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.

Curve-billed Thrasher, June 18, 2014

Curve-billed Thrasher

Curve-billed Thrasher. Photo by Nathan Goldberg. (click to see the larger version)

Montrose regular Luiz Munoz found a Curve-billed Thrasher (Toxostoma curvirostre) near the Magic Hedge on Wednesday, June 18. The bird was seen and photographed by many, and as of June 22 is still present. Curve-billed Thrashers are normally found in the southwest United States and northern Mexico, though they do wander and there are extralimital records for several Midwestern states. This is just the second Illinois record of this species, the first coming from Rend Lake in December, 1992, as well as the 338th species recorded from Montrose.

To see a list of the birds that have been recorded at Montrose, please refer to the Birds Recorded at the Montrose Point Area in Chicago page.

June 12, 2014

I went over to Montrose late this afternoon to see what was around. Three Semipalmated Sandpipers were inside the protected area at the east end of the beach. On land I heard a Dickcissel calling from the trees inside the forbidden area and I saw a Great Crested Flycatcher in the Magic Clump. The biggest surprise was a male Yellow-rumped Warbler in the peripheral plantings. On my way back I stopped at the Golf Course Pond and had 5 Black-crowned Night-Herons.

June 6, 2014

I birded Montrose for a little while this morning, June 6. At this time of the year I don’t have very high expectations and I go more for the exercise than anything else, but I always take my bins just in case. Here’s what a I had:

Red-breasted Merganser – 1, the continuing female in the lake at the east end of the beach
Green-winged Teal – 1 female in the lake at the east end of the beach
Black-crowned Night-Heron – 1 at the east end of the harbor
Dunlin – 1, the continuing bird in the fluddle next to the fishhook pier inside the protected area
Semipalmated Sandpiper – 16 on the beach inside the protected area
Great Crested Flycatcher – 1
Alder Flycatcher – 1
Blue Jay – 1
Mourning Warbler – 2, 1 female and 1 male
Dickcissel – 1

The nesting Red-winged Blackbirds are now in kamikaze mode. I was repeatedly dive bombed by an aggressive male near the forbidden zone.

June 1, 2014

I spent a couple of hours at Montrose this morning, trying to ring a few more drops out of migration. For June 1 it wasn’t half bad. Here’s some of what I saw:

Semipalmated Sandpiper – 4 on the beach
Semipalmated Plover – 1 on the beach
Ruby-throated Hummingbird – 1 male in the Magic Hedge (Nesting? Seems late for a migrant.)
Black-billed Cuckoo – 1
Alder Flycatcher – 3
Eastern Wood-Pewee – 2
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher – 1
Swainson’s Thrush – 2
Red-eyed Vireo – 3
Blackpoll Warbler – 2, 1 male and 1 female
Tennessee Warbler – 1
Magnolia Warbler – 2
American Redstart – ~5
Mourning Warbler – 1
Bobolink – 1 male
Dickcissel – 1 female

It ain’t over until you know who sings.