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Would you like to see songbirds up close? On Wednesday, July 18, the MPG Ranch will host a songbird banding session in partnership with UM's Avian Science Center, Five Valleys Audubon, and Bitterroot Audubon. This field trip is part of the Avian Science Center's Bird's-Eye View education program. Banding will take place from 8 until noon along the Bitterroot River floodplain, part of the Bitterroot River Important Bird Area. Participants will learn how scientists capture and process songbirds, why healthy riparian areas are important to songbirds, and how the MPG Ranch works to improve songbird habitat. And you'll get to see many elusive songbirds up close- including species like the yellow warbler, lazuli bunting, cedar waxwing, gray catbird, and house wren. Would you like to join us? Contact me for more information!

yellow warbler

About the Author

Kate Stone

Kate graduated from Middlebury College with a B.A. in Environmental Studies and Conservation Biology in 2000. She pursued a M.S. in Forestry at the University of Montana where her thesis focused on the habitat associations of snowshoe hares on U.S. National Forest land in Western Montana. After completing her M.S. degree in 2003, Kate alternated between various field biology jobs in the summer and writing for the U.S. Forest Service in the winter. Her fieldwork included projects on small mammal response to weed invasions, the response of bird communities to bark beetle outbreaks and targeted surveys for species of concern like the black-backed woodpecker and the Northern goshawk. Writing topics ranged from the ecology and management of western larch to the impacts of fuels reduction on riparian areas.

Kate coordinates bird-related research at the MPG Ranch. She is involved in both original research and facilitating the use of the Ranch as a study site for outside researchers. Additionally, Kate is the field trip coordinator and website manager for the Bitterroot Audubon Society. She also enjoys gardening and biking in her spare time.