I went over to Montrose this evening to see if any shorebirds were on the beach. I didn’t have anything other than a pair of Spotted Sandpipers but there was a Northern Mockingbird working the willows in the dunes. I also had a LeConte’s Sparrow in the meadow, my first of the year and getting late. As others have reported there were scads of White-crowned Sparrows around. Interestingly, I didn’t see a single warbler of any kind.
Monthly Archives: May 2013
Piping Plover Photo
Piping Plover. Photo by Kanae Hirabayashi. (click to see the larger version.)
An unbanded male Piping Plover was at the east end of Montrose Beach on April 30 and May 1. Piping Plovers are rare but regular visitors to the beach in spring and late summer. We know the bird is a male because of the blackish breast and forehead bands. These bands are brownish on females. Piping Plover is an endangered species in Illinois and the rest of the United States.
May 1, 2013, Finally
Montrose was really hopping this morning. It never ceases to amaze me what a couple days of south winds can do in spring. In about an hour and a half I saw the following birds (not a complete list):
Piping Plover – 1, the unbanded male
American Avocets – 2, flew in from the south and landed on the beach around 6:30
Little Blue Heron – 1 adult flying south over Lake Michigan with 2 Great Blue Herons
Green Heron – 1
Red-headed Woodpecker – 1 near the golf course pond
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker – 1
Least Flycatcher – 1
Great Crested Flycatcher – 1
Eastern Kingbird – 3
Sedge Wren – 1 in the meadow
House Wren – ~5
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher – 2
Veery – ~4
Swainson’s Thrush – 3
Gray-cheeked Thrush – 1
Gray Catbird – 3
American Pipit – 1
Orange-crowned Warbler – 2
Nashville Warbler – 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler – ~40
Palm Warbler – ~20
Black-throated Green Warbler – 1
Yellow Warbler – 2
Hooded Warbler – 1 female in the Magic Hedge
Ovenbird – 1
Yellow-breasted Chat – 1 near the water feature
American Redstart – 1
Field Sparrow – 1
Henslow’s Sparrow – 1 in the meadow
Savannah Sparrow – ~30
Swamp Sparrow – ~40
Lincoln’s Sparrow – ~10
White-throated Sparrow – +
White-crowned Sparrow – ~10
Bobolink – 1 male
Purple Finch – 1
I probably missed a few things but you get the idea.