The natural environment and history of Kalispell’s West Valley area
By Skip Via
skip@westvalleynaturalists.org
Ever since reading Tris Hoffman’s excellent post on the Western bumblebee (read it here: A Very Special Bee), I’ve been on the lookout for a specimen that I could photograph. Today, I found one jamming it’s head into the emerging blossoms of a crabapple tree in our yard. Here are the photos—read Tris’s post for information about it’s scarcity (the West Valley area is still a good place to see them) and ways to increase their numbers.
by Skip Via
skip@westvalleynaturalists.org
This is part three of a photo essay series of barns in the West Valley area of Flathead Valley. Additional parts may be viewed here:
Barns Are Noble (Part One)
Barns, Part Two
Barns, Part Four
Barns, Part Five
Click on any image to enlarge it.
Continue Reading →by Skip Via
skip@westvalleynaturalists.org
An immature bald eagle gets chased by a pair of red tail hawks when he gets too close to their nest.
by Skip Via
skip@westvalleynaturalists.org
A pair of young rival toms try everything they can to attract the attention of a hen. Any hen. One seems interested, for a while.
Continue Reading →by Pat Jaquith
pat@westvalleynaturalists.org
Busy as a bee! The pace of changes becomes fairly frantic in May. Lawns are “greening up”, perennial plants are showing color giving insects something to come out for; birds are arriving now that there are insects they can feed to growing hatchlings; the soil has warmed up and dried out enough to be worked so farmers are out there early and late… read on for more pictures and notes about this cascade of events!
Continue Reading →By Skip Via
skip@westvalleynaturalists.org
This is part two of a photo essay series of West Valley barns. You may view the other parts here:
Barns Are Noble (Part One)
Barns, Part Three
Barns, Part Four
Barns, Part Five
Click on any image to enlarge it.
By Skip Via
skip@westvalleynaturalists.org
First bumblebee of the season, a two-form bumblebee, checking out the crocuses on April 15. Thanks to Tris Hoffman for help with identification.
by Tris Hoffman, Flathead National Forest Weed Coordinator
silversagebrush@hotmail.com
The Western Bumblebee is a species that was once common and widespread throughout the western U.S. and Canada. For a variety of reasons, both known and unknown, populations of this bee are in serious decline. It has mostly vanished west of the Cascades. Thankfully, West Valley is a place (perhaps a refuge?) where the bees may still be found.
Continue Reading →by Pat Jaquith
pat@westvalleynaturalists.org
Click on pictures to enlarge
Winter is melting into summer. Every day is a surprise: will the snow retreat today? or will we experience a fall-back into freezing temperatures and even get some snow? When will we see some green in the in the cold, black soil of fields that were sown last fall? When will we see the first-of-the-year (FOY) Sandhill Crane? Who can guess correctly the day of ice-out on the potholes? How many geese, ducks, swans fit in the one open pool? Are those trees really starting to blossom? Will I be able to leave that heavy coat home? Read further for some of my FOY’s!
Continue Reading →by Tris Hoffman, Flathead National Forest Weed Coordinator
silversagebrush@hotmail.com
Walt Disney got it wrong: The bald-faced hornet
When Disney adapted A.A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh into a cute animation, he made mistake. If the “Bear of Very Little Brain” wanted honey, he should have looked for a large hollow tree. The illustrations in Milne’s original stories show Pooh climbing a large tree, but he is not going after the papery egg-shaped nest that the animated bear seems to obsess about. Disney’s globular gray nest would never provide Pooh with honey, because that is a typical nest of a bald-faced hornet.
Continue Reading →By Skip Via
skip@westvalleynaturalists.org
If you came here looking for the latest Harry Potter book, you probably should go to Barnes & Noble.
But if you came here because you, like me, can’t pass a barn without thinking about the stories behind it and the practical structural aesthetics of the building, then welcome. I have a thing for barns—old, new, and falling down.
This is just an uncommented photo essay—some images taken around the valley (and slightly beyond, in a couple of cases)—and not a history. But I hope that any readers that know anything about any of these barns will leave a comment and tell us a story.
This is part one of a photo essay series of West Valley barns. You may view the other parts here:
Barns, Part Two
Barns, Part Three
Barns, Part Four
Barns, Part Five
By Skip Via
skip@westvalleynaturalists.org
First day of spring 2021, Pond 3, the Potholes (see Locations). Better have four wheel drive…
by Skip Via
skip@westvalleynaturalists.org
There are indeed tyrants living amongst us. You may not be aware of this, because the ones we see here in the valley are rather inconspicuous. I’m specifically referring to two members of the Tyrant Flycatcher family that make their summer homes here–the Eastern Kingbird and the Western Wood-Pewee.
Continue Reading →By Skip Via
skip@westvalleynaturalists.org
Walking through the woods in a graupel shower this afternoon prompted me to do a little more research on the phenomenon. Just what is graupel, anyway, and how does it differ from other forms of frozen precipitation?
Continue Reading →by Pat Jaquith
Pat@westvalleynaturalists.org
Clark’s Nutcrackers are amazingly intelligent birds that have been linked to the Whitebark pine trees that are beleaguered by disease and beetles, but it appears that their resourcefulness is helping them transition to other sources of livelihood.
Continue Reading →