Snake River Audubon Society

09/20/2026

09/17/2026

September 14, 2026.

An outdoor recreationist filmed a rare wolverine at a high-altitude lake in Idaho’s Pioneer Mountains — a sighting Idaho Fish and Game called significant because the species is still so scarce and hard to confirm.

Southwest Regional Wildlife Biologist Jamie Utz said the agency posted the video after reviewing the report. Fish and Game messaging puts roughly 318 wolverines left in the Lower 48 after historic hunting, trapping, and poisoning cut the population; since 2021 the department has logged 35 “reliable” Idaho observations backed by photos, video, or strong field detail. Utz said most sightings cluster in mountains at or above treeline. IDFG dubbed wolverines “Idaho’s most impressive carnivore” — elusive, tough, and able to cross alpine terrain with startling speed. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed wolverines as threatened in 2023; more than a dozen conservation groups have sued over alleged recovery delays.

A single clip at a lonely alpine lake does not rebuild a population. It does prove one of North America’s rarest carnivores is still moving through Idaho’s high country — if you are lucky enough, and quiet enough, to catch it.

Sources: Idaho Capital Sun; Idaho Press; Idaho Department of Fish and Game; KIVI


This image is digitally generated with AI to illustrate a real wildlife story for educational purposes.

09/14/2026

A Common Loon throws its head back and opens its bill into a wail that spreads in rings across still water.

This is the wail, the loon's long-range call for finding a mate, most often heard at dawn and dusk, after most people on shore have already stopped listening.

Common Loons keep four distinct calls, but the wail, the answer to why do loons call at night, is the one built to travel, a rising note that can cross a whole lake to reach a partner working a different bay.

That reach is exactly why the birds abandon any shoreline that grows loud or developed; a wail only carries where the water and the woods around it stay quiet.

Minnesota's legislature made the Common Loon its official state bird in March 1961, under Session Laws Chapter 76, a formal recognition of a sound that was already part of the state's identity.

The real loon call woven into the video built around this image was recorded outside Minnesota, at a quiet lake in British Columbia.

Same species, same wail, because that sound means home on a northern lake whether or not a recording device happened to be there.

Send this to the person who can pick a coyote howl from a loon's wail across the water without even looking up.


AI Disclaimer: This image was generated with AI for creative and artistic purposes.

Sources:
Minnesota Session Laws 1961, Chapter 76, https://www.revisor.mn.gov/law
All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, "The Wails of the Common Loon", https://www.allaboutbirds.org
Xeno-canto XC479757 (Sunny Tseng, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0), https://xeno-canto.org/479757

09/13/2026

The latest bird count from August 28, 2026 brought an impressive 22,445 birds representing 70 species to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge!

From grebes and pelicans to shorebirds, raptors, swallows, and sparrows, there is always something new to discover on the refuge. Here is the full list of species recorded on the count:

Pied-billed Grebe
Eared Grebe
Western Grebe
Clark's Grebe
American White Pelican
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Black-crowned Night Heron
White-faced Ibis
Canada Goose
Mallard
Gadwall
Northern Pintail
Northern Shoveler
Cinnamon Teal
Green-winged Teal
Redhead
Ruddy Duck
Turkey Vulture
Northern Harrier
Red-tailed Hawk
Swainson's Hawk
American Kestrel
Ring-necked Pheasant
American Coot
Sandhill Crane
Killdeer
Black-necked Stilt
American Avocet
Spotted Sandpiper
Greater Yellowlegs
Willet
Western Sandpiper
Wilson's Phalarope
Solitary Sandpiper
Franklin's Gull
Ring-billed Gull
California Gull
Forster's Tern
Mourning Dove
Belted Kingfisher
Western Kingbird
Loggerhead Shrike
Common Raven
Horned Lark
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
Tree Swallow
Violet-green Swallow
Marsh Wren
European Starling
Sage Thrasher
Common Yellowthroat
American Pipit
House Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow
Lark Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Brewer's Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Western Meadowlark
American Goldfinch
Common Nighthawk

Whether you are an experienced birder or just starting to learn your local birds, the Refuge is a great place to see the incredible diversity of birds that call wetlands home. 🪶

How many of these species have you seen at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge?

PHOTO: Visitor Center Whiteboard List/USFWS

09/12/2026

Get to know Florida's most majestic and misunderstood animal—including how to safely swim with them: bit.ly/4rT2Do4 🩵