and warming periods (page 4)—to a conversation Marketing & Events Coordinator between three naturalists about the amazing adaptations of predatory antlion larvae (page Kelli Van Noppen ID Nature Coordinator 10), from writer Heather McKee’s examination of heartbeats and their relationship to Christine Wren hibernation (page 8) to naturalist Peggy Cordell’s familiar-yet-novel experience of birding Teaching Naturalist in Spain (page 24), we are reminded of how wonderfully intricate and complex our Bailey Zook world is. Our home. Our planet. Teaching Naturalist This year we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day (page 27): 50 years of

Summer Staff recognizing, on a planet-wide scale, the importance of stewarding this beautiful blue Alyssa Giffin marble we call home. Summer Camp Coordinator This spring, this summer, this year, let’s celebrate our planet and this exquisite Breanna McCabe corner of it that we are so very lucky to call home. Let’s celebrate by exploring it, reveling Educational Programs Intern in it, seeking out its wild places and wild creatures and wild flowers.

Board of Directors And let’s celebrate by stewarding it—so that all this wild tangle of beauty and Kelley Willett, President diversity is still here when my son is the age I am now. When his children have children, Stephanie Lambert, Vice President Peggy Christian, Secretary and grandchildren—and beyond. So that, a hundred years in the future, they can splash Katie Guffin, Treasurer around in Kid Lake in the Great Burn Wilderness, because it’s still there, and still wild. Hank Fischer Ian Foster Here’s to this planet, to our wild places, to us. Here’s to actively loving it all. Sarah Megyesi Rick Oncken Rick Potts Dr. Allison Young Allison De Jong Montana Naturalist Art Director Eileen Chontos EDITOR [email protected]

SPRING/SUMMER 2020 ~ MONTANA NATURALIST 3 “Intraspecific diversity is the raw material of evolution" —DR. C. CORMACK GATES, IUCN AMERICAN BISON STATUS, 2010 BISONBISON ANDAND BIODIVERSITY:BIODIVERSITY: A CASE STUDY BY GIL GALE

When the fires of August 2000 roared across the Bitterroot Valley and up over the Continental Divide, they left behind an intriguing relic exposed in the ashes high in the Anaconda-Pintler mountain range. The discovery by one of the fire mop-up crews of a bison skull at over 8,000 feet triggered some interesting questions about what a plains bison was doing in a high-elevation forested zone so distant from any typical habitat. Did this animal represent something more significant than a wandering oddity?

It turns out that drives the life and bison history and death of the major genetics are a bit more ice ages. Periodic complex than many long-term shifts of us Montanans of the earth’s plate were probably aware. tectonics, its orbit In our time, on the Historic around the sun, and North American its tilt, coupled with continent, there are Range of occasional massive two subspecies of volcanic eruptions, all bison, the plains bison Bison interact to produce (Bison bison bison), a bewildering which dominated the assemblage of Great Plains biome, past and potential and the northern long-term climate latitude wood outcomes for the bison (Bison bison Plains Bison Range planet. athabascae), adapted to Chemical, the boreal forests and Wood Bison Range geological, and meadow complexes Overlap paleontological of western Canada evidence show that OF WES OLSON COURTESY and into Alaska the four previous MAP: (see historic range map). The bison skull other species in the story that gives us a planet-wide ice ages weren’t brief. They exposed by the 2000 fire was most likely a lesson about the evolutionary process and ranged in duration from 20 to 300 million plains bison. However, a few thousand years the importance of biological diversity. years. Yet within each of these long ice ago, it might have been a plains bison or a A Utah Department of Natural ages there were multiple warming breaks wood bison or a hybrid of the two. Resources geological survey report (Major called interglacial periods (lasting many tens The story of how bison arrived at their Ice Ages, 2010) reminds us that, believe it of millions of years) when ice sheets and current subspecies genetic configuration or not, we are actually still in the fifth major glaciers retreated and the earth got much coincides with the story of the advance and ice age of the planet’s history. You would hotter than it is now. Inevitably, cooling retreat of the ice sheets and glaciers of the have to time travel back over two billion periods returned and glaciers and ice sheets Pleistocene and Holocene Epochs, starting years (yes, that’s “billion”) to witness the surged back over lost ground. In North two and a half million years ago and lasting beginning of the first major ice age. America, we are only about 10,000 years right up to the present. And bison serve as Our planet hosts an inherent into one of the shorter warming interglacial just one featured character among countless dynamism on the grandest of scales that periods, the Holocene Interglacial.

4 MONTANA NATURALIST ~ SPRING/SUMMER 2020 The current climate change Wood vs Plains Bison: Unique Adaptations trend gripping the earth is a wild card that humans have Hump structure: The sharper angled hump of the wood bison added to the deck. Even the supports a more massive musculature that enables it to best computer modeling can’t WOOD BISON sweep aside the deeper snows of the northern boreal forest/meadow grassland accurately predict how this ecosystems to reach hand is going to play out. But the grasses and sedges the probability is high that it beneath. will have a lasting effect on the evolutionary process and biological diversity consequences on a global scale. Looking at the trend of the previous four planet-wide ice ages and the Wool: long-term warming periods No thermal between them, things were Leg placement: window present. destined to get a lot hotter over Back of hump. Heat dispersal is not as important the next many thousands of Size: Larger—mature bulls up to as heat retention. 2,600 pounds. Larger mass in colder years anyway, but the human- northern latitudes reduces heat loss caused climate change effects BISON: RUFUS46/COMMONS.WIKIMEDIA.ORG (Bergmann’s Rule). will accelerate that process WOOD significantly. The geologic record shows Hump structure: Massive musculature but that this fifth ice age in which PLAINS BISON adapted to varying snow conditions. we live was most likely triggered by the tectonic collision of the North and South American continents over two and a half million years ago. The Wool: Thermal window allows formation of the Isthmus of more efficient heat dispersal in the hotter summer temperatures Panama sealed off the flow of of the Great Plains and further water between the Pacific and south. Atlantic oceans, disrupting the ocean currents that controlled long-term climate patterns.

Leg placement: Size: Smaller than wood bison. Directly below hump. aleontology studies show that the first bison BISON: KATSRCOOL/COMMONS.WIKIMEDIA.ORG species (Bison sivalensis) PLAINS Pstarted grazing on the European continent about Other comparisons between the two subspecies include: the same time that the two American continents linked up. • Plains bison in much of the Great Plains drier steppe • Research shows that wood bison display a higher grassland will seek out windswept areas where the level of alertness and skittishness in their boreal But to simplify the evolutionary snowpack is lighter and the forage more accessible. forest and meadow habitats than plains bison in story behind the bison we know Plains bison are often observed on ridgetops and their open grassland habitats. today, we’ll leapfrog through exposed south-facing slopes in the wintertime, • Despite these differences, the subspecies share time to about 130,000 years apparently unfazed by windchill temperatures many similar features. For example, there is an before present (YBP) when dropping to -84°F. interesting and critical physiological similarity the earliest North American • While both bison subspecies qualify as the largest bubbling around in the digestive tracts of both ancestral bison, Bison priscus, terrestrial mammal in North America, the wood bison subspecies that allows them to thrive when forage pioneered its way across the (bull = up to 2,600 pounds) is substantially larger quality is low. Both bison types host a unique species Beringian land bridge from on average than the plains bison (bull = up to 2,000 of ciliate rumen bacteria that are highly efficient at Siberia to Alaska. Hominids pounds). The difference in size is related to their breaking down and freeing the nutrients locked up in were still thousands of miles and habitats. The wood bison is thought to display more low-quality dried grasses. This feature gives bison the continents away from North ancient characteristics similar to the earlier colonizer, ability to process enough forage throughout the year America when B. priscus made Bison priscus. to survive. its journey.

SPRING/SUMMER 2020 ~ MONTANA NATURALIST 5 At this point, B. priscus began shape- stage for the next round of bison evolution and meadow-grassland complexes of Alaska, shifting its form in synchrony with the ebb in North America. the Northwest Territories, Yukon, Alberta, and flow of the frozen glacial tides. The From that time to the present, bison and into northwestern Saskatchewan. species started colonizing North America have evolved uninterrupted by glacial shortly before the onset of another cooling cooling cycles. B. priscus morphed into B. he speciation journey of bison period (the Wisconsin Glacial). During the latifrons and B. antiquus. About 10,000 years is a living example of how retreat/advance cycles that occurred within ago, B. antiquus split into two subspecies organisms adapt to changing this glacial period, a corridor between molded by two different habitats. B. bison Tconditions and add to the richness the two major ice sheets (Laurentide and antiquus adapted itself to the grassland of biodiversity on the landscape. Make Cordilleran) on the continent would regions from western Canada to Mexico the mistake of habitually sweeping open, close, and change position multiple and Florida. B. bison occidentalis developed away the building blocks of that genetic times. These cycles created pulses of a preference and biology better suited to diversity and evolutionary adaptiveness movement of bison and other species up the northern meadows/grasslands from the by repeatedly eliminating species and and down the eastern slopes of the Rocky upper Great Plains into British Columbia you eventually end up with a biologically Mountains from northwestern Canada and and Alaska but some also ventured homogenized, impoverished landscape, Alaska into central North America. When southward and overlapped with B. b. a land absent of the harmonically rich the ice walls closed in and pinched off antiquus. These two subspecies began to multiplicity of interacting species. movement along the corridor, the isolated converge and hybridize by about 5,500 years The conceptual biodiversity graph populations of bison kept progressing ago into a single species, Bison bison. (below) shows, on the far right side, how along their separate evolutionary pathways. Over the next few thousand years, Bison the adaptive and evolutionary process was Biologist Wes Olson says that trying bison, through the mechanics of genetic derailed by the arrival of Europeans. Bison to make sense of the speciation process variations, differing ecosystem opportunities, serve as one dramatic example of that for bison is like trying to put together and environmental pressures, diverged in yet problem. a “complex and confusing puzzle when another subspecies split. This time the split Although each advance of a glacial you don’t know if pieces are missing… produced the two subspecies alive today: B. period smothered and obliterated most or even how many pieces there are.” bison bison (our plains bison), preferring the life forms underneath their 5,000- to About 12,000 years ago, the Wisconsin vast grassland biome of the Great Plains and 10,000-foot-deep frozen masses, those Glacial Period started fading and the beyond, all the way south to Mexico and kinds of uncontrollable natural extinctions Holocene Interglacial warming period (the east to the Appalachian Mountains; and B. are a normal part of life on the planet. Life one we are in now) pushed the ice sheets bison athabascae (our wood bison) which is forms always find a way to come back in back above the Arctic Circle, setting the better adapted to the northern boreal forest some fashion. Biodiversity conservation

Conceptual Biodiversity Index for Bison Habitats of Canada & Northern United States Affected by Glacial Period Ice Sheets—All Species

Higher level of Near extinction of bison biodiversity — Bison bison bison Bison bison along with rapid loss reduced glacial ice (Plains) athabascae (Wood) of numerous native animal and plant spcies and habitats First bison species Bison European (Bison priscus) bison colonization travels into appears begins Theoretical level of North America native biodiversity Humans first remains higher cross into without European Alaska settlement impacts

Glacial Lost native species biodiversity due Sangamon Ice to cumulative Expands Shrinks Shrinks Interglacial Warming human impacts Speciation of Ice Ice Period B. latifrons to B. antiquus to B. b. antiquus/ ? Glacial Holocene Illinoian Glacial B.b occidentalis occurs Current trend of Glacial Interglacial Warming native species Period Period biodiversity losses

Lower level of Wisconsin biodiversity — Glacial Period increased glacial ice YBP = Years Before Present 250,000 130,000 100,000 12,000 4,000 500 YBP 0 YBP FUTURE Note that year intervals are YBP YBP YBP YBP YBP (or 1500 AD) (or 2020 AD) AUTHOR: GIL GALE/GRAPHICS: CHONTOS DESIGN not to scale. Note: Biodiversity index indicates relative numbers of native plant and animal species (richness) not abundance of each or distribution over the Northern habitats. GRAPH

6 MONTANA NATURALIST ~ SPRING/SUMMER 2020 becomes an issue in our time when human wildlife, plants, and landscapes; 2) aesthetic conservation herds now number about 7,000. actions are causing species reductions and reasons such as recognition that nature In other words, 99.999 percent of the native extinctions and threatening to permanently possesses an inherent beauty; 3) ecosystem genome plains bison (that once numbered eliminate potential evolutionary and services which provide natural support over 30 million) and 99.96 percent of adaptive options. systems for all species including humans; the native genome wood bison (that once Historically, bison were an enormous 4) material reasons which provide tangible numbered about 170,000) were mass animal species in enormous numbers economic benefits and products to humans; slaughtered in the 30-year surge of European occupying an enormous amount of North 5) continuance of the evolutionary process colonization west of the Mississippi River American real estate while performing an on genetic (individual/population) and between 1860 and 1890. enormous ecosystem-altering keystone role ecological (ecosystem/biome) scales; and The recovery picture is even more for thousands of years. In North America, 6) insurance for the future by keeping all complicated because, in efforts to create the no other species over the last 130,000 years biological-based options open to serve the ultimate rangeland animal, ranchers have can make that claim on a similar scale of five previous purposes. introduced cattle DNA into their private ecological significance. Before the collapse The destruction and alteration of the bison herds. Now many of the 450,000 of their historic range, the two subspecies vast prairie and northern forest/meadow bison outside the conservation herds carry roamed habitats covering millions of square habitats by humans in so many ways a small percentage of cattle DNA. Yet had miles (see historic range map). (agriculture, forest harvest, roads, general the bison rescue and preservation effort of Bison were the dominant both subspecies never occurred, then keystone herbivore throughout most of the hope of recovering even a fraction North America for thousands of years. “Bison wallowed, of the complex ecological functions Keystone species perform a critical rubbed, pounded and and evolutionary pathways of these role in sustaining the overall structure grazed the prairies original biomes would have been lost and processes of an ecosystem and for all time. influencing which other types of plants into heterogenous After years of work by a coalition and animals make up that ecosystem. ecological habitats. of conservation groups, Congress Only a select number of species Their role was essential unanimously passed and President qualify as keystone, but all species fill Obama signed the bipartisan a niche and a biodiversity function. to the ecology of the National Bison Legacy Act in April Millions of elk and pronghorns shared grasslands.” —KEITH AUNE 2016, which established the bison as a common habitat but did not play America’s national mammal. the same significant keystone role as This iconic charismatic species bison. The keystone role makes a powerful construction, urban-exurban expansion, in a world of shrinking biological diversity example of the importance of maintaining mining, and the introduction of non- was pulled back from the brink of biodiversity in general. native invasive species) has impacted overall extinction by the perception and action of “Bison wallowed, rubbed, pounded biodiversity more than the near-extinction a few individuals and small groups. They and grazed the prairies into heterogenous of the keystone North American bison understood Aldo Leopold’s caution, made ecological habitats,” writes conservation alone. However, the fall from prominence of over 70 years ago, that the only common- scientist Keith Aune. “Their role was this largest of all keystone species in North sense way to “tinker” with the natural world essential to the ecology of the grasslands.” America intensifies the cumulative impacts. responsibly, ethically, and sustainably is to We can see one specific example, among As Wes Olson points out, “the nearly make sure you save all the parts. As we try many, of that keystone function in the complete extirpation of North American to manage this planet from which so many hundreds of millions of wallows that bison bison did irreparable harm to the stability parts, from the tiny to the keystone, are excavated to cool off, mudcake themselves and populations of a multitude of plants rapidly disappearing, this is an increasingly against insects, and perform their rutting and animals.” challenging task—and an increasingly rituals. These wallows captured and held The current bison conservation efforts essential one. precious water, creating habitat for grassland involve preserving genetically pure subspecies —After a long career with the U.S. Forest birds, amphibians, insects, and smaller through “conservation herds” and regaining Service as a rangeland manager and ecologist, mammals over entire landscapes. at least a portion of the bison’s rightful role as Gil Gale continues an active role in the effort the dominant keystone heir to the grassland to conserve biological diversity. he American Phytopathological biome. The conservation herds of wood and ADDITIONAL INFORMATION WEBSITES: Society lists six good reasons to plains bison today carry only a tiny fraction American Bison Society: ambisonsociety.org concern ourselves with promoting of the DNA bank and variations available Wildlife Conservation Society: wcs.org and conserving a healthy level for the raw material that allows the evolution T Ancestral Bison Conservation Society: of biodiversity on our planet. In no of a species to progress. The combined ancestralbisonconservation.org particular order: 1) ethical/spiritual/cultural number of plains bison in genetically pure COSEWIC Report 2013 (Committee on the reasons such as showing respect for and conservation herds now number about Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada: acknowledging a responsibility to steward 20,000 individuals. The remnant wood bison Wood and Plains Bison)

SPRING/SUMMER 2020 ~ MONTANA NATURALIST 7 Heartbeats and Hibernation in the Rockies BY HEATHER MCKEE

WHOOSHoop. WHOOSHoop. WHOOSHoop. It can sound like distant thunder, the ocean, metal flexing, or a bass drum. It’s the first sound mammals hear—a mother’s heartbeat pushing through the placenta. From there, the heartbeat becomes a metronome for life. Allegro. Excitement. Adagio. Relaxation. We are familiar with our own variations in heartbeat, normally 60 to 100 beats per minute (bpm). But for other species in Montana, that range can be far wilder, particularly during the extremes of the seasons and the animal behavior associated with them. PRETTYVECTORS, DEPOSITPHOTOS.COM

8 MONTANA NATURALIST ~ SPRING/SUMMER 2020 hemolymph, that swirls nutrients around n the icy winters of Montana, when food and warmth are inside their bodies, propelled by multiple scarce, some animals descend into torpor, reducing their tiny, rudimentary hearts. So, behind a energy use through slowed metabolism and decreased wedge of bark, adult butterflies like the body temperatures. There are a wide variety of states of delicate Milbert’s tortoiseshell can survive torpor—some animals can descend involuntarily into a through winter with their hemolymph daily torpor, like bats and hummingbirds. On a cold night, flooded with glucose.

TINKI.V, DEPOSITPHOTOS.COM TINKI.V, a hummingbird’s heart rate may drop from more than 1,000bpm to onlyI 50bpm. o, do any animals actually fit our Other animals descend into lengthier torpors in the coldest standard definition of a true hibernator? months, reducing their body temperatures to nearly the ambient The ground squirrels and bats temperature, and slowing their metabolisms to less than ten or of Montana do—experiencing even five percent of normal. These are the animals we call true the reduced metabolism and drastically lowered body hibernators. In general and worldwide, the larger the animal, the temperature of torpor for extended periods of time. A more capability there often is for hibernation. S ground squirrel’s heart rate may drop from 400bpm to just five or You might think bears are examples of true hibernators, but six during its hibernation, and its body temperature can dwindle to even they have some surprises. Although we don’t share their ability nearly freezing. Its waking process can take hours. to deeply rest, the bear’s heart is uncannily similar to ours. With no fresh green grass and few of their predators WHOOSH. Bisecting the heart, the atrioventricular valves hibernating, simply being mostly dormant and hidden under the snap shut behind a blast of blood to the ventricles. oop. The smaller snow can increase an animal’s life expectancy by five times that of semilunar valves perched at the boundaries to the lungs and body non-hibernators in winter. Many tiny rodents are not as lucky as the swirl shut. WHOOSHoop. WHOOSHoop. WHOOSHoop. ground squirrel, and must remain active under the snow through If you were to rest your head on a bear’s chest and listen for a winter, leaping through snow-insulated tunnels to their larders. heartbeat while it was in hibernation (I wouldn’t; read on to find Many animals migrate, transform, or eke out a hard living in out why) you might wonder if it was still alive. Garrett Tovey, barren Montana winters, and many of them don’t survive—their Citizen Science Specialist for Yellowstone Forever and former wildlife bodies and hearts freezing into the snow and becoming food for biologist for state and federal agencies, says Yellowstone National the survivors. Park bear heart rates decrease from about 80-90bpm during active Despite the paucity of winter, surprisingly few animals actually seasons to 8-19bpm during hibernation. Breathing slows to only a hibernate in Montana. The truth is that significant anatomical breath per minute. adaptations have to happen for an animal to opt out of winter. From Scientists in Yellowstone are sugar-loading in butterflies to metabolic recycling beginning to believe bears may actually in black bears, the ability to be active in only the be “super hibernators”—named so for their productive months of the Rocky Mountains is ability to hibernate while keeping a fairly complicated, specialized, and valuable. high body temperature. This means they Children’s picture books show animals can mobilize nearly instantaneously from tucking blankets around themselves, looking lethargy—likely an adaptation to be able forward to a long winter’s nap, but in real, to protect winter-born young. wild life, hibernation is a stark and essential “A bear’s heart rate can increase from less survival technique with little padding or room than 10bpm to over 100bpm within seconds of for error. A bat that is woken up only once being disturbed,” Tovey says. A rapid tempo during its hibernation can lose precious fat change. “I've seen griz wake up and take over reserves and starve over the remaining months. HAPPYPICTURES, DEPOSITPHOTOS.COM a wolf kill midwinter. It's not a comatose state, more of a lethargic state.” ut it’s spring now. The winter is nearly behind all of Of course, you can also just simply freeze us. Bears and their new cubs are blinking at the cracks in winter. Boreal chorus frogs creep under logs and freeze solid—or of bright light seeping into their dens, rays of light are nearly so. No heartbeat. No breathing. Dead? Alive? Dead? Alive? slipping behind bark where butterflies are hidden, and Exploring heartbeats and hibernation expands our concept of those slow warmth is thawing the detritus where chorus frogs two apparent poles. are sequestered. Ground squirrels are furiously shivering Tovey explains that the chorus frogs increase the sugars in B to kickstart their hearts. their blood by 200 percent to enter hibernation. These frogs reduce It is time to be active again. the water in their cells and organs to prevent bursting when the WHOOSHoop. WHOOSHoop. WHOOSHoop. temperatures drop below freezing, then mobilize glycogen from their livers to flood their blood with simple sugars. This glucose reduces —Heather McKee is a science communicator and educator working the freezing point of the fluids inside their cells and organs, and the as the Content Creator at Ecology Project International in Missoula, water is directed to pockets under the skin to freeze. Montana. She has an M.S. in Environmental Studies from the Butterflies, too, use the sugar trick. Insects do not have blood, University of Montana and is a Certified Interpretive Guide through per se. But their bodies are filled with a nutritious slush, called the National Association of Interpreters.

SPRING/SUMMER 2020 ~ MONTANA NATURALIST 9 Naturalist Notes from Western Montana and Beyond

Antlions: A Conversation of Observations | August 2019 WITH ELLEN KNIGHT, KRISTI DUBOIS, AND GLENN MARANGELO

From Ellen Knight, lifelong naturalist: I have long wanted to see an antlion, so when I found several of their little pits along the Rattlesnake Trail, I explored further. I found three pits, each with a small beetle in it, trying to climb out. First the sand would fall out from under their scrambling legs. Then the antlion, buried at the bottom of the pit, would somehow rapid-fire sand up onto the insect, causing it to lose its footing and fall back down. Finally, when the insect was at the bottom of the pit again, the antlion (from below the

sand) would grab the insect with its very ferocious BY ELLEN KNIGHT DRAWINGS pincers and hold on tight. Sometimes its head would emerge just enough to that it could thrash the insect back and forth vigorously. Absolutely amazing. I decided to help one of the beetles by lifting it out of the pit. It seemed to be attached to something…which turned out to be the antlion clasping it tightly. The antlion is now in the freezer so I can observe it more closely. The beetle is running free.

Antlion larva Antlion pits

ALL ABOUT ANTLIONS: • Antlions are in the order Neuroptera. Only those in the genus Myrmeleon dig pits (the rest simply lie in wait just beneath the surface,

waiting for prey). • To dig the pit, they burrow • Antlion pits can be up to two inches ANTLION PHOTO BY GLENN MARANGELO; PIT ELLEN KNIGHT • Antlions are named for the big, backwards in a circle, using their wide and two inches deep. piercing jaws that the larvae have. heads to toss up sand to one side • Look for groups of pits at the base The larvae are also sometimes called until the pit reaches the angle of of trees, under bridges or rock “sand dragons” or “doodlebugs.” repose—the steepest angle at ledges, or even in dirt floors in old which the sides remain stable and barns. • The larvae prefer dry, fine, sandy won’t come tumbling down. soil, where they can dig their conical pits for trapping insects.

10 MONTANA NATURALIST ~ SPRING/SUMMER 2020 PHOTO OF ADULT BY KRISTI DUBOIS PHOTO OF ADULT PUPAL BALL PHOTO BY GLENN MARANGELO PUPAL From Kristi DuBois, wildlife biologist From Glenn Marangelo, for Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks: co-founder of the Missoula Insectarium: Antlions are so cool! We had a lot of them in eastern They are so incredible to watch in action. I raised about a Montana at the base of sandstone cliffs. It is harder to find dozen of them one summer and they were fun to feed each good sandy spots for them around Missoula. day. They are pretty amazing in every stage of life—here’s The adults are every bit as cool as the larvae. They what’s left after they emerge from their “pupal ball.” fly at night, so it is also hard to see them. Here is one we For more information, check out the Missoula Insectarium’s found while mist-netting for bats at the Beartooth Wildlife Bug Bytes podcast episode on antlions: mtpr.org/post/ Management Area years ago. bug-bytes-antlions ••• What have you observed outside lately? What wild creatures, flora, and weather exist near your home? What makes your place unique? Tell us about the natural history of your place—and it could get published! Send your Naturalist Notes Antlion larva waiting for prey (up to 350 words) and a photo or drawing, if you wish, to Allison De Jong, Editor, at [email protected].

ANTLION JAWS PHOTO BY CYNDY SIMS PARR, FLICKR.COM PHOTO BY CYNDY SIMS PARR, ANTLION JAWS Antlion Life Cycle

• In the spring or summer, the larvae pupate in a spherical cocoon made of sand and silk, sometimes buried a couple of inches in the sand. • The adults emerge from their pupal case after about four weeks as • Antlions lie in wait at the bottom • The antlion sucks its prey dry, delicate, beautiful, damselfly-like of their pit, buried in the sand with then throws out the carcass and creatures with clear or spotted lacy only their jaws peeking out. reconstructs the pit. wings.

LIFECYCLE IMAGE BY NICHOLAS CAFFARILLA • When small insects (often ants) • The larval stage, during which the • Adult antlions live for about a begin tumbling down the slope into larvae will molt three times, lasts month, during which they feed on the pit, the antlion will shower them for two to three years. As the larvae nectar and pollen, mate, and the with sand—it looks like fireworks!— grow, they will dig larger pits and females lay eggs in dirt or sand, to hasten the prey’s descent. capture larger prey. just beneath the surface.

SPRING/SUMMER 2020 ~ MONTANA NATURALIST 11 get outside guide Nature Writing Activity Writing about nature is one way to ensure that it—and the words that describe it—remains rich and real in our lives. Try timed (nature) writing! Anyone can do this—it’s a great activity for kids as well as adults. If it’s a nice day, go outdoors with your notebook for a little extra inspiration. Set a timer for 10 minutes. (Or five. Or two. Or twenty.) Here are some writing prompts to get you started: • Visualize a place in nature that you love. Be there. See the details. Now write about it. What colors are there, sounds, smells? • What is your earliest memory of nature? • Write about an experience in nature that changed your life (in big or small ways). • If you were an element of nature, what would you be? • Take an element of the natural world that you feel strongly about and write about it as though you love it. Then write about the same thing as though you hate it. Then write about it perfectly neutrally. • Find or think of a natural object (leaf, insect, rock, bird), and write: “This reminds Book Review: me of myself because….” Then do it again with another object. The Lost Words: A Spell Book And another. by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris • Make a list of your nature obsessions. Words describing natural phenomena are • Make a list of questions you have starting to slip from our collective vocabulary. about the natural world. Acorn, otter, kingfisher are sinking out of sight, • Make a list of your favorite wild/ replaced by meme, vlog, cryptocurrency. In natural places. 2015 around 50 natural history words were removed from the Oxford children’s dictionary • Make a list of your favorite individual to make room for words describing technology. trees. What happens when we forget—or, worse, • Mud. Stars. Flesh. when we never learn—what an adder is, or a • Wind. Mountain. Light. bramble, or a dandelion? • Taste. Moonlight. Summer. Nature writer Robert Macfarlane and • Start with “I remember” and keep children’s author and illustrator Jackie Morris writing memories that take place crafted this beautiful book to honor twenty of in nature. You can dive into one these “lost words”—to honor them, but also memory or make a list. Or both. to bring them back through lovely, evocative If you write something illustrations and lyrical acrostic poems. Robert you’re interested in sharing, and Jackie call this a spell book, its poetry and please send it to adejong@ images summoning the lost words back into our MontanaNaturalist.org, and language, our landscape, our hearts. Reading we may publish it in a this book is a magical experience for children future issue! aged 3 to 103.

12 MONTANA NATURALIST ~ SPRING/SUMMER 2020 Phenology is the study of timing: when Mountain Bluebirds return in the spring, or the first buttercup blooms, when larches put out their Kids’ Corner bright green needles, when ground squirrels wake from hibernation, Linda Manchester, Master Naturalist, and when Osprey chicks hatch. This spring and summer, challenge yourself her granddaughter, Lila Farrell, love to to a phenology scavenger hunt. Document your observations with a journal and paint on their camping trips. journal or camera (or both!). Go a step further and submit your data to Last summer they found an interesting iNaturalist or eBird! old-growth Douglas-fir while hiking in the Pioneer Mountains east of Wisdom, Here are a few ideas to get you started, but feel free to add more! Montana, and five-year-old Lila decided • First blooming flower that you see (what is it?) to paint it. Enjoy! First time you see blooming:

Buttercups Yellowbells Bitterroots Lupine Douglasia Shooting stars Serviceberry

Note when you saw your first: Western Meadowlark Mountain and Western Bluebirds Western Tanager Yellow Warbler Osprey Sandhill Crane Northern Pintail Mourning cloak butterfly Spring azure butterfly Bumblebee Calling All Kids! More firsts: Do you have any nature art, photography, • When did the snow disappear from Lolo Peak? poetry, or stories you’d like to share? We Mount Sentinel? showcase kids’ work in every issue in our “Kids’ Corner”—and here’s your chance for Your backyard? that work to be yours! • When was the last snowfall of the season? Send submissions to Allison De Jong, Editor, • When did the western larches leaf out? at 120 Hickory Street, Missoula, MT 59801 or by email to [email protected]. The alpine larches? • When did you see your first baby bird this spring? What was it? • When did the Osprey hatch? Canada geese? Happy observing! Mallards? Submit your observations to Chickadees? [email protected]

DRAWINGS BY JENAH MEAD DRAWINGS for a chance to win a one-year Come up with your own! family membership to MNHC!

SPRING/SUMMER 2020 ~ MONTANA NATURALIST 13 get outside calendar

Programs for Kids Programs free with admission and/or membership.

MARCH MAY 23 Adult/Child Naturalist 5, 12, 19, 26 7, 14, 21, 28 Camp, 10:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. miniNaturalist Pre-K Program, miniNaturalist Pre-K Program, Fun with Flora. $85; $75 10:00-11:00 a.m. Wild 10:00-11:00 a.m. MNHC members per adult/ River Animals. Spring Surprises. child pair. Registration required.

28 Saturday Kids’ Activity,  9 Saturday Kids’ Activity,  Join Us for Our 2020 Lecture Series! drop in between 2:00 and drop in between 2:00 4:00 p.m. Rockhounding. and 4:00 p.m. Insect Treading Lightly: Learning from Nature as Investigations. Observers and Scientists APRIL 23 Saturday Kids’ Activity, From time immemorial, humans have found ways to explore, drop in between 2:00 learn from, and connect with the natural world. We do this and 4:00 p.m. Insect AUGUST in a variety of ways, some of which leave more footprints Investigations. than others. Our 2020 lecture series explores how we can 6 Adult/Child Naturalist study and observe the natural world while doing our best Camp, 10:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. to minimize our impact. Join us as biologists, philosophers, JUNE Hooray for Habitat! $85; conservationists, and more share their work and their views $75 MNHC members per on how to learn from nature while treading lightly. 13 Adult/Child Naturalist adult/child pair. Registration Upcoming Speakers: Camp, 10:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. required. April 22nd: Karen Sippy & Ken Stolz Rollicking Rivers. $85; Living Museums: Learning in Missoula’s Urban Forests $75 MNHC members per 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 adult/child pair. Registration SEPTEMBER September 23rd: Cedar Mathers-Winn miniNaturalist Pre-K required. The Language of the Wild: Studies in Animal Communication

Program, 10:00-11:00 a.m. 3, 10, 17, 24 October 14th: Christopher Preston & SON: ALLISON DEJONG FLICKR.COM; FATHER ROBIN: JULIE FALK, Welcome, Birds! JULY miniNaturalist Pre-K Program, Treading Lightly in the Anthropocene 10:00-11:00 a.m. Forest Friends. November 11th: Hosted by Marc Moss 11 Saturday Kids’ Activity,  Live Community Storytelling: Notes from the Field drop in between 2:00 and 11 Adult/Child Naturalist 4:00 p.m. Explore the Camp, 10:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. 12 Saturday Kids’ Activity,  $5 members; $10 non-members; Watershed. Birding Bonanza. $85; drop in between 2:00 and students FREE. Tickets for fall lectures available August 1st. $75 MNHC members per 4:00 p.m. Slithery Snakes. Thank you to The Dram Shop for providing adult/child pair. Registration beer and wine for these events! 25 Saturday Kids’ Activity,  required. drop in between 2:00 and 26 Saturday Kids’ Activity,  For more information and to purchase tickets, 4:00 p.m. Explore the drop in between 2:00 and visit: MontanaNaturalist.org/treading-lightly Watershed. 4:00 p.m. Slithery Snakes.

Volunteer Opportunities SEPTEMBER 2 MNHC’s BEETLES (Better Environmental Education, Teaching, Volunteer Naturalist Learning, & Expertise Sharing) professional learning sessions Orientation, 4:00-5:30 p.m. are continuing through the spring! Introduction to volunteering FREE. For anyone interested in environmental education – with the Visiting Naturalist please join us for any or all. For more information or to RSVP, in the Schools Program. No contact Stephanie Potts at [email protected]. prior experience necessary.

SEPTEMBER 16 APRIL 15 MARCH 23 Volunteer Naturalist Nature and Practices Volunteer Naturalist Training,  Training, 4:00-5:30 p.m. The Montana Natural History Center 4:00-5:30 p.m. Learn how of Science,  Learn how to teach kids to teach kids about the thanks the 9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. about the flora and fauna flora and fauna of western GOOD FOOD STORE of western Montana during Montana during the May APRIL 20 the May VNS school field for sponsoring our 2020 lecture series - VNS school field trips for 4th Questioning Strategies,  trips for 4th and 5th Treading Lightly: Learning from and 5th graders. No prior 9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. graders. No prior experience experience necessary. Nature as Observers and Scientists necessary.

14 MONTANA NATURALIST ~ SPRING/SUMMER 2020 PHENOLOGY FOR APRIL-SEPTEMBER

APRIL: Adult Programs Ospreys return APRIL JUNE Look for 22 Drop in with a Naturalist: shooting stars, 2, 9, 16, 23 Drawing Signs of Spring with 6 Naturalist Field Day,  yellowbells, Jenah Mead,  10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. spring beauty, Nature Photography Four-Part Course,  10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Plants in the Park with Missoula phlox 9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. $205; Free with admission/ Peter Lesica. $80; $195 MNHC members. membership. $70 MNHC members. MAY: Registration required. Registration required. 22 Treading Lightly Lecture

Series: Living Museums: Western larches 7, 14, 21, 28 8-12 Summer Montana Learning in Missoula’s are growing bright Stories in Stones: Master Naturalist Course. Urban Forests with Karen green spring Rock ID and Geology Primer FULL. Visit MontanaNaturalist. Sippy & Ken Stolz, 7:00 p.m. needles Four-Part Class, org for information on our $10; $5 MNHC members; spring 2021 course. Listen for Western 12:00-1:30 p.m. $45; students FREE. $40 MNHC members. Meadowlarks Registration required. AUGUST 24-26 Master Astronomer

Train-the-Trainer Workshop,  6:00 p.m. Friday-5:00 p.m. JUNE: Sunday. $70. Registration Cutthroat trout required. begin to spawn 29 Sip & Sketch: LIVE Hawk Pronghorn fawns Gesture Drawing, 7:00 p.m. 8 Discovery Day,  are born $35; $30 MNHC members. 10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. Registration required. Monarchs in Montana: Listen for Citizen Science! at the chorus frogs 8 Drop in with a Naturalist: MAY Fort Missoula Native Plant Drawing Signs of Spring with Garden. $10; $5 MNHC Jenah Mead,  members. Registration 9 Discovery Day: Glacial JULY: 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. required. Free with admission/ Lake Missoula Field Trip, Wild berries membership. 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. $20; begin to ripen $15 MNHC and GLM 12 Paddlehead Baseball

members. Registration Community Night,  Look for the 9 Evening Lecture,  required. 7:00 p.m. Come enjoy the summer triangle in 7:00 p.m. Wildflower Art game and support MNHC! the night sky: Vega, with the Native Plant 28 Summer Camp MNHC receives 100% of Deneb, and Altair Society. $5 suggested Scholarship Luncheon,  ticket proceeds purchased donation; free for CFNPS 11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m. through a special link on and MNHC members. $100. For more info and our website. $12. AUGUST: to purchase tickets, visit 16 KettleHouse Community MontanaNaturalist.org. SEPTEMBER Bull elk may begin UNite Fundraiser at the to spar Bonner Taproom, 5:00- 29-31 First Annual Nature 23 Treading Lightly Lecture 8:00 p.m. Come drink a Journaling Conference Series: The Language of Pikas are beer (or three) and support at the Montana Natural the Wild: Studies in Animal cutting and drying MNHC! MNHC receives $1 History Center. FULL. Visit Communication with Cedar grasses to store from every pint purchased. MontanaNaturalist.org Mathers-Winn, 7:00 p.m. for winter use for information on other $10; $5 MNHC members; upcoming programs. students FREE.

SEPTEMBER: MNHC Hours: Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. | Saturday, noon - 4 p.m. Last Cedar Programs and events held at MNHC, Waxwings fledge Admission Fees: $4/adults (18+), $1/children (4-18), 120 Hickory Street, unless otherwise noted. and shift diet $8/family rate, Free/children under 4, Visit MontanaNaturalist.org to register for from insects $3/seniors and veterans to berries programs and become a member. For more PHLOX: FOREST SERVICE NORTHERN REGION; LARCH: GLACIER NPS; CHORUS FROG: ANDREW HOFFMAN, FLICKR.COM; WILD STRAWBERRY: GLACIER NPS; PIKA: NPS CLIMATE CHANGE RESPONSE; WAXWING: EUGENE BECKES, FLICKR.COM; MONARCH: STEVEN KATOVICH, BUGWOOD.ORG EUGENE BECKES, FLICKR.COM; MONARCH: STEVEN KATOVICH, CHANGE RESPONSE; WAXWING: GLACIER NPS; PIKA: NPS CLIMATE PHLOX: FOREST SERVICE REGION; LARCH: GLACIER NPS; CHORUS FROG: ANDREW HOFFMAN, FLICKR.COM; WILD STRAWBERRY: NORTHERN FREE admission for MNHC members, information, call MNHC at 327.0405. Milkweed goes ASTC Travel Passport Members, and EBT card holders! Programs subject to change. Please check our website MISSOULA to seed calendar for the most up-to-date information.

SPRING/SUMMER 2020 ~ MONTANA NATURALIST 15 get outside guide

Courtney Fisher’s 4th-grade class at Pablo Elementary School has been creating some lovely projects in their science lessons. We love working with Courtney and her students for our Visiting Naturalist in the Schools program. Enjoy this sampling of student work!

Omnivore/Herbivore/Carnivore Above right by Miranda Draper Below left by Jayleen Baca

Phases of the Moon Above by Luke Horner Left by Miranda Draper

CALLING ALL TEACHERS: Are your students creating fun and interesting science/nature projects? We’d love to share their work in Montana Naturalist! Contact Allison at [email protected] for more information or to submit student work.

16 MONTANA NATURALIST ~ SPRING/SUMMER 2020 NEWS FROM THE MONTANA NATURAL HISTORY CENTER imprints Farewell to Lisa Bickell In December we said goodbye to Lisa Bickell, Education Director and longest-serving MNHC staff (Lisa interned at MNHC during college in 1999 and came on full time in 2004—when MNHC was still located out at Fort Missoula). We are deeply grateful for all that she has done for MNHC in the past 15+ years! Lisa was instrumental in growing the Visiting Naturalist in the Schools Program; she shepherded dozens of teachers through our Forest For Every Classroom place-based educator workshops; she brainstormed, crafted, and supported new programs, exhibits, ideas, and partnerships; and throughout her decade and a half at MNHC was its most steady, shining light. We miss her, and are grateful that her new adventure—running her own business, Field to Frame Interpretive Design—means that she’s still involved at MNHC, as we continue to upgrade our natural history exhibits as well as create new ones. (Look for our Montana Fossils exhibit coming this summer!) Thank you, Lisa, for lending MNHC your considerable talents,

MNHC PHOTOS creativity, kindness, and enthusiasm for so many years. We wish you the best!

Coming Soon: New Exhibits! Come visit MNHC soon: we’re adding three new exhibits in the spring and summer! Have you ever come across tracks and signs left by other animals, like a deer? What about small animals like insects? The Missoula Insectarium’s upcoming exhibit will be tracking the “little things.” You’ll discover clues left behind by a local insect PHOTO COURTESY OF THE MISSOULA INSECTARIUM PHOTO COURTESY and explore other examples using your different senses. Around a half dozen live exotic and native arthropods will be on display to further spark your curiosity and wonder. We can’t wait to share this Our biggest new exhibit focuses on Montana Fossils. Montana exhibit with you later this spring. Until then, pause to has a rich fossil record, representing nearly every major examine the miniature worlds that are all around you! time period in Earth’s history. Come learn how the We’ll also be switching out our current Naturalist Field diversity of life has adapted to Earth’s changing Station exhibit for Naturalist as Photographer, featuring geology and climate, leading to the forms we historic nature photography from the Wedemeyer see today, and how studying the past may Collection as well as modern nature photography from provide insight into the evolutionary future. This local artists. Like our previous installments in the Naturalist exhibit is the result of a collaboration with the Field Station, this exhibit will be hands-on, experiential, and University of Montana Paleontology Department, who is appealing to people of all ages. Come check it out! loaning us many specimens to complement our own collection. FOSSIL: DEPOSITPHOTO.COM

SPRING/SUMMER 2020 ~ MONTANA NATURALIST 17 NEWS FROM THE MONTANA NATURAL HISTORY CENTER

New Summer Camp Offerings! Every summer, MNHC connects hundreds of kids to nature through our Outdoor Discovery Day Camp programs. Our camps feature daily field trips, skilled instructors, unique opportunities to connect with scientists and naturalists, and lots of time for exploration and play in the outdoors. This year, we’re proud to respond to community demand by offering even more summer options for younger and older campers alike—from new half-day programs for elementary-aged campers to special in-depth experiences for middle schoolers. We’re also offering new adult-child guided Naturalist Camp Days to help kids and their parents, grandparents, or other caregivers explore Montana’s nature together. You can learn more and register for camps on our website: MontanaNaturalist.org/summer-camps/.

We hope to see you this summer! MNHC PHOTOS

SPOTLIGHT: We are thrilled to welcome Jennifer Robinson as our new Program Director! Jennifer grew up in the Sacramento Valley of California and spent her summers hiking, camping, and exploring the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Her love for the outdoors led her to work with youth in outdoor settings, and Jennifer spent many years volunteering and working as a naturalist at outdoor science schools, summer camps, and as an Interpretive Ranger at national parks in Alaska and California. She earned a B.S. in Environmental Education and Interpretation from Humboldt State University and continued on to earn multiple teaching licenses to blend her passion for education in and out of classroom. After college Jennifer spent six years working as an educator and Program Director for Sierra Nevada Journeys in Reno. Jennifer is now taking her passion of blending formal and informal education into nonprofit leadership and is obtaining her Masters of Educational Leadership at the University of Montana in Missoula. In her free time, Jennifer enjoys cooking meals with friends, going on hikes or walks with her dog Indy, and getting to know the community.

Welcome, Jennifer! OF JENNIFER ROBINSON COURTESY

Drop in with a Naturalist Join us for our exciting new program! From November- April, on the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month, community members of all ages can stop by MNHC and spend a couple of hours drawing, sketching, and painting specimens from our collection, with techniques and guidance from MNHC naturalist and artist Jenah Mead. The program is free with admission or membership, and we provide drawing materials (though we do encourage participants to bring their own inking and painting supplies). This popular program is a wonderful way to develop and hone your artistic skills with the guidance of a talented artist, and a great opportunity to study natural history specimens as well. Come draw with us! We may offer a slightly different version of this program outdoors this summer as well—stay tuned!

18 MONTANA NATURALIST ~ SPRING/SUMMER 2020 volunteer spotlight

The Joy in Environmental Education At the Montana Natural History Center, we get people excited. Specifically, we get them excited about nature and how amazing our environment is. (I mean, it sounds pretty nerdy, but learning is actually really fun.) I think back to late last year when Ben Goldfarb, author of Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter, gave a lecture at the Center. My wife, who I can say went into the evening skeptical about such a topic, ended up having a wonderful time learning about how amazing beavers are and why they are so Alyssa Giffin BY ALLISON DE JONG great at riparian restoration and reclamation. (Not to mention the lyssa Giffin grew up in Stevensville, Montana, incredible true story of beavers literally parachuting into the wilds of and, as a native Montanan, has always loved northern Canada.) Aspending time outdoors, exploring this With more than twenty regular educational programs for people beautiful place. When she came to the University of of all ages, we have developed a lot of different approaches to guide Montana for college, that translated into majoring people to meaningful discoveries about the world around them. in Environmental Studies, and, last summer, led to Sometimes, we do this by piquing people’s curiosity about a topic. her working with MNHC’s summer camps as an Like beavers. Or like Glacial Lake Missoula, and why it is a fascinating AmeriCorps VISTA. She spent the summer with our example of the effects of climate change on the environment. preschool camps, developing an evaluation program There are so many ways to discover and connect with nature, and, of course, having a great time getting the kids and have fun doing so. You don’t have to be a hard-core birder to outside and having fun in nature. enjoy the sight of a Northern Harrier cruising low across a newly-cut “Young kids are great,” she says. “They’re excited field, hunting voles. And you don’t have to be a total rockhound to be about a lot of things, really curious. They’d, say, watch taken by the beauty of an opal that fluoresces purple and pink under a bug, then walk around like a bug for a little while. It’s ultraviolet light. fascinating.” Fun is built into learning about and connecting to nature. So, Last October, Alyssa led field trips for fourth- I invite you to have some fun. Join us for Naturalist Trivia, Sip & grade students in our Visiting Naturalist in the Schools Sketch classes, our Brown Bag Lunch series, and a whole lot of other program, and throughout the past school year she amazing programs for adults. And you can also bring the kids to has been volunteering with our growing homeschool Saturday Family Activities and miniNaturalists (for the Pre-K set) or program, where she loves getting to hang out with the enroll them in School’s Out and Summer Day camps. kids. “Alyssa builds quick and meaningful relationships We hope to see you at an MNHC program soon. Here’s to us all with students and adults alike,” says Bailey Zook, exploring and connecting with the natural world this spring and summer, MNHC’s homeschool program coordinator. “She is one of those rare and lovely individuals who can bring comfort and a sense of belonging to a whole room of people at once.” Participants get in touch with their Thurston Elfstrom, This summer, we’re excited to have Alyssa working Executive Director artistic side during one of MNHC’s popular Sip & Sketch programs. with our camps again, this time as our Summer Camp Coordinator. She’ll be focusing some of her attention on evaluations for all the camps, as well using her enthusiasm and experience toward helping all our camps—both regular and new offerings—run smoothly. We so appreciate Alyssa lending her time and talents to our programs. And Alyssa appreciates helping out at MNHC, from testing out her naturalist teaching skills to modeling curiosity and the delight of learning something new. “Since getting involved with MNHC, I’ve started noticing little things a lot more,” she says. “I love seeing how the kids stop and appreciate the natural world. I’ve gone home and looked up something I don’t know after a field trip—the kids inspire me.”

MNHC PHOTO And she inspires us. Thank you, Alyssa!

SPRING/SUMMER 2020 ~ MONTANA NATURALIST 19 NEWS FROM THE MONTANA NATURAL HISTORY CENTER

Thank you so much to all those who celebrated with us at our Annual Banquet and Auction at the University Center Ballroom on October 12th. Over 400 generous guests helped us raise more than $175,000 in support of nature education for children and adults. And, of course, we couldn’t have done it without the following businesses and individuals whose generosity and hard work made the entire event possible. (Please accept our apologies for any missed names.) Thank you! MNHC PHOTO

Auction Contributors DaphneLorna Thank you to our sponsors! *Live Auction Donors Diana Six TITLE EVENT SPONSOR ** Live & Silent Donors Diane Devine 44 Rental and Design Diane Sands A Balanced Body Discovery Ski Area Acorn Naturalists Dominic Glenna* Adventure Cycling Donald Berg EVENT SPONSORS Altruist Salon Donald Stierle Ambrose Barton Wedding Draught Works Cakes & Fine Desserts E Bar L Ranch Animal Wonders Edward Monnig & Annacia Jewelry Jackie Wedell SUSTAINING SPONSORS Anne Guess EiC Jewelry Art Attic* Ellen Knight Bagels on Broadway Eventyr Woodworking Bayern Brewing Fact and Fiction Betty's Divine Fairmont Hot Springs Big Dipper Ice Cream Finn Big Sky Bikes Five on Black LA MO OU NT S AN IS A M Big Sky Brewing Five Valleys Land Trust Freestone Concrete Wozniak Freeman Jensen Black Cat Bakery Investment Consulting Group of Wells Fargo Advisors Works* Black Coffee Roasting Co

www.wozniakfreemanjensen.wfadv.com Wells Fargo Advisors is a trade name used by Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC, Member SIPC. Blackfoot Great Harvest Bread Company SUPPORTING SPONSORS Blackfoot Pathways: Sculpture in the Wild Grizzly Liquor Park* Harper Mae by Sam Blackfoot River Outfitters Hellgate Cyclery Blacktail Mountain Hide & Sole Blue Mountain Bed Home ReSource & Breakfast Hunter Bay Coffee Bob Ward and Sons Imagine Nation Brewing Boone & Crockett Club Intermountain Bravo! Catering* Distributing* Cabela's International Wildlife PARTNERS Caras Nursery Film Festival Carlburg Pottery Jaker's Bar & Grill Carolyn Snively Jenah Mead JM Bar Outfitters JOHNSON LAW FIRM Cathy Berendts SALLY J. JOHNSON John Ashley PROPERTY, ESTATES, Childbloom Guitar CONSERVATION Program Joseph's Coat Christine Morris Julia Barlow John Snively, DDS Christine Wren Kallie Moore Clyde Coffee Kelley Willett Kettlehouse Brewing Co. FRIENDS Connie Long* Costco Kim Marthens Robert Korenberg, MD Courtney Schultz White KornUtopia

20 MONTANA NATURALIST ~ SPRING/SUMMER 2020 Kristy Beck-Nelson & Montana Ace Rick Oncken Scotty's Table Ten Spoon Winery Upcycled Heather Nichols The Garden Place Rocky Mountain Sea & Adventures* The Book Exchange Valley House L.A. Design Montana Distillery Elk Foundation Second Set Bistro The Cycling House* Woodworking La Stella Blu Montana Matters* Rocky Mountain Snowbowl The Green Light Wayne Chamberlain* Lake Missoula Tea Montgomery Distillery** Eye Center Sorella's Day Spa The Nature Conservancy WGM Group Company Mountain Press Roxy Theater spectrUM Discovery Area The Ranch at Wheat Montana Lambert Chiropractic Publishing Ruby Moon Originals Spotted Bear Spirits Rock Creek* Whiskey Leatherworks Larry DePute Mountain Sky Rumour Restaurant Steve Slocomb The Silk Road Catering Whitefish Mountain Lee Silliman Guest Ranch* Runner's Edge Stevensville Playhouse & Spice Resort Lilly & Jack Tuholske* MPG Operations, LLC* Sandee Stockdale Sticks and Stones The Vespiary Witch Works Linda Helding Mustard Seed Sapphire Physical Workshop Tim Backus Wolftracker* Logjam Presents / Nancy Seiler* Therapy Studio Pandora Top Hat* Xplorer Maps The Wilma Open Road Bicycles Sa-Wad-Dee Tagliare Delicatessen Trailhead Your Life Nature LLC Maclay Ranch Osito Wine Distributing* Mad Hatter Confections Owl Research Institute* Marcia Holland Patagonian Hands Marcia Kircher Paul Moseley* Marianne Forrest* Pearl Café* Marjorie Harper Philipsburg Brewing MaryEllen Eversole Company Michelle Nowels** Pink Grizzly Missoula Country Club Plonk* Missoula Downtown Rattlesnake Market Association & Cafe Missoula Parks & REI Recreation Rich's Montana Missoula Symphony Guest Ranch*

SAVE THE DATE! MNHC ANNUAL BANQUET & AUCTION 10.10.20

Connecting People with Nature

Saturday, October 10th 5:00-9:00 p.m. University Center Ballroom MODERN CONCRETE CRAFTSMANSHIP Join us to support and celebrate 29 years of the Kitchen Countertops, Hearths, Bar Tops & Montana Natural History Center! Bid on a diversity Custom Requests of exciting items in our live and silent auctions and enjoy a delightful evening of dinner, drinks, 406.552.5808 | [email protected] and camaraderie. Tickets will be available in August. RSVP online at MontanaNaturalist.org or @freestoneconcreteworks by calling 406.327.0405.

SPRING/SUMMER 2020 ~ MONTANA NATURALIST 21 community focus

Mcneeley Galena #675 RD 250- TROUT CREEK RD #677 The GreaNtoxo n BReseruvoir rn and String of Pearls

Cata Lost Trout ract McGregor - Creek Creek Kaniksu Thompson «¬35 STORY AND PHOTOS BY ALLISON DE JONG «¬200 «¬93 Working forCube Iron Wilderness: Trouble National Creek - Silcox Sundance Lolo Ridge Polson Coeur d'Alene Forest Lolo National ¬ !! National Maple «28 Peak National Forest

Forest M Clear Thompson n a y i Thompson p Creek d a C le Falls l t Pass P ! Teepee - a n «¬ o ! B !87 e u ! e a Hot u 4,860ftÛ k Spring Forest o Springs M r Creek M o d ' u A Ev n l ans Map Area t e Gul D The Greata ch R Burn Conservation Alliance n i Y n e C R s EEK Cl R D ark Ronan Mullan F WASHINGTON !! Wallace Mt. Cherry ork MONTANA !! Mullan Pass Riv !! 5,188ft Bushnell er Û Û Peak Lookout Pass !! early 50 years ago, a group4,711ft of students forests Plonains the Montana-Idaho border. It is Much of what we know about the l fu Stevens er Peak nd !! o k M Wea O Saltese P N OREGON IDAHO Roland T WYOMING Big AN !! De Borgia from the UniversityPoint I of AMontanaGilt Edge- !! part of a much!! Paradise larger wild landscape—1.8 Great Burn’s landscape and wild creatures is Creek ond D Haugan amm AH H O Silver D r Proposed Great Burn Wilderness R Creek Patricks Flath ive S ea reek Knob - d R C S North A North ¦¨§90 Wilderness Area Saint went on a three-weekP backpacking million135 acres consistingN of 42 inventoried through GBCA. They put several seasonal Saint «¬ Cutoff o Storm RD rt ¬200 K « E N CRE Regis h Ignatius Creek Fork WARD S ! O ! o S ! ! uth ie Roadless Area N O Ward So S g B N ut ieg M i D h C e e t Eagle R K i n ut l - l t EK E off trip through what is!! now the Greate Burn RE E roadlesse areas between LoloUS Fandorest S eLookoutrvice staff on the ground in the Great Burn every C R r E C m Avery JO E S r O T o TLE J i µ . LIT E l Reserv Û J L ation Û Mountain Pass S O e a o T in E T Divide t R I Marble IV t L D Recommended Wilderness. JTheyE were so K Poipassesnt and the 1.3-million-acre Selway- summer: two who work on the Forest o R e R R 0 5 10 20 Miles D O RD i F K Superior v D EE ! R M S RY ! Saint Joe iv CR Sheep i er d o Mountain - e 0 5 10 20 Km impressed by its beauty and wildnessMid gethatt u BitterrootStateline Wilderness to the south. Arlee Service trail crew, two who live in the Peak Some roads depicted on map are seasonally impassable. This product, d«¬9at!a!3, or map is not a n RD legal document and has been created and/or presented with the highest degree of accuracy EK E R possible. However, the Great Burn Conservation Alliance, nor any of its contractors or Mosquito Sheep t C suppliers can be held responsible for any damages due to errors or omissions in this product. a R D Stark Depiction of boundaries is not authoritative. Map by Off Piste Cartography and GIS. Mountain - A R

they formed a study group in order D Mountain backcountry around Kelly Creek and treat Fly K State E i E

National C Line n E R e R s e C r v a s T t i Grandmother U o n Mountain O R «¬93 to learn as much as they could about T D i weeds, and a roving ranger who understands 0 v i 5 d e Pinchot 2 Lolo Nationa Butte D !! l Forest Mallard - Larkins R Tarkio ¦¨§90 Frenchtown Forest !! this place and explore what, exactly, Meadow !! the landscape intimately, covers an incredible Mallard - Larkins Creek - Û Hoodoo Pass Alberton 5,997ft Upper e

d D i Rattlesnake North Fork R C h K Wilderness w l made it so special. That was in 1971. Proposed E a amount of ground, knows the outfitters and a E R r R k Mallard - Larkins 50 C Petty 2 G Y F T Mountain o k D a T

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Forty-nine years later,r that study group S oi e the “hot spots” for violations, and reports w rv P e R D se K Great H o e p iver e R CLEAR in R O WAT G k !! F ER C t R R A N R E Burdette V D E E K S

R C has morphed into the Great Burn D R and deals with issues that come up.

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the border of western Montana and Forest y a light trail work, inventory the campsites,

w Pierce l ! t e ! S Weir - Post Stevensville Office Creek North Fork !! Spruce - o northern Idaho through advocacy, White Sand and simply allow them to experience this o ace r iver hsa F R Loc r sa Sneakfoot collaboration, and on-the-ground ch unique place. These trips “are a great way to Lo Meadows e t North Lochsa Slope t do i ra stewardship. o ek connect people with the land,” says Hayley. ld e E Cr B

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O «¬ N 12 H For most of the past 49 years, Dale A “We teach them some of the threats, why A T

D N Selway-Bitterroot I O Selway - Bitterroot Harris, one of those UM backpackers, (01067) the area is special, why they should care.” ALLIANCE BURN CONSERVATION MAP: GREAT M ! Sources: Esri, USGS, NOAA Wilderness ! Rackliff - Hamilton has been the heart and soul ofG eGBCA.dney The Forest Service also benefits from He spearheaded the original study group, The Great Burn’s ecosystem is as GBCA’s knowledge of the Great Burn. and it was his tireless advocacy efforts and unique as it is wild. The wildfires of 1910 Because Forest Service employees tend visits to Washington, D.C., in the ‘70s, ‘80s, devastated the area—but the resulting to move from place to place, crafting a and ‘90s that pushed forward legislation lack of marketable timber also protected it management plan for any one area can be to protect the Great Burn. Unfortunately, from logging and the roads that come with difficult. GBCA provides that necessary none of the dozen-plus introduced bills to it. The aftermath of the fires also created deep knowledge of place, taking Forest designate the area as wilderness passed, so incredible subalpine-like conditions in the Service folks into the Great Burn and giving the Great Burn remains a Recommended high country, open meadows and ridges them the opportunity to experience this Wilderness, still waiting for its chance at spotted with enormous bleached snags. Thus stunning landscape for themselves. wilderness designation. these hundreds of thousands of wild acres It is this experience and awareness Dale transitioned the Great Burn were largely left alone to recover, and now of the area’s wild creatures and ecology Study Group into an official 501(c)(3) the dozens of pristine alpine lakes, open and connectivity that is so essential, in 2003 and began developing a strong ridgelines, luxuriant forests, and wild rivers especially right now as the Nez-Perce on-the-ground component in addition to and streams are an exquisite habitat for all Clearwater National Forest is drafting a new the policy and advocacy work. According manner of wild creatures, from wolverines management plan, with the Lolo National to Hayley Newman, GBCA’s interim to mountain goats to lynx to grizzlies. And Forest slated to do the same in the next Executive Director, it is this on-the- when it comes to grizzlies, these wildlands year or two. “This is hugely important,” ground presence that has been essential in are an essential piece of connectivity says Hayley. “[Forest plans] can change the influencing and informing their policy and between the Cabinet-Yaak Wilderness boundaries of the recommended wilderness, advocacy work. “We’re experiencing this and the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness, they can take away travel restrictions— place,” she says. “We’re out on the ground, an identified recovery zone. There are no there are a lot of implications for the we see what’s happening.” grizzlies in the Selway-Bitterroot—yet. But travel plans.” Since 2017, when the Nez- The Great Burn Recommended since 2007 a handful have made their way Perce Clearwater completed an updated Wilderness encompasses 275,000 acres in from parts north into the Great Burn, so the travel plan, mechanized and motorized the Lolo and Nez Perce-Clearwater national exciting potential is there. use has been prohibited on the Idaho

22 MONTANA NATURALIST ~ SPRING/SUMMER 2020 submit comments, visit What Do the greatburn.org (GBCA’s Designations Mean? website) or wildmontana. Wilderness: An act of org (the Montana Wilderness Congress is required to Association’s website, which designate an area as has a streamlined process for wilderness. To maintain submitting comments). wilderness character, uses such as roads, motor vehicles, No matter what is decided mechanized transport, in the new forest plans, the motorized equipment, and Great Burn Conservation structures are prohibited. Alliance will continue its tireless Wilderness Study Area: work of preserving the Great Designated by either Congress Burn: its wildness, its ecological or through wilderness review integrity, its unique character. (and includes all areas still “People have so much love undergoing the wilderness and dedication and passion for review process). These lands side of the Great Burn—but the two states and Forests. this area,” says Hayley. “It’s an are managed in the same that could change with the Right now, however, GBCA incredible testament to how manner as designated new management plan. On is focusing on encouraging special this place is.” wilderness to preserve their the Montana side, motorized those who care about the wilderness character in the Want to get involved? Visit use has been prohibited since Great Burn and wild places event they become wilderness. greatburn.org/events.html. 2012—and that too could in general to comment on the Proposed and/or change when the Lolo updates proposed forest plan—some Above: Aptly-named Kid Lake in Recommended Wilderness: its management plan. variations of which include the Great Burn is one of more These lands have been The dual-Forest, dual- opening tens of thousands of than 40 lakes sprinkled through identified by the managing agency as being desirable state nature of the Great Burn acres up to snowmobiles or the area, and is a wonderful spot for families—a two-mile hike to a for wilderness designation. means that managing the area even shrinking or eliminating gorgeous, wild destination. This does not always mean is particularly complicated, the Idaho portion altogether. Right: The Great Burn’s open ridges, that they are managed as and some of GBCA’s efforts The comment period is like those above Heart Lake, offer wilderness; management include keeping the channels of open until April 20th; for sweeping views as well as ideal depends on the agency’s communication open between more information and to habitat for alpine wildflowers. current plan for the area.

SPRING/SUMMER 2020 ~ MONTANA NATURALIST 23 far afield

BY PEGGY CORDELL A Spanish Inquisition: Comparing Birds in Spain and Montana n the Burgos province of northern Spain, guided birding tour throughout the Parque Above left: The patio of the lovely Posada in the lovely Zamanzas Valley, near the Natural Hoces del Alto Ebro y Rudrón and Molino del Canto. Iquaint village of Barriolacuesta, stands the beyond. Needless to say, I jumped at the Above right: View from the limestone Posada Molino del Canto. Situated among opportunity to gain a little more experience escarpment overlooking the Valle del Rio Ebro.

walnut trees along the Ebro River, and across sighting and identifying birds – even if they Below: Peggy practicing her birding skills in PHOTOS: PEGGY CORDELL POSADA & PARQUE from a steep, limestone escarpment, the spoke Spanish! a new landscape. stone buildings of the posada evoke a tale On a crisp morning we set out on our of a bygone miller’s family, carving out a excursion through four distinct habitats peaceful existence in relative solitude. It was under Javier’s expert guidance. In a misty here, while on a hiking trip with a friend late open meadow our first sighting of the day last September, that I had a transformative was a Short-toed Snake Eagle hunting birding experience that is indelibly written in from a utility pole. Through the spotting my memory. scope, his bright yellow eyes beguiled My first formal introduction to birding me. Although a little richer in hue, they came while taking the Montana Master reminded me of our Bald Eagle back home. Naturalist Course through the Montana It was a short drive through the village to Natural History Center last spring. I realize a nearby drought-ravaged sunflower field a few scant evening classes and a full-day to train our binoculars on Wood Larks, field trip to Ninepipe National Wildlife Eurasian Linnets, and Rock Sparrows, Refuge do not qualify me as a “master” whose calls are very similar to the House of birding – or any of the other topics we Sparrows abundant in Montana. covered. But I have always been a curious By late morning we were ascending and enthusiastic observer of the natural a rocky outcropping to observe Common world. Before the class, you could have Ravens, Carrion Crows, and Eurasian easily described me as an accidental birder. Griffons, which had been soaring on Afterwards I became more intentional. thermals high above us near the escarpment Javier Morala, our posada host and a all morning. The griffons are reminiscent of Eurasian Griffons passionate and life-long birder, offered us a our Turkey Vultures, though technically not

24 MONTANA NATURALIST ~ SPRING/SUMMER 2020 related. Retracing our route back along the Latinized names. Professional ornithologists river, we observed a White-throated Dipper discuss similarities and differences of bird European Stonechat standing on a rock in the fast-moving water, species using this formal language. The very characteristic of our American Dipper. reclassification of birds is already underway, We also saw the resplendent European and will continue to evolve, especially as Stonechat perched on decomposing logs, DNA testing becomes more prevalent. surveilling the field for its next meal. Currently, there are lively discussions among In the early afternoon we zigged scientists between lumping versus splitting and zagged up the switchbacks from the current bird species. And for those who deep valley floor to emerge on the high, appreciate that level of science geekiness, dry plateau with its sparse scrub trees follow this link to the MNHC website for and bushes. We were lucky to sight the a full accounting of birds observed on the Northern Wheatear during its fleeting tour and their relationship to our species stopover on its migration route from in Montana: MontanaNaturalist.org/ Scandinavia to Africa. We had to be birdinginspain/. especially quiet to observe the Whinchat, Common names, however, usually Northern Wheatear who only nervously left its perch on a suffice for birders to distinguish one species nearby bush to snack on insects on the from another. But they can also create a ground. communication conundrum. Common Leaving the dusty plateau of the names used in Spain and Montana can natural area, we crossed into the Embalse refer to entirely different bird families, del Ebro, a national waterfowl refuge since genera, and species. As an example, we’ve 1987. From the shore of the reservoir, we all heard of robins, right? The American dined on a gourmet lunch and observed an Robin (Turgus migratorius) found in extensive variety of water birds that rivals Montana belongs to the family Turdidae; what I’ve seen at the Lee Metcalf National while the European Robin (Erithacus Wildlife Refuge. We saw Mallards, Red- rubecula) of Spain is classified in the family crested Pochards, Grey Herons, Great Muscicapidae, which is not represented in Egrets, and Marsh Harriers (among others), Montana at all. who were all nesting, dabbling, or swooping I enjoy observing and identifying Whinchat on or near the water. birds, but still need lots of guidance. When I travel, I try to be observant True confession: I did have to rely on of how my natural surroundings compare the laser pointer once during our birding to what I would expect to find at home. tour. Luckily for all of us, there are some Taking that a step further, as a librarian I’m helpful resources available. If you like keen to classify things. Of the 42 species reading, grab a copy of Sibley Birds West: of birds that I saw or heard that day, only Field Guide to Birds of Western North four share a common species in Montana: America. If you enjoy meeting people, Mallards, Gadwalls, Great Egrets, and become involved with a local chapter Common Ravens. Disappointingly, most of the Montana Audubon. If you want of them are quite unremarkable, except to contribute to citizen science, use for the Great Egret, who graces the logo the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s eBird of the National Audubon Society after website and Merlin app. And, if you’re conservation efforts helped preserve the ever in Burgos, Spain, and want great species. Seventeen more could be considered opportunities for birding (and hiking), I European Robin cousins (same family and genus, but highly recommend the Posada Molino del different species). Most of the rest have only Canto and mcbirding.com. the extended bird family in common, while Oh, and don’t forget your binoculars! five are completely unique. In distribution terms, think of a bell curve. The system we use today to classify —Peggy Cordell is a retired teacher librarian all living organisms was developed over of 30 years and a recent graduate of the two centuries ago by a Swedish botanist Master Naturalist program. When she’s not named Carolus Linnaeus. It’s a taxonomic traveling or out reveling in the great outdoors, system from the most inclusive (domain) she’s volunteering, taking continuing education to the most exclusive (species), with courses, or enjoying the company of her two nomenclature that includes scientific, granddaughters. BIRD PHOTOS: JAVIER MORALA, MCBIRDING.COM BIRD PHOTOS: JAVIER SPRING/SUMMER 2020 ~ MONTANA NATURALIST 25 MAGPIE MARKET

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