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In 2012, Dr. Pete Fisher became the new owner of the remarkable 412-acre property conserved by the Buechle family. The property includes a portion of McWenneger Slough, a historic meander of the Flathead River, and has a diverse mix of open water, wetland, riparian forest, and cultivated meadows that provide an ideal combination of agricultural land and wildlife habitat and is a haven for migratory waterfowl and other birds. Pete works as a pathologist at Kalispell Regional Medical Center, but is also an avid birder so the Buechle farm was a perfect fit. Pete has lived and traveled to many places throughout the U.S. and the world so he recognizes the natural wealth of the land he purchased.
Pete has been interested in birds throughout his life. When he went to college at the University of Minnesota he studied biology and took many classes about birds ending up with a degree in ornithology. When Pete was accepted into medical school at the University of Iowa, he didn’t give up birding. In fact, the move helped fuel his love for what are now his favorite birds — owls. “They used to call me the owl guy because I really got into calling owls,” Pete said. “I started off with tapes, then I started doing calls with my mouth when I realized I could get them to come by just calling them, and so I started leading field trips.” He was introduced to another world of birding when he moved to Vermont to complete his pathology residency. During his residency, Pete began traveling the United States, beginning in New England. He journeyed across Vermont, explored the coast of Maine and toured through Massachusetts. Although he didn’t have a lot of free time during his residency, he also started taking bigger trips periodically. Those trips took him to Florida, Arizona and Texas to bird. “Then I moved out here in 2000 and it was the same thing, it opened a whole new world,” Pete said. “All these new western, Rocky Mountain birds that I’d just seen in books before but never seen in person. Seeing them in real life was really exciting for me.”
One surprise for Pete that has brought him the most recognition locally is the appearance of barred owls at his first Montana home near the Swan Mountains. The owls’ only known habitat in Montana is a small portion of the far northwest corner of the state. “I was real familiar with that bird from being out East and I figured I probably wouldn’t see that many out here,” Pete said, “but right at my house I went out and I called one night, and to my surprise, they answered.” Pete still leads trips to call owls near the Swan Mountains for Flathead Audubon.”
Pete’s travels have since extended far beyond the borders of the U.S., taking him to every continent except Africa. Among the countries he has visited in his birding adventures are Mexico, Ecuador, Argentina, Thailand, Bhutan, Scandinavia, the Czech Republic, England, Australia, Tasmania, and Antarctica. Even though he has been all over the world and seen nearly 2,000 different birds, Pete said he appreciates common local birds just as much as the most exotic. “It’s just being able to get out and be close to wilderness areas and close to nature,” Pete said. “It’s kind of like a lot of hunters, they just want to be out there and hunting is just an excuse to do it, and I think that’s how birding is with me. It makes everything fun. I’m always looking for birds. It just kind of adds a spice to your life.”
The McWenneger Slough property has proven to be a birder’s paradise. Pete has documented 185 bird species on the property. Pete learned about the birds that used his property through a research project with Dan Casey, formerly of the American Bird Conservancy, and Craig Hohenberger, a retired ornithologist. The trio conducted a bird banding project on the property to study songbirds and their migration. They caught and banded over 30 species from chickadees to sharp-shinned hawks, and even long-eared owl over a 3 year period. The information they collected went into a world-wide database used to learn about songbird migration, the importance of riparian areas for songbirds, and the effects of climate change on bird movement.
Pete feels lucky to have found such a special place to live and is happy that it will remain a birder’s paradise in perpetuity.
