The Northern Rockies are experiencing one of the largest pine white (Neophasia menapia) eruptions in decades. Pine trees, mostly ponderosas, are filled with billions of white butterflies.

This week we journeyed yet again back to the cottonwood gallery along
a nearby creek to see what breeding birds we might find. Here are
two quintessential sights from a warm morning in the gallery.

This male Lazuli bunting glances up at one of its mates, a dull brown
female, higher in the canopy.

Below, a bee pollinates cow parsnip blossoms, a plant which bears
love to eat in the early spring.

We also watched a western wood-pewee snatching passing insects
out of the air in a behavior typical of flycatchers called “hawking”.

Until next time…

Here is a quick little sequence from our ramblings down along the creek this week. The sequence was shot using a Canon 7D and a newly constructed dolly that doubles as a solar panel support. Enjoy

The prolonged rainy weather in the Northern Rockies has finally given way to a spectacular green up and wildflower season. On this hill the incessant wind creates conditions equivalent to that of alpine tundra. As a result, many alpine tundra plant species can be found here at a surprisingly low 3,000 ft.

This is also the time of year when the screeching of baby great horned owlets fills the riparian galleries. This pair was hatched in this glorious ponderosa snag.

Male calliope hummingbirds patrol their territories from atop high perches in all the woody draws that fill with serviceberry, willow, choke cherry, and hawthorn. These birds time their migratory arrival with the spring flow of sap rather than the blossoming of nectar-providing flowers. Sapsuckers hammer into these sap-rich trees and hummingbirds, such as this calliope get a jump on the breeding season by stealing from the sapsucker wells.

And lastly, male butterflies, such as this silvery blue, are frantically gathering minerals at evaporating puddles to give to prospective mates.

Until next week…

This is a short web film produced for Montana Audubon addressing the impact oil & gas development has on sage grouse, a species recently warranted by the USFWS as worthy of protection under the Endangered Species Act. This film includes interviews with David Sibley, Dave Naugle, and Amy Cilimburg.

You can view a small version of the film here for faster loading:

The founder of Conservation Media, Jeremy Roberts just won a College EMMY from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences last week for his graduate thesis film Disturbance. He completed this film for Conservation Media as part of his graduate thesis in Science & Natural History filmmaking at Montana State University.

View the film here:

We just received word that we won two more Telly Awards, bringing the total to four!
These were Silver Tellies, the highest honor, for Cinematography and Nature/Environment category.

Moving on to the next thing!

We caught a fleeting glimpse of these incredibly fast pronghorns out
in the Big Hole Valley. A late spring skif of snow blankets the foothills.
This valley will soon be green, and just as quickly turn brown.

A red-tailed hawk surveys the landscape for prey, with the Bitteroot
Mountains in the background. Snowpack in these mountains is below
50% of normal this year.

Below, a snowberry clearwing moth (Hemaris affinis), a day-flying moth
that mimics bumble bees to deter predation. Unlike bumble bees,
however, this moth can hover at flowers.
http://conservationmedia.com/?p=866

This short video is just a cobbling of the dipper footage I shot yesterday on Rattlesnake Creek. Enjoy

This week’s photos capture the extremes of early May in the Northern
Rockies which is characterized simply as a battle between winter and
summer.

This pine grosbeak (Pinicola enucleator) wards off the morning’s freezing
river fog by eating the remains of last years fruit.

This Sylvan hairstreak (Satyrium sylvinus), with its false eye and
antenna on its hind wings, somehow survives the cold nighttime
temperatures.