I can't seem to find a current hotline phone number for Montana, so here is
my notice of a RARE Montana Bird!!

On Sunday, July 5, Sheila McCartan and I stopped in the forest out of
Florence, MT, south of Missoula. I heard a warbler sound and started
tracking it down and finally Sheila says, "What's this bird up here?" Lo
and behold it was a Blackburnian Warbler! We watched the bird off and on
for about 1/2 an hour as it flew from treetip to treetop singing its heart
out. He is a gorgeous male apparently "on territory".

The precise location is on Forest Road 1315, aka Sweeney Creek Road, just
south of Florence. Follow the trailhead 93 and FR1315 signs for 2.7 miles
after the turn off US 93. (See DeLorme Gazetteer, page 53, bottom
center) At a sharp left switchback with an orange gate at the middle of
the curve, stop. The bird was in this area singing on several spruce and
fir trees. He avoided the long-needled pines.

Good luck to Montana birders on chasing this gem. If someone has a current
RBA #, please send it to me. I'll forward details to: 1515 E. 6th Ave,
Helena MT 59620, unless otherwise notified.

Vireos forever,

Tom Schooley, Olympia WA , dunlin at mail.tss.net
"The earth that directed itself instinctively in its former phases
seems now to be entering a phase of conscious decision
through its human expression." -Thomas Berry