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Field Notes

Montana Public Radio

Nature notes and inquiry from the Montana Natural History Center.

science nature

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4:43

Standing Alone; Moving Together

Field Notes ·

2024/09/04

A lone Sandhill Crane stood at the edge of the marsh feeding, its bill dipping repeatedly through the mud with a series of rapid, steady bursts reminiscent of a sewing machine’s insistent motion.

5:37

Buried Breath

Field Notes ·

2024/09/04

Earthworms use their entire body to breathe. Burrowed deep in the ground — slow moving, slow metabolizing — their long frames tighten and relax and pull the air they need from soil.

5:28

Oriole Nests: Relics of Summer

Field Notes ·

2024/08/28

They looked like bulging stockings decorating a mantle at Christmastime. They were certainly gifts of a sort for our winter-weary senses. These were the unique nests of Bullock's Orioles.

5:36

The Dinosaur in the River

Field Notes ·

2024/08/21

In the natural world, how to persist—how, even, to improve—in the face of limits and uncertainty can be a punishing question.

5:18

Where Do Forest Seedlings Come From?

Field Notes ·

2024/08/14

As I drove home from Missoula, I was alarmed to see wildfire smoke across the freeway from my house in Frenchtown. Even more concerning was the convoy of pickups pulling stock trailers.

3:56

Snake Serendipity

Field Notes ·

2024/08/14

We have three species of garter snakes in Montana. The snake couple I saw were the terrestrial species, Thamnophis elegans, who can lack the colorful markings of the other two.

5:18

Dermestids, Death, and Pandemic Ponderings

Field Notes ·

2023/11/01

In late 2020 I’m spending mornings masked, working in a lab in the University of Montana Zoological Museum. The museum houses research collections of natural artifacts like skins and skeletons. But behind the scenes museum staff tend a single living collection: a colony of dermestid beetles, the meticulous scavengers that scour flesh from bones before a skeleton can be installed in the museum.

4:29

“Spooky” Turkey Vultures Deserve Respect

Field Notes ·

2023/10/25

Why are they so feared and misunderstood? If a bird popularity contest were held, Turkey Vultures would not fare very well. A spooky bird contest, on the other hand? Dead winner.

4:21

The Wasps Came In To Die

Field Notes ·

2023/10/18

First one, buzzing and bumping into the living room window, who was soon joined by a few sisters. Within an hour, there were more than 40 sinisterly striped yellow jackets (Vespula alascensis) zooming from one window to another in pursuit of light, and I was outnumbered.

4:54

Banding Together

Field Notes ·

2023/10/11

As I watched Rob Domenech, executive director of the Raptor View Research Institute, and his research biologist Brian Busby carefully load the three chicks onto the lift, and heard Harriet’s chirps of protest from above, I considered the importance of this work.

4:36

An Osprey Story: Superpowers, Struggles, & Survival

Field Notes ·

2023/10/04

At Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge, I saw an Osprey dive into the deepest section of white water and emerge with nothing to show for its effort, and then retreat to a cottonwood branch to watch for another opportunity in the dark, boiling water.

4:57

Spotted Tussock Moth: The Fuzzy Orange Spot of Fall

Field Notes ·

2023/09/20

A small spot of orange in the middle of the trail caught my eye. It wasn't a leaf or a berry; it was tiny and moving! As I neared the curious sight, I discovered it was a fuzzy caterpillar.

5:04

What Happens After a Wildfire?

Field Notes ·

2023/09/15

Despite the harsh and stark appearance, all is not lost after a wildfire. In fact, there is much to be found when you look about.

4:23

Journey to the Bighorn Basin

Field Notes ·

2023/08/31

Let me take you on a journey. It’s just a few miles, but over that short distance we’ll be transported not only to a dramatically different landscape, but also back through hundreds of millions of years of Earth’s history.

4:39

Living in Sandhill Crane Country

Field Notes ·

2023/08/31

The first sound we hear these early summer mornings is the prehistoric, other-worldly call of Sandhill Cranes. It rises deep from their impossibly long necks, climbs into the sky, and stretches for miles across the countryside.

If A Tree Falls...

Field Notes ·

2023/08/16

We’re wandering around the mostly evergreen woods nearby the ghost town of Garnet, Montana. we reach a sunlit clearing: a bright green patch with just a handful of trees.

Speed on the Prairie

Field Notes ·

2023/08/09

Usually, pronghorn will dash away when they see a truck coming. However, at times they race toward me, accelerating, seemingly intent on crossing the road ahead of me.

Bittersweet: On memory, my mother, and chokecherries

Field Notes ·

2023/08/02

My sister and I struggle to keep up with our mother. Today, we carry gallon-sized Ziploc bags, rolling the nearly-black berries from their stems to our palms to our bags.

Coulee Country

Field Notes ·

2023/07/19

This Montana prairie holds a secret. This is coulee country, a landscape peppered with gullies waiting to be explored.

Please Don't Touch the Bison

Field Notes ·

2023/07/12

A visitor to the Yellowstone National Park helped with a calf struggling to cross a river. After, the calf began approaching people and cars, hazardous for all concerned.

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Field Notes

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