The natural environment and history of Kalispell’s West Valley area
by Pat Jaquith
pat@westvalleynaturalists.org
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The Pygmy, Red-breasted, and White-breasted Nuthatches are very familiar here in the West Valley. Tiny, acrobatic, vocal birds that usually stay here year ’round, they are fun to watch. Read on to see what I have discovered about their unique gifts.
Continue Reading →by Pat Jaquith
pat@westvalleynaturalists.org
Editor’s Note: The smaller images on this page may be enlarged by clicking on them.
Beautiful West Valley is the chosen home of many species of birds thanks to the varied agricultural uses, ponds and wetlands, and forested areas. Locating an appropriate homesite and constructing a new nest every year must be a daunting task for animals with a beak and two wings as principal tools! Observing birds making nests and raising their families every spring is a delightful time of discovery for me. In the following pages, I will share some of the avian nesting activities I have been fortunate to observe in our area.
CAVITY NESTERS
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Continue Reading →by Pat Jaquith
pat@westvalleynaturalists.org
John James Audubon described the diminutive (4.25″) Violet-green Swallow as “the most beautiful of all the genus hitherto discovered.” Indeed, there are few birds in our neighborhood that can compete when the sun illuminates the iridescent emerald green cape, amethyst and sapphire wings and back set off by a clean bright white belly, neck, and face. Read on for an account of one pair raising their young from a nest under the eaves.
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