Celebrating 2022 Outcomes
By Blackfoot Challenge staff Hard to believe it’s already two months into 2023. We don’t want to let too much of this year roll by without recognizing all of our […]
Summer of Swans
This has turned out to be a banner year for trumpeter swans in the Blackfoot watershed.
Trumpeter Swans and Montana’s Common Loon
By Elaine Caton, Swan Restoration Coordinator Written for the Montana Loon Society‘s 2021 Newsletter In 2005, the Blackfoot Challenge in partnership with the US Fish and Wildlife Service began an […]
SwanBlog Update: Keep Calm and Paddle On
By Elaine Caton, Trumpeter Swan Restoration Program Coordinator In spite of a worldwide pandemic and all the associated changes to human life that have gone with it, I’m happy to […]
SwanBlog Update: Blackfoot Trumpeters unaffected by Covid-19!
By Elaine Caton Spring (or Mud Season, as we tend to call it around here) is returning to the Blackfoot, and so are the Trumpeter Swans. The first swans were […]
Tracking Swan Movements
By Elaine Caton, Trumpeter Swan Restoration Program Coordinator In July we captured two non-nesting adult swans in the Blackfoot and fitted them with very lightweight collars with GPS units. These […]
Ups and Downs
By Elaine Caton, Trumpeter Swan Restoration Program Coordinator This past spring saw quite a few days of cool, wet weather in the Blackfoot, which seemed to affect our swan productivity […]
Snow Geese Scouts
Many Blackfoot residents have noticed the unusually high numbers of Snow Geese (along with swans and ducks) in the watershed this year, and that they have been staying around longer […]
Swans in the Blackfoot: Trumpeters or Tundras?
This time of year, as well as in the fall, I have to take a close look at–or listen to–any swans I see, to know which species I’m observing. While […]
Swans in the Ruby Valley
By Elaine Caton, Swan Restoration Program Coordinator On January 19, I made my annual trip to the Ruby River Valley in southwest Montana to look for wintering Blackfoot swans. I […]