Distinctly Montana Magazine

Distinctly Montana Spring 2015

Distinctly Montana Magazine

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W W W. D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA N A . C O M 9 PUBLISHER PUBLISHER S pring in Montana is for the birds. Really. The fi rst to give notice are the waterfowl, like the snow geese fl apping on our cover (can't you just hear them?), to an avian swirl of migratory ducks, geese, and swan making their winged ways back; fi rst in small, trickling fl ocks, then in a great blizzard of feathers, honks, quacks, and shrieking clucks, the epicenter of which is probably Freezout Lake, where you might see tens of thousands of geese and other water-birds mid-to-late March, every year sinceā€¦ well, no one knows when. Sandhill cranes, tundra swans, wigeons all come in turn, seasonal harbingers making way for the song- birds to follow. On a bright, cheery sort of March day you may soon catch a wink of blue at the corner of your eye as the mountain bluebird seeks its nest- ing spot, followed intrepidly by the yellow-rumped warbler, tailed closely by hummingbirds returning from winter vacations in Mexico or South America. The 427 species found in Montana come, go, or stay year-round in a cycle of life that often fades to invisibility when competing for attention among the other wildlife and landscape marvels of Montana. So, if you've never encountered a lesser scaup, a laughing gull, a godwit, or bittern, spring is the time of year to turn your attention to winged Mon- tana, that part of our wildlife residing in the lakes and rivers, the brush, treetops, and skies, connecting us to more of what Montana has to offer. If you try, you will start to notice them, observe them, wonder at them, and enjoy their special place in our state's vaunted biodiversity. Be still. Here they come. A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER BILL MUHLENFELD, PUBLISHER bill@distinctlymontana.com KWATUKNUK 1/2 "In order to see birds IT IS NECESSARY TO BECOME A PART OF THE SILENCE." ~ROBERT LYND

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