Montana

Montana WILD Exhibit

Here at the Montana WILD education center, just like everywhere else in the world, the past few months have looked a little different than usual. Our exhibit hall, that would normally be filled with excited students on their annual field trips or families looking for an educational afternoon out of the house, remains eerily quiet. While we miss all the in-person classes and programming that we are normally able to provide, this quiet time has allowed us to make some pretty big changes to our exhibits. 

One such change is our brand-new Birding exhibit! This massive exhibit features information about the basics of birding, how to look at a bird, and how to get involved with citizen science platforms like eBird. Along with high quality images of birds taken by Bob Martinka, the exhibit also displays many bird mounts that allow you to get an up-close look at a large variety of species. Finally, the exhibit gives information about birding hot spots around the state. Over the next few weeks, we will be sharing some of these birding hot spots with you in the hopes that it will inspire your next birding adventure. First up, birding hot spots of central Montana!

Central MT

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  Montana WILD Exhibit

  Freezeout Lake Wildlife Management Area:  is a 12,000-acre wetland with year-round access for viewing over 230 species of waterfowl, shorebirds, uplands gamebirds and raptors.  Visit during the peak spring waterfowl migration between March and April to see up to 300,000 snow geese and 10,000 swans at a time.  This location should be on every birders bucket list.

• Benton Lake National Wildlife Refuge: is on the edge of the prairie pothole hole region and provides viewing of a wide variety of wetland-dependent wildlife such as a Northern Pintail and White-faced Ibis.  The surrounding grasslands are home to grassland species such as Burrowing Owls, Sharp-tailed Grouse, and Sprague’s Pipit. 
• Big Lake Wildlife Management Area: is a large shallow lake in the prairie that provides excellent habitat for nesting waterfowl and a resting place for them during their migrations. The lake is dependent on rainfall and seasonal creeks to fill it up. Species that you might spot at the lake include Sharp-tailed Grouse, Northern Shoveler, American Avocet, and Yellow-headed Blackbird.
• Bannack State Park: is a ghost town that occurs along Grasshopper Creek south of Dillon.  Yellow-rumped Warblers, Common Yellowthroat, and Bullock’s Oriole can be seen at the State Park in the spring and summer along riparian areas. Surrounding sagebrush communities offer opportunities to see Brewer’s Sparrows and Sage Thrashers. 
• Helena Valley Regulating Reservoir Fish Access Site: is a source of drinking water irrigation for the Helena area. The large cottonwood trees on the north east end of the reservoir hosts a large group of nesting Great Blue Heron. Other species to see are American White Pelicans, Red-neck Grebes, Double-crested Cormorants and Canada Geese. Grab a kayak, canoe or paddle board along with your binoculars and check out this FAS.