Hello Tweets:

The first 2 weeks of May I visited friends in Missoula, Montana and had
several opportunities to bird. At the end of nearly two weeks, my trip list
included 84 species. I went on two field trips with Five Valleys Audubon
where special access was required. One was an all-day trip to Wallace Ranch
near Drummond, a 13,000 acre ranch and the other was a half-day trip to Stone
Container, where there are numerous ponds behind a plant that produces
cardboard box paper liners.

I also birded the National Bison Range and the Lee Metcalf NWR. In the
Missoula area I birded Maclay Flats, Kelly Island and Council Grove State
Park.

Besides the many Osprey, I saw Great Horned Owl, Sandhill Crane, White-
breasted Nuthatch, Golden and Bald Eagle, Pileated Woodpecker, Lewis's
Woodpecker, Red-naped Sapsucker, Townsend's Solitaire, Mountain Bluebird,
Mountain Chickadee, Red Crossbill, Cedar Waxwing, Bullock's Oriole, Yellow-
headed Blackbird, 17 duck species, including many Wood Duck, copulating
Wilson's Phalarope, Chipping, Vesper and Lark Sparrow.

I certainly recommend contacting Five Valleys Audubon to find out about field
trips to Wallace Ranch and Stone Container.

Happy Birding!

Joyce Meyer
Woodinville, WA