Author Archives: rhughes

About rhughes

Robert D. Hughes lives and works in Chicago, Illinois. His professional background is in Web site management and front-end Web development. He also writes about Web development issues and works with Joomla! CMS. When he isn't sitting in front of a computer he's out in the field looking for and photographing birds and other critters.

Still More Summer Shorebirds

Piping Plover

Piping Plover (click to see the larger version)

Another good morning for shorebirds at Montrose Beach, August 21. The Red Knot and Willet continue in the fluddle on the public beach. Also, an unbanded juvenile Piping Plover made a brief appearance early in the morning, and a Pectoral Sandpiper came in and was still there when I left. Link to my eBird checklist for the morning below.

For more information about shorebirds at Montrose, see the Shorebirds section of the What to See page.

eBird Checklist
August 21, 2020

More Summer Shorebirds

Semipalmated Sandpipers

Semipalmated Sandpipers (click to see the larger version)

Shorebird activity is picking up. On August 19 I had a Willet, Red Knot, 6 Semipalmated Plovers, about 30 Semipalmated Sandpipers, and a Sanderling. The pool on the public beach we call the fluddle has been a hot spot and that’s where most of these shorebirds were. A Whimbrel was seen by others. Link to my eBird checklist for August 19 below.

eBird Checklist
August 19, 2020

Willets

Willet

Willet (click to see the larger version)

Willets are one of the earliest southbound migrant shorebirds we see in Chicago. Adults start to appear in late June and early July, followed by juveniles in August. Their migration is largely finished by Labor Day. This juvenile was wading in the pool of water on Montrose Beach we call Lake Montrose. August 2020.

Where was this bird born? The Dakotas? Canada? And where was it headed? Texas? Florida? The journeys of birds are extraordinary.

For more information about shorebirds at Montrose, see the Shorebirds section of the What to See page.

Cooper’s Hawks (look out!)

Juvenile Cooper's Hawk

Juvenile Cooper’s Hawk (click to see the larger version)

Only the shadow knows…

Juvenile Cooper’s Hawks are on the loose and raising hell in the city. This one was trying to be incognito in a brush pile. It wasn’t fooling anybody, bird or human. A pair of Cooper’s Hawks nested near Montrose during the summer; this individual is likely one of their progeny. When they make their way over to Montrose they terrorize everything smaller than them.

August Blue-gray Gnatcatchers

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (click to see the larger version)

Blue-gray Gnatcatchers are one of the first passerines to begin migrating south in summer. We’ve been seeing them almost daily and usually in multiples since early August. A few gnatcatchers were seen at Montrose during the summer and may have nested there and at other locations nearby. This one held still long enough for a snap. Taken on August 5, 2020.

Summer Shorebirds

Sanderling

Sanderling (click to see the larger version)

Shorebirds have been moving south at Montrose since late June. This is typical. The first birds are invariably adult Least Sandpipers (adult shorebirds precede their offspring). It’s hard to believe they have enough time to breed before starting migration again. The earliest southbound migrants almost overlap in time with the last northbound spring migrants! Montrose Beach serves as a convenient stopover for feeding and resting. The public part of the beach is often flooded in summer and migrant shorebirds like to break there and fuel up before continuing their journey. Some of the more unusual birds we’ve seen this summer include Whimbrel, Red Knot, Western Sandpiper, and White-rumped Sandpiper. Montrose doesn’t get huge numbers of shorebirds but the ones we do get we usually see well.

Monty and Rose

Also on the shorebird front, our celebrity Piping Plovers Monty and Rose returned in 2020 and nested again. This year they set up in the Dunes among the thick beach grass, which made monitoring challenging. They successfully raised 3 young, and unlike last year’s brood, fish and wildlife officials banded all 3. The young were also given names — Hazel, Esperanza, and Nish. The family departed by mid-August.

For more information about shorebirds at Montrose, see the Shorebirds section on the What to See page.