My wife, daughter and I took a trip to Glacier NP a couple weeks ago. It
wasn't a birding trip but we looked for birds when possible.



We were advised ahead of time not to expect a lot this time of year. I would
say that advice was right on. During the 8 days in the park we probably only
encountered about 40 species. Outside the park within Montana we made a few
other stops such as Ninepipes and the Bison Range and added an additional 20
species or so.



Because we haven't birded much out of Western Washington before we were able
to add 9 new birds to our life list. Most were common birds other people
have seen many times. We did see one bird that seems a little more sought
after, the White-tailed Ptarmigan. There were 6 birds just hanging around
that were very approachable. This took a bit of work to get to. We saw this
at the base of the Grinnell Glacier which was an 8 mile hike with about
1,600 feet of gain.



The 9 new birds to us were:

American Pipit

Black-backed Woodpecker

Calliope Hummingbird

Canvas-back Duck

Mountain Bluebird

Ruffed Grouse

Vesper Sparrow

White-tailed Ptarmigan



For future reference, a couple stops that seemed birdie were Beaver Pond
Loop (St Mary area) and Avalanche Lake right around the lake.



You can see pictures of the Ptarmigan and other wildlife seen at

http://www.flickr.com/photos/seattlebirdman/sets/72157627694261304/



Other Landscapes pictures can be seen at

http://www.flickr.com/photos/seattlebirdman/collections/72157627694252054/



thanks to those that responded to my email for suggestions.



Best regards,

Doug Schurman

Seattle