Field Notes

After several long moments the bird erupted out of the water, landing on its stone while droplets rolled off its tightly woven feathers, a look of nonchalance twinkling in its chocolate-brown eye. I blinked. A diving songbird? I thought I knew water birds: ducks, ospreys, bald eagles, kingfishers. But here was a robin-sized bird using river stones as diving boards, doing who knows what in currents too strong for me to cross.

One warm, sunny day I saw a crow squatting low on a large ant hill, head high, wingtips outstretched and fluttering softly on the ground. I had never seen this behavior before and I wondered if she might be injured. I watched her with concern before she stood up, briefly picked at her feathers, and flew away.

One afternoon while balcony-bird-watching, my attention was captured by a tiny black speck aggressively pursuing much larger birds, undeterred by the threat of sharp beaks and deadly talons. With equal measure, he intimidated crows, Osprey, eagles, vultures, and herons away from his territorial claim along the riverbank. With my binoculars and guidebook in hand, I identified him as a male Red-winged Blackbird after he flashed the telltale red and yellow striped epaulets on his shoulders, and loudly sang, “CONK-LA-REEEEE!” when he settled on a shoreline tree branch.

Many little creatures are decomposers and their lives depend on the death of others; such is the cycle of life. Recycling in its truest form!

Bird surveys in my backyard. I look forward to doing them every morning when I wake up. What species will I get today?

Whenever you walk out your door into your yard, alley, or front stoop you will likely see them: little brown birds in raucous groups of up to 200 individuals. Many see them as pests and because they are small, brown, nondescript, and everywhere they are often overlooked. They are House Sparrows (Passer domesticus).

The Lakota call it the tree of life, due to the star, and use its branches in their Sun Dance ceremony. Dakota Native Americans tell a story of a little star who wanted to hear the sounds and songs of humans and hid in the cottonwood so as not to disturb the people as they worked.

A La Niña event typically lasts from 9 to 12 months, and occurs roughly once every three to five years, often following its counterpart, El Niño. Both events influence weather throughout North America and beyond, though these changes manifest in different ways throughout various regions.

What began as a hike to enjoy an early autumn afternoon transformed into a mission to sow and grow a stand of Pinus ponderosa from seed. I had become enthralled by this possibility as I traversed miles of trails shaded by canopies of pine in Missoula’s Rattlesnake Valley.

When air warms unevenly near the surface of the earth, it rises in giant bubbles toward colder layers in the atmosphere. Some birds seek out these rising masses of air, riding them like elevators while looking for prey.