Join us March 20-22, 2026
All events located at the Choteau Pavilion (204 1st St. NE Choteau, MT) and FREE to the public unless otherwise noted.
**DRAFT Schedule and information below - will be finalized and updated in early 2026 for next event
Planning to attend Wild Wings – please RSVP! Pre-registration (link on top right of webpage) is free and not required. However, the early bird gets a swag bag special for $30 that includes a tote, goose buff, 5 raffle tickets, event stickers and pin! You can also purchase individual items via the link. Limited quantities may be available at event. Questions – please reach out via the ‘Contact’ link at the bottom of the page.
Download a 2025 printable copy of the schedule here.
***Bird watching at Freezout Lake WMA requires a Conservation License, an annual license purchased through Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks licensing page: https://fwp.mt.gov/buyandapply
Friday March 20
2:00-4:00PM: Photography Workshop with Talia Azadian at Choteau Pavilion
4:00-6:30PM: Meet and Greet. Food trucks providing dinner and beverages for purchase. Educational booths from Montana and nationally based wildlife conservation organizations.
7:00PM: ‘Flight of the Swans’ Film. A female conservationist takes to the skies in a paramotor to follow Bewick’s Swans on their annual migration in a bid to understand their dramatic decline; 7,000 kilometers, 11 countries, from Russia to England across tundra, forests, and industrial landscapes, where she encounters people just as passionate about saving and protecting these birds and their wetland homes. Narrated by Academy Award nominee Sophie Okonedo. Shown at the historic Roxy Theatre (25 Main Ave. N).
Saturday March 21
6:30-10:30AM: Free Guided tours of Freezout Lake WMA and vicinity targeting light geese activity in the area. Meet at Choteau Pavilion parking lot for van carpool and caravan options.
10:30AM-5:00PM: Educational booths with Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation, Boone and Crockett Club, Ducks Unlimited, Glacier-Two Medicine Alliance, Montana Chapter of The Wildlife Society, Montana Dinosaur Center, Montana Discovery Foundation, Montana Wetlands & Waterfowl, Montana WILD, National Wildlife Federation, Pheasants Forever, Rocky Mountain Front Weed Roundtable, Sun River Watershed Group, and Teton Conservation District.
1:00-2:00PM: Join Rob Domenech, Executive Director of Raptor View Research Institute (RVRI), for a presentation that will include a brief history of RVRI’s long-term Golden Eagle (GOEA) research (when it started and why), blood heavy metals analysis (i.e., blood-lead levels) in GOEA sampled in west-central Montana, a summary of wing-tag encounters, and an overview of our satellite telemetry movements of GOEAs, with some standout stories of some satellite-tracked individuals. Rob graduated from the University of Montana in 2002 with a Wildlife Biology degree. He worked throughout western Montana for much of the 1990s, scouting for suitable sites to establish the first fall raptor migration ridgeline banding study in Montana. He founded RVRI in 2004 to continue and better facilitate his raptor research and migration studies. Domenech is one of the country's leading authorities on Golden Eagle and Osprey ecology. His work includes standardized migration counts, satellite telemetry, wing-tagging and color-banding, eco-toxicology studies, and more. RVRI's data have contributed to over a dozen publications in top-tier scientific journals. When not in the field, you can find Rob promoting awareness of raptor ecology and related conservation challenges to youth, and community groups.
2:00-3:00PM: Join Chris La Tray as he tells an Anishinaabe story about snow geese and the interconnected topic of migration of many relatives, human and older than human. Chris is a Métis storyteller, a descendent of the Pembina Band of the mighty Red River of the North and a citizen of the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians. He writes the newsletter "An Irritable Métis" and lives near Frenchtown, Montana. He was the Montana Poet Laureate for 2023–2025 and has written three books, most recently Becoming Little Shell: A Landless Indian's Journey Home (2024, Milkweed Editions). www.chrislatray.com
3:00PM: Raffle - Great prizes from our sponsors. Vortex Binoculars, Red Ants Pants tickets and more! Must be present to win.
Check out our other Community Events:
10AM-6PM: Choteau Arts Studio Spring Migration Show. Including live music, refreshments, and activities from 2-5PM. FREE
11AM - Noon: Conservation Grains -- Hands-on milling demo and talk about wildlife habitat and grain farming - 21 2nd St NW, Choteau.
5:30PM: Doors open for the Old Trail Museum Wild Game Potluck. Museum Fundraiser. Admission is a free will donation. This is a POTLUCK with game and non-game dishes, silent auction, live auction, and 50/50 drawing. Located at the Stage Stop Inn's Rocky Mountain Convention Center.
Sunday March 23
6:30-10:00AM: Free Guided tours of Freezout Lake WMA and vicinity targeting Light Geese activity in the area. Meet at Choteau Pavilion parking lot for van carpool and caravan options.
11:00AM-1:00PM: Optics Workshop -- Join Pete Young with Optics4Birding, an online optics business. He'll have some of the latest birding gear to show you and welcomes any questions you have about binoculars, spotting scopes, and everything in between!" At Pavilion. Free.
Noon-3:00PM: Montana Dinosaur Center (120 2nd Ave South, Bynum) open for visitors.
