New Audubon coordinator cultivates community through birding

On an unusually warm February morning, the Owen Sowerwine Natural Area hummed with music. The percussive crunch of snow joined with the swish of Jess Garby’s polyester snow pants as she walked through the forest.  

In between her steps was the distant roar of traffic and the clatter of dry pine needles overhead. Garby paused, hearing something else beneath the cacophony.  

The trill of a red-winged blackbird. Black-capped chickadees chirping from the tree boughs. A solitary caw as a crow flew overhead.  

Garby named each note under her breath, then paused again, waiting. A pair of binoculars hung from a string around her neck, but she allowed them to rest in her hands, unused. 

“This is what I do a lot,” she whispered. “Just stop and listen.” 

These quiet moments are a little harder to find since Garby became Flathead Audubon Society’s educator coordinator last fall. Now, she is often accompanied by rambunctious elementary schoolers or inquisitive hobbyists on her birding trips, but Garby said she welcomes the ruckus, even if it scares the birds away. It’s all part of her mission to get more people birding. 

“There’s so much community involved in birding,” said Garby. “You can do it alone, but it's so much more fun to do it with other people.” 

Flathead Audubon is a local chapter of the National Audubon Society and has a mission to conserve birds and wildlife habitat in Northwest Montana. It provides a variety of education programs for both children and adults.  

While Garby grew up in an outdoorsy family, her own interest in birding only emerged recently, during a 2021 Valentine’s Day birding trip. She was fresh out of college and working a new job at Travelers Rest State Park near Lolo when a friend invited her to go birding with him. 

Even four years later, Garby struggled to articulate what she found so compelling about that first birding trip, but she knew she was hooked. By the next week, Garby was texting her friend pictures from the visitor’s center desk, asking him to confirm the names of the birds that flit by the windows. 

“There’s just something about them,” said Garby. “There’s so much to learn.” 

Garby dedicated herself to learning as much as she could about ornithology. She joined sage grouse monitoring projects in Idaho and banded common loons in Glacier National Park, but Garby described herself first and foremost as a “raptor girlie” with a natural affinity for birds of prey. 

During the fall months, Garby worked with researchers to count, trap and band migrating hawks, eagles and ospreys. Garby trekked to remote mountain passes to set up baited bow nets. When a raptor landed to take the bait, Garby used a remote trigger to close the net, capturing the bird inside. Researchers collected blood samples and attached a GPS tracking device to the bird before releasing it back to the wild. 

Garby said the intimacy of these experiences helped her understand birds, but life as a field technician could also be lonely. During the field season, she spent most nights camping in remote locations. Every few months brought a new job in a new area.  

When Flathead Audubon received funding for a new full-time education position, Garby decided it was time to come home to roost. 

While her new job may be a bit tamer at first glance, Garby is still blazing trails at Flathead Audubon as she pursues her goal of getting more young residents into birding. Since starting her new position in January, Garby has led several weekend field trips to local birding hotspots and organized a bird-themed board game night for community members. She teaches a weekly birding class at Flathead Valley Community College and regularly leads birding expeditions for students from nearby schools.  

In everything she does, Garby reminds her participants that birding isn’t about memorizing facts. It is about observing the world around you and learning as you go. 

“It’s not just teaching them a science lesson. It’s also teaching them there’s so many cool things in the woods and to adventure and to listen,” she said. “[Birding] makes you a really observant and curious person.” 

At Owen Sowerwine Natural Area, Garby demonstrated her own curiosity and passion for birding during an hour of sub-par sightings. As she sloshed through the snow, Garby recounted the excitement she felt the prior weekend, when she heard the first varied thrush of the season and told the story of a recent encounter with a long-eared owl in her backyard. 

As she neared the parking lot, Garby turned her attention to the coming weeks. Her voice climbed as she expounded on an upcoming field trip to the natural area. 

“I know by then this forest will be singing,” she said as she threw her arms out wide. “And I’m so excited.” 

Reporter Hailey Smalley can be reached at hsmalley@dailyinterlake.com or 758-4433.