Red Rock NWR

[dan_smith]

Anyone know what birds should be in near Dillon, Montana & the Red

Rocks NWR in the next two to three weeks?

[don_baccus]

Passerines, I should think. Some shorebirds. What kind of habitat are you looking at? If it's a typical NWR duck farm, the usual grebes, ducks, geese etc will be nesting. So the real question has to do with how much tree cover there is for other species. If they have poplars, cottonwoods or the like there should be great horned owl chicks, fluffy but growing primaries etc.

 

If there are willows and junipers and stuff like that, expect yellow warblers up the rear, MacGillvary's, ash-throated fly, etc etc. All depends on what the vegetation is.

[steve_cook]

Check out the following website:

 

http://www.beaverhead.com/redrocks/default.htm

 

I would call the refuge to get the best information. I go there to shoot landscapes. Beautiful and isolated country. There is a nice campground at the upper end of the refuge. There is another campground at the lower end, but it is out on the flats and exposed to the elements. This can be cold and windy country. Have fun. You should be able to get some excellent shots of trumpeter swans.

 

Steve Cook

[bob_royse]

Montana would be a great destination for bird photography in June, but I can think of about 100 places off the top of my head I'd rather be in mid-May!

 

If you don't have it, get the "Birder's Guide to Montana", which is available from the ABA (but not published by them). I don't have it, but if it's like most others, there should be a bar graph at the end showing when and where each species will be found.

 

Don, Yellow Warblers should probably only be beginning to arrive on territory by the 2nd week of May in Montana. I would seriously doubt if any MacGillivray's Warblers would be there in the second week of May. Opororonis warblers are typically among the last to migrate and arrive on territory. All of the nesting warblers have already at least put in an appearance in the forests of southern Ohio as of yesterday (24 April) except Kentucky, of course. Mourning and Connecticut are usually the last two migrant warbler species I tick off my list each spring here in Ohio, which is often in the 3rd or 4th week of May. According to the info I have, MacGillivray's is no different.