It’s also good for birdwatching.
A couple of years ago, work was completed on a new birding blind just off U.S. Highway 93 at the Ninepipe National Wildlife Refuge. A group called Mission Valley Friends of Nature worked hard to find the location and funding, finally obtaining $10,000 from the federal Community Tourism and Assessment Program administered by Travel Montana in the state Department of Commerce.
Holt will guide a group of birders around Antarctica next month, but will return to the Mission Valley in the spring for an owl tour.
“The valley up here is great. Between the state, the (Confederated Salish and Kootenai) tribes and the feds, there’s a lot of conservation lands pieced together here, and consequently a lot of wildlife, birds and mammals,” he said. “In western Montana, it’s hard to find a place like this.”
This time of year, the valley draws one of the highest concentrations of wintering birds of prey in the western United States, Holt said.
Birders can easily see several species of eagles, hawks and owls, he said. The list includes bald and golden eagles, goshawks, rough-legged hawks, barn owls and gyrfalcons n the world’s largest falcon. Shrikes and longspurs are also around, he said.
Recent mild winters have kept migratory birds in the area longer, and have attracted other birds that normally might not be seen here, said Jim Rogers, president of the Mission Mountain Audubon Society. Warmer winters also make life a lot more pleasant for determined birders.
“It’s just the chance for unusual species that gets most of us going out,” he said.
By “us,”?Rogers means a whole lot of people. Montana has the highest rate of birdwatchers in the nation, with 44 percent participation, according to statistics cited by the state Division of Fish, Wildlife and Parks.
In 2005, an invasion of snowy owls drew birders from around the country. “We had about 40 birds in one field,” Holt said.
Rogers said the first snowy owl has yet to make its appearance here this fall n “Everybody’s on the lookout” n but rough-legged hawks have already arrived.”
“I haven’t heard of anybody seeing a gyr (falcon) yet, but we probably will any day,” he said.
The area is rich in good birding spots, starting with Ninepipe and Pablo reservoirs, as well as along the creek through the National Bison Range, he said.
“The entire valley floor ... is a great place for wintering raptors,” he said. “The whole Mission Valley is a great place.”
Birders who make the effort generally won’t see the numbers of birds that they might in the spring and early fall, said Susan Reel, wildlife educator for the Lolo National Forest, but they might see more unusual species.
And the experience will be less crazed than at the height of the tourist season.
“That valley is beautiful any time of year,” she said. “But it’s quieter this time of year.”
Besides, she said, “any reason to get outside is always fun.”
If you go
The West Wing Birding Blind is about three-tenths of a mile north of Ninepipes Lodge off U.S. Highway 93. Turn left on a dirt access road.Contact assistant city editor Gwen Florio at 523-5268, or gwen.florio@missoulian.com.
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