Audubon's annual Bird Festival
Wings Across the Big sky
June 8 - 10, 2012. Kalispell, MONTANA
Co-hosted with Flathead Audubon Society
Join us for a fun and educational festival! We are planning pre-festival workshops for Friday, a suit of diverse field trips in the Flathead Valley and beyond, and great speakers and presentations. The festival will be held at the Hilton Garden Inn and Conference Center in Kalispell. Save the date!
Questions? Contact Larissa Berry; 406-443-3949
festival information
The Festival Brochure will be available in March.
- Pre-festival Workshops
- Field Trips
- Keynote Speaker
- Saturday Afternoon Presentations
- Venue and Accommodations
- Awards
- Past Festivals (2011 - 2009)
pre-festival workshops ~ June 8
Friday, June 8th. The first two offerings are Conservation Workshops and third is Education.
Northwestern Montana Birds and Wildlife in a Warming World. We'll tour local forests and, hopefully, Glacier National Park. Participants will get up close and personal with the flora and fauna of the area, discuss the impacts of our changing climate, and delve into how we can lessen the impact by reducing carbon pollution and building resilient ecological systems best able to adapt to a changing climate. Time: 8 am - 2 pm. 20 participants. Lunch included. Cost TBD.
River-to-Lakes Initiative. Since 2000, the River to Lake Initiative has been providing conservation and restoration expertise to private landowners along the Flathead River and at the North Shore of Flathead Lake. River-to-Lake partners work directly with landowners to craft conservation projects that meet their needs. We'll meet many of these partners and visit two Important Bird Areas (Owen Sowerwine Natural Area and North Shore Flathead Lake). Time: 8 am - 2 pm. 20 participants. Lunch included. Cost TBD.
Develop a Bird Education Program in your Community. This six-hour training is for any Audubon Chapter member looking to begin or improve their bird education programs within their community. Each participant will receive training and curricula-oriented materials from Flying Wild, a Council for Environmental Education program which introduces students to bird conservation through standards-based classroom activities and environmental stewardship projects. In addition, instructors will share their expertise and experiences in developing new environmental education programs for all ages. (For more information see Project Flying Wild) This workshop will be presented by the Montana Audubon Conservation Education Center: Darcie Vallant, Center Director, and Heather Ristow, Education Director. For questions on this training please contact Darcie at 406-294-5099, ext. 302. Limited to 30 participants Time: TBD Cost: $25/per individual
field trips
Saturday & Sunday, June 9th & 10th 
We have 28 Field Trips planned!—14 each on Saturday and Sunday—guided by knowledgeable birders and naturalists familiar with the species and their habitats in the Flathead Valley, Glacier National Park and the surrounding area. Here is just a brief sampling of some of those trips:
Glacier National Park is the jewel of the Crown of the Continent, where birding is unique. We’ll focus on neotropicals and the spectacular Harlequin Duck, exploring various habitats on the west side of GNP, from lush riparian areas to dense forest, from meadows to rushing streams. We’ll walk along McDonald Creek looking and listening for warblers, vireos, flycatchers and ducks.
Biking and Birding on the Rails to Trails to Somers. Dan Casey, of the American Bird Conservancy, will lead a level 15-mile round trip on the new Rails to Trails system from the conference hotel. You’ll encounter riparian shrublands, wetlands, grasslands, and forest, with target species including Clay-Colored Sparrow, Spotted Towhee, Nashville Warbler, Willow Flycatcher, Calliope Hummingbird and more. A pastry shop stop in Somers will refuel the return trip to Kalispell.
A Walk through the Owen Sowerwine Natural Area. This trip will be a pleasant morning wander through this 442-acre riparian forest habitat on the Flathead River an an Important Bird Area managed by Flathead Audubon. Here over 80 species of birds can be seen, including Red-eyed and Warbling Vireos, Bullock’s Oriole, Vaux’s Swift, Black-headed Grosbeak, and Calliope Hummingbird. Along the river we may see Wood Duck, Common Goldeneye, Spotted Sandpiper, Bank Swallow and Great Blue Heron.
Bison, Birds and Blooms of the National Bison Range. This tour of grasslands, uplands, and streamside thickets of the Bison Range will reveal abundant wildflowers and a remarkable diversity of birds, from Bullock’s Orioles to Golden Eagles, from Rock Wrens to Western Wood-Pewees, and from Lazuli Buntings to Lewis’s Woodpeckers. We will walk along the trails in the picnic area and along the Jocko River. The panoramic view from the top of the Bison Range encompasses the Mission Valley to the north, the magnificent Mission Mountains to the east, and a long view of the Flathead River to the south.
Birding by Ear on the Way to Tally Lake. Explore a wide variety of habitats on the way to Tally Lake, Montana’s deepest lake. At the campground one can see every warbler species found in northwestern Montana. Neotropical migrants such as American Redstarts, Wilson’s Warblers, Northern Waterthrush, and Fox Sparrows inhabit the streamside thickets. Townsend’s Warblers and Western Tanagers sing in thick conifer stands nearby, and Common Loons and Bald Eagles breed along the shore. This trip will focus on both bird identification in the field and birding by ear.
Lost Trail National Wildlife Refuge. Formally a working ranch, and now being returned to its original habitat, it is one of the best places to see grassland and riparian birds up close. The road through the Refuge wanders along wet meadows where Wilson’s Snipe, Brewer’s Blackbirds, and Vesper Sparrows sit on fence posts next to the road. The abundant songs and calls of various warblers and flycatchers can be heard from the thickets along the road. Dahl Lake, a large shallow lake on the Refuge, has breeding populations of Black Terns, Ruddy Ducks, Grebes—Red-necked, Pied-billed, Horned, and Eared—and Sandhill Cranes. Overhead we are likely to see Golden and Bald Eagles soaring on the wind as both species breed here.
keynote speaker ~ peter sherrington
We are thrilled to have Peter Sherrington as our keynote speaker this year!
Peter is a geologist/paleontologist who in 1992 gave up a career in the oil industry to study Golden Eagle migration in Alberta's Rocky Mountains. He is the founder and Research Director of the Rocky Mountain Eagle Research Foundation and currently lives in the hamlet of Beaver Mines, Alberta. After Saturday morning's field trips you will want to join us for Peter's lunchtime keynote, "Twenty Years of Golden Eagle Migration Studies in the Alberta Rockies: the Big Picture Begins to Emerge.".
Saturday afternoon presentation
Check back in February for our list of presentations. We'll likely feature such topics as:
• Habitat conservation in the Flathead Valley - you cannot have birds without habitat!
• Cool research from Glacier National Park and The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes
• Get Kids Outside - why and how!
• Bird Identification - perhaps warblers this year?
• eBird and citizen science
• and more!
back up
Venue and accommodations
The festival will be held at the Hilton Garden Inn and Conference Center, 1840 US Hwy 93 S in Kalispell. The Hilton is centrally located in the heart of the Flathead Valley and provides easy access to all our birding activities, field trips, and workshops, and is within a short drive of abundant recreational destinations such as Flathead Lake and Glacier National Park.
Currently we have 50 rooms blocked out for festival-goers Friday and Saturday nights. (25 King beds and 25 Queen/Queen beds at $99 per night plus applicable taxes.) This rate will be extended to us for three days prior and post event. Be sure to tell them you're with the Bird Festival group to get the special rate! We suggest you make your reservations soon (call directly at 1-406-756-4500).
Other accommodations within walking distance of the Hilton, options include:
• Aero Inn, 1830 US Highway 93 South | Kalispell, MT | 59901. 1-406-755-3798
• Motel 6, 1540 US Hwy. 93 South | Kalispell, MT | 59901. 1-406-752-6355
• Super 8 Motel, 1341 1st Avenue East | Kalispell, MT | 59901. 1-406-755-1888
• The Outlaw Hotel, 1701 Hwy 93 S | Kalispell, MT | 59901. 1-406-755-6100
More can be found at www.kalispell.stayingj.com, toll free 1-877-STAY-HGI
annual awards
Each year at our annual Festival we present four awards: Conservationist of the Year, Educator of the year, Lifetime Achievement Award, and Special Achievement Award. We rely on our friends and members to assist in choosing these awards. It's not too early to consider our 2012 award winners. Past recipients and details here.
2011 Festival in Glasgow
What a blast - over 200 people form all over the state (and beyond) joined us in Glasgow. Highlights included:
- Highly educational pre-festival workshops about grassland and sagebrush conservation.
- Great variety of field trips
- Inspiring Keynote address by Gary Ferguson
At our 2011 festival we presented four Annual Awards:
- Ron Farmer ~ Lifetime Achievement Award
- Steve Hoffman~ Conservationist of the Year
- Carla Wambach ~ Educator of the Year
- Catherine Wightman ~ Special Achievement Award
Photos and accolades for each award winner are here.
Field trips included Fort Peck, North Valley County, South Valley County, Missouri River Float/Canoe Trip, Bird Banding, Bowdoin National Wildlife Refuge, and Manning Lake Tribal Wildlife Refuge.
Photos from a handful of the trips can be viewed HERE
A bird list for the entire festival has been compiled - View in excel or pdf. Thanks Woody!
2010 festival in Missoula
Montana Audubon and the Five Valleys and Bitterroot Audubon Chapters, together with birders from across the state, came together for our 2010 annual festival.
Thank you for coming and thanks to all our volunteers! Thanks also to our major sponsors: Bureau of Land Management; Friends of Lee Metcalf; GlaxoSmithKline; Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks; Montana Natural History Center; & U.S. Forest Service
AWARDS: At our 2010 festival we presented four awards:
- Jim Brown ~ Lifetime Achievement Award
- Dr. Steve Running~ Conservationist of the Year
- Sue Reel & Dick Hutto ~ Educators of the Year
- The Bitterroot Audubon IBA Committee ~ Special Achievement Award
2009 festival in great falls
Montana Audubon and the Upper Missouri Breaks Audubon Chapter, together with birders from across the state, came together for our 2009 annual festival in Great Falls. AWARDS: At our annual 2009 festival we presented four awards:
- George Engler ~ Lifetime Achievement Award
- McKenzie Graye ~ Conservationist of the Year
- Lisa Flowers ~ Educator of the Year
- Richard Mousel ~ Special Achievement Award
FIELD TRIPS were varied and plentiful, and though the rain may have dampened our opportunities to see birds, it didn't dampen our spirits. And all together we identified over 180 species! The simple field trip bird list is available HERE. You may be interested in the details: which birds we saw on which field trip. If so you can download the spreadsheet version or the in-depth pdf version.