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Field Notes

Montana Public Radio

Nature notes and inquiry from the Montana Natural History Center.

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3:53

Flock Talk: Conversing with Crows

Field Notes ·

2025/11/13

I like to talk to the crows, though I don’t know what we’re talking about. Researching the subject, I learned that they have over 250 different calls.

5:02

A Spotted Coat of Concealment

Field Notes ·

2025/10/16

Summer brings more than blue skies and hot days to Montana. It’s during this time of the year that white-tailed deer fawns are born.

4:55

Tortoiseshell Butterflies

Field Notes ·

2025/10/09

It was too soon for swirls of cascading autumn leaves, and the formation of this sudden dispatch had a certain energy to it. This orange blast of color moved with purpose.

4:53

Banding Together

Field Notes ·

2025/10/06

Harriet the Osprey knew what was coming.

4:13

If I could only put that on paper.

Field Notes ·

2025/09/24

There is a pine needle on my kitchen table. There is a pine needle in my soul. If I could only put that on paper.

4:44

Night Songs In Autumn

Field Notes ·

2025/09/18

As the days grow shorter and nights turn cooler, I find myself drawn outdoors at sunset.

4:30

Echoes Of Home

Field Notes ·

2025/09/08

As I watched these mountain bluebirds, likely catching those pesky mosquitoes for their dinner, I felt a familiar comfort in their presence.

5:43

Fireweed: A Cool Glass of Hope on a Hillside of Beauty

Field Notes ·

2025/08/06

Fireweed’s vibrant flowers provide sweet nectar to native bees, flies, butterflies, and even honeybees, if their hive is nearby.

4:38

Oak Apples? The Role of Oak Galls in Shakespeare’s Plays

Field Notes ·

2025/07/30

Oak gall ink was the most popular ink in Europe from the Middle Ages to the 19th century. The Book of Kells from A.D. 800, the Magna Carta, and the Declaration of Independence were all written in gall ink.

5:35

Sometimes The Dog Knows Better !

Field Notes ·

2025/07/22

My eyes slowly followed the tree down to the base when I saw that my dog was carefully pulling the berries right off the branches and swallowing them down.

4:29

The Missouri River from the Pleistocene to the Present

Field Notes ·

2025/07/16

This amazing place has seen it all, from a giant sea to volcanoes and glaciers to today’s semi-arid desert.

5:40

Lessons of Curlycup Gumweed

Field Notes ·

2025/07/08

Clueless as to what this was, I relied on a phone app for identification. Curlycup gumweed? Who came up with that creative name?

4:55

Black and White Feathered Bullies

Field Notes ·

2025/02/22

On the suggestion of an experienced birder, I bought a wire wreath and stuffed it with unshelled peanuts. The magpies spent hours skirmishing with each other to grab a peanut. I reveled in the mayhem.

5:23

Chasing the Tulip Tree

Field Notes ·

2025/02/19

There were tulip poplars, also known as yellow poplars or tulip trees. No tulip maples. I’d thought I’d seen the real thing in Washington, DC. No such beauties adorned my backyard.

4:16

The Mysterious Call of Great Horned Owls

Field Notes ·

2024/09/18

Throughout history, people have been captivated by owls. There are 260 species of owls across the planet. They can be found on every continent except Antarctica.

3:35

Thunder Chickens

Field Notes ·

2024/09/11

I’ve always been fascinated by ruffed grouse. For such a small, skittish-seeming bird, they have a hugely outsized presence in the soundscape of the forest.

4:19

Of Nighthawks & Memories

Field Notes ·

2024/09/06

It’s easy to see how the nighthawks’ idiosyncrasies make them a crowd favorite, but what I love most about them are the cherished memories they resurrect.

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.

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Field Notes

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