Monthly Archives: October 2018

American White Pelican, October 21, 2018

American White Pelican

American White Pelican (click to see the larger version)

Hardly rare in Illinois these days but still unusual along the Chicago lakefront, this American White Pelican flew over Montrose Point on October 21. I’ve only seen a handful of American White Pelicans at Montrose in my 40+ years birding there, so this was exciting.

Sometimes when you look up you see good things.

Piping Plover, October 18

Piping Plover

Piping Plover (click to see the larger version)

A very late Piping Plover was at Montrose Beach on October 18. The bird has been present for a couple of days and represents the latest record of this species for Montrose.

While the Piping Plover was the best bird it wasn’t the only goodie. I tallied 59 species in about 3 hours of birding, highlighted by Short-eared Owl, the continuing Eastern Wood-Pewee, and a female Black-throated Blue Warbler. Link to my eBird checklist below.

eBird Checklist
https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S49271735

October 13, 2018 – Brrr

Eastern Wood-Pewee

Eastern Wood-Pewee (click to see the larger version)

It was so cold at Montrose this morning, October 13, Lake Michigan was steaming. This is a common sight in winter but rare at this time of the year, caused by a large difference in temperature between the water and air (about 30 degrees today early in the morning). Birding was productive, with lots of expected mid fall migrants like Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned Kinglets, Yellow-rumped Warblers, and Hermit Thrushes, plus a few late warblers and other passerines. Many insect-eating passerines were feeding on the ground or close to it because of the cold. I ended up with 56 species in about 4 hours. Best birds were Semipalmated Sandpiper, Merlin, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Eastern Wood-Pewee, and Nelson’s Sparrow. Link to my eBird checklist for the day below.

eBird Checklist
https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S49165548