The natural environment and history of Kalispell’s West Valley area
by Pat Jaquith
pat@westvalleynaturalists.org
Winter is a good time to spot unusual things when the leaves are off and grasses are dry and beaten down by snow. Sometimes it just takes a splash of color that you wouldn’t expect to draw your attention to an unusual growth. The galls in this article all are caused by different insects but are benign, that is, they usually don’t harm the plant they are on.
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pat@westvalleynaturalists.org
Skip’s journal post about Pileated Woodpeckers inspired me to add a few more images and some of my observations of these unforgettable birds that the American Birding Association has named the 2021 Bird of the Year.
by Pat Jaquith
pat@westvalleynaturalists.org
Snow bales? Ice needles? Hoar frost? Snow serpents? Pink snow? From dawn to dark, winter weather provides us with lots to marvel at.
Continue Reading →by Pat Jaquith
pat@westvalleynaturalists.org
One of my passions is wildflowers, but the growing season of wildflowers is pretty short here in the West Valley. I have turned to lichens to help fill the void in colder months; it’s a fascinating venture. Neither plant nor animal, lichens are plentiful around here. One source reports there being 2500 species in the Pacific Northwest. Fossil records date them as long as 400 million years ago. Lichens can be found on the ground, on rocks, and on trees – both decaying and healthy. When you go out looking at lichens, I strongly recommend taking a hand lens because some of their most interesting features are almost microscopic!
Continue Reading →by Pat Jaquith
pat@westvalleynaturalists.org
Many birds migrate from a winter home to take advantage of an abundance of insects, longer periods of daylight for scavenging, and increased success in raising a brood in the north. As winter arrives and insects become scarce their survival depends on their returning to a warm climate where insects are available.
Birds that depend on non-insect food sources and move from place to place in response to the availability of food sources, independent of season, are referred to as nomads. They often travel in flocks of the same species, searching out food, and moving on.
by Pat Jaquith
pat@westvalleynaturalists.org
We are fortunate to have some versions of early plant life here in the West Valley. Ferns were one of the first vascular plants, but we have examples of even earlier plant development. Botrychiums are non-flowering, seedless vascular plants in the family Ophioglossaceae. Here are three that I have seen nearby.
Continue Reading →by Pat Jaquith
pat@westvalleynaturalists.org
Common Nighthawks are unobtrusive birds that don’t demand much attention but whose presence makes the environment a little more people-friendly. We may hear them without ever seeing them. They have evolved to hide from predators, and that may be what makes them so unknown to us.
Continue Reading →by Pat Jaquith
pat@westvalleynaturalists.org
Those confusing bugs! We have bugs that stink but are not stink bugs (Western Conifer Seed Bug), and we also have even more stinky bugs that are stink bugs. Some are agricultural pests; others may prey on other insects. Here are four native Stink Bugs that I have observed when I had the camera nearby.
Continue Reading →by Pat Jaquith
pat@westvalleynaturalists.org
With the onset of colder weather and more time inside, many of us start to feel sorry for the birds out there in the cold and fill up the feeders. Inviting avian visitors certainly has its rewards. Observing bird activity lifts our spirits; having birds close enough to get repeated good looks improves our ability to identify them; we feel like we’ve provided a bit of refuge them. There’s a thrill in seeing a new bird at your feeder! But with all such gestures comes responsibilities, unexpected outcomes and sometimes consequences.
Continue Reading →by Pat Jaquith
pat@westvalleynaturalists.org
Throughout the fall, as birds start moving from nesting sites toward warmer climates and more plentiful food sources, they teach us how they value our valley as many species gather in the harvested fields and in and around the several potholes for rest, food, and perhaps reunions before moving on.
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pat@westvalleynaturalists.org
Pinedrops, perhaps named for the sticky texture of its stem, makes its first appearance in woods and clearings near pine trees after many of the spring ephemerals have gone to seed. Its three stages of growth are so different in appearance it would be easy to overlook the fact that they are all the same plant.
Continue Reading →by Pat Jaquith
pat@westvalleynaturalists.org
Red Crossbills (Loxia curvirostra) are a colorful lot that spend most of their time in the tops of conifer trees where they use their specialized bills to pry open the scales of the cones to retrieve seeds. If you’re fortunate enough to get to know these acrobatic little birds, they will show you many other aspects of their lives.
Continue Reading →by Pat Jaquith
pat@westvalleynaturalists.org
We know it’s fall when Western Conifer Seed Bugs show up on the warm side of the house or even inside the house; what do we do about them?
Continue Reading →by Pat Jaquith
pat@westvalleynaturalists.org
Northern Harriers are one of the raptors we see often cruising over fields and wetlands from Smith Lake to the potholes. They fly low, eyes on the ground, searching for small rodents. Its owlish face helps it hear mice and voles beneath the vegetation as they hunt by ear more than by sight.
by Pat Jaquith
pat@westvalleynaturalists.org
Click on photos to enlarge.
Squirrels are so well-known for their seemingly constant attention to food gathering and caching that a list of synonyms for that activity is pages long. Indeed, nearly every time I see them, they are involved in hunting, storing, defending, or cleaning up from food-related activities.
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