May 20, 2008

Well, here goes… the first ever Northwest Connections blog/journal/update from the Beck Homestead in Condon, Montana—the epicenter for Northwest Connections!
Adam Lieberg (NwC staffer, naturalist, and facility maintainer extraordinaire) and Cori Stanek (L&L alum, creative enthusiast, and dedicated intern) are living here at the Homestead this summer.

Admittedly, we’ve never run a blog before, but! our hope is to keep you in the loop with what’s happening here at Northwest Connections and around the Homestead.

Check back weekly for breaking news, wildlife sightings, garden updates, and the latest happenings ‘round here!

Happy reading,

Cori & Adam

SWAN RIVER FLOODS!!

A snowy winter, cool spring, and sudden onset of warm weather have come together to create a perfect storm along the Swan River.  On Monday, May 19th the Swan River began to spill over Cold Creek Road, just east of the Swan River bridge.  Our favorite trapper/county road maintenance guy, Joe Miller, expects the high water to peak sometime this weekend…forget the deer—pray for our bridge!

Flooded Cold Creek Road

Swan River and the Cold Creek bridge

Garden Update

Let it be known that on Tuesday, May 20, 2008 we had our first harvest—about 10 asparagus shoots. Each were about a foot tall and so thin they could fit inside a drinking straw (and blended right in with the grass). We did have one shoot however that was perfect, even to high-end grocery store standards. He’s a beaut’.
There are lofty plans a’ brewin’ for six more planting beds as soon as we get our hands on a saw…

Planted this week: Rainbow Chard, Kale, mixed salad greens, and Beets.

Birds & Wildlife

The homestead and surrounding area has turned into a Serengeti for wildlife this spring.  Thanks to an innovative beaver that damned up a culvert on Tepee Creek, Tepee Meadows has turned into a lake and is currently cascading over the logging road at the outlet of the meadow.  Lately, muskrats, painted turtles, fish, frogs, mallards, hooded mergansers, buffleheads, cinnamon teals, and belted kingfishers are just a few of the species reaping the benefits from the beavers hard work.

In an attempt to keep my newly acquired birding skills sharp, I have snuck out two mornings this week to listen and watch for birds.  Here is a combined list of the different birds I mostly heard, but also saw: Tree Swallow, Brown-headed Cowbird, Hammonds Flycatcher, Ruffed Grouse, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Chipping Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Black-capped Chickadee, Mountain Chickadee, Pine Siskin, American Robin, Red-napped Sapsucker, Western Tanager, Mourning Dove, Cassin’s Vireo, Dark-eyed Junco, Wilson’s Snipe, Pileated Woodpecker, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Common Raven, Dusky Flycatcher, Common Yellowthroat, Northern Harrier, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Red-winged Blackbird, Canada Goose, American Kestrel, Mallards, Cinnamon Teal, Stellar’s Jay, Killdeer, Sandhill Crane, Warbling Vireo, Evening Grosbeak, Townsend’s Warbler, Hooded Merganser, Orange-crowned Warbler, American Redstart, Ring-necked duck, and Bufflehead.

The Passed Week at Connections

On May 17-18 Northwest Connections, Wildland CPR, Madrone Enterprises, National Network of Forest Practitioners, and Swan Ecosystem Center hosted a forest and watershed restoration workshop for the Elk Creek Conservation Area. This square mile was purchased by SEC and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribes from Plum Creek Timber Co. in 2006 and is located at the confluence of Elk Creek and the Swan River.

Adam and Swan Valley Bear Ranger Mark Ruby teamed up to teach kids at the Swan Valley School about living in bear country.

Adam attended a bird-training workshop required for fieldwork this summer.  He enjoyed a week of honing his birding skills amongst a large group of other bird nerds.  Here part of the group geeking out with their binos behind a bird-blind on Seeley Lake.

Using some tips passed down from the old-timers, Tom drags two old box springs, six used tires, and a pair of tire-chains behind his tractor while harrowing the field earlier this week.  Why spend thousands of dollars on equipment when a guy can utilize scrap lying around the homestead.  Good Action Tom!!