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.

Red-throated Loon, White-winged Scoters, Long-tailed Ducks, and Snow Bunting, March 7, 2014

Red-throated Loon (click to see the larger version)

This is beginning to sound like a broken record. Lake Michigan was ice covered from horizon to horizon but there were a few areas of open water and these open areas had birds. Best was probably the Red-throated Loon at the harbor mouth. Unfortunately the bird flushed when a fisherman walked onto the north pier. This must have been one desperate fisherman as there was barely enough water to fish in. There were also a dozen or so White-winged Scoters and a drake Long-tailed Duck here.

A larger group of ducks (100-150 birds) were in the lake a couple hundred yards north of the end of the fishhook pier. I didn’t have my scope but most appeared to be scaup, White-winged Scoters, and mergansers. Another small pool of water south of here held more White-winged Scoters and 2 Long-tailed Ducks.

A few ducks are hanging on in the ever decreasing water hole near the bend of the point. It’s really a sad sight. There were probably more birds standing on the ice around the hole than actually in the water, and there were multiple dead ducks scattered around.

Finally, I heard a Snow Bunting flying over the beach.

March 4, 2014

Waterfowl trapped by ice (click to see the larger version)

I went over to Montrose this morning, March 4, to see what was around. There were a couple very small areas of open water along the shore, one at the harbor mouth and the other near the tower at the bend of the point. Both areas had birds, mainly White-winged Scoters, Greater Scaup, Redheads, Common Goldeneye, and Red-breasted Mergansers. The open area near the tower was all of about 10 feet in diameter and crammed with birds. The situation looked desperate and reminded me of when whales get trapped in small areas of open water surrounded by ice in the Arctic. Lake Michigan was frozen from horizon to horizon, though there was a decent sized lead just east of the fishing pier. I couldn’t figure out why the ducks that seemed to be trapped didn’t just get up and fly a few hundred yards to the larger area of open water. Maybe they were afraid of losing their places or leaving the safety of what little open water they thought existed. When I was walking back from the fishing pier I did see a group of scoters flying from the small area of open water near the tower to the lead, so some of them figured it out. I also saw several dead ducks on the ice which I guess shouldn’t be surprising considering the conditions.

Probable Snowy Owl Pellet, February 8, 2014

Probable Snowy Owl Pellet (click to see the larger version)

I walked around Montrose on Saturday morning, February 8 for a little while. I didn’t see anything unexpected but I did find a putative Snowy Owl pellet on the revetment just south of the beach. It’s about 3.5 inches long and 1.5 inches wide and looks like the remains of a small mammal, perhaps a rat. I’m assuming it’s from a Snowy Owl based on the size of the bolus, the location, and the fact that so many Snowy Owls have been around. The specimen will be donated to the Field Museum.

Followup: Field Museum biologist Josh Engel determined that the remains are from a scaup.

Red-throated Loon, White-winged Scoters, and Long-tailed Duck, February 1, 2014

Waterfowl at Montrose Harbor (click to see the larger version)

Karen and I walked around Montrose for a little while this morning. The lake was covered in ice for as far as we could see but there were a few open areas of water, and these open areas of water had birds.

Our biggest surprise was a juvenile Red-throated Loon off the end of the fishing pier. We actually heard the bird calling when we were walking on the beach but we didn’t know what it was. We thought it might be a person yelling for help since it sounded like a cry or a wail. When we got to the edge of the beach we could see the loon on the water and see and hear it calling. Mystery solved, and I don’t know if I’ve ever heard a Red-throated Loon call before. Unfortunately the bird flew off to the south before I could get my camera on it. There were also a lot of waterfowl here, including 40+ White-winged Scoters, a female type Long-tailed Duck, 5 Greater Scaup, Common and Red-breasted Mergansers, and Common Goldeneye.

The other area of open water was at the harbor mouth. We had 15 more White-winged Scoters here, as well as 35 or so Greater Scaup and a few Common Goldeneye and Red-breasted Mergansers (see the photo above). Not a bad start to February.

Snowy Owl and White-winged Scoters, January 30, 2014

Snowy Owl in the dunes at Montrose Beach (click to see the larger version)

My birding highlight today was undoubtedly the pale and minimally marked Snowy Owl I saw at the beach. The bird was roosting on top of a “snow dune” in the western panne when I first noticed it. After a few minutes of looking at and photographing the bird I noticed someone walking almost straight towards it and me from the west, waving his arms. At first I thought he might be a birder or photographer alerting me to the owl, but it became apparent that he was just walking his dog on the beach and waving his arms for exercise. When this fellow and his dog got too close, the Snowy Owl flew about a hundred yards to the southwest and landed on the open beach outside the protected area. The bird remained here until the dog walker turned around and started heading back west. When the guy and his dog got too close again the owl flew back to the north and landed on top of the shelf ice on the beach. I watched the bird for a little while but when I looked back a few minutes later I didn’t see it. This is the palest Snowy Owl I’ve seen anywhere this season, and one of the palest I’ve ever seen. I’m guessing it’s an older male. Unfortunately the photos I took don’t do it justice.

White-winged Scoters (click to see the larger version)

After the Snowy Owl excitement I walked back along the lake and had a group of 5 White-winged Scoters, including 3 adult males, very close to shore near the tower in the native planting area. This has been an exceptional winter for White-winged Scoters along the Chicago lakefront.

January 26, 2014

Brown Creeper (click to see the larger version)

Karen and I were feeling adventurous today so we decided to walk over to Montrose for a change. I live about a mile from Montrose and I almost never walk over there anymore. The theme for the day was ice and snow everywhere, and not many birds to be seen. Except for a few open patches of water, Lake Michigan was iced over as far as we could see.

Our birding highlights were a surprise Brown Creeper working a hackberry tree in the Marovitz golf course and a dazzling adult male White-winged Scoter swimming in a very small area of open water at the harbor mouth. We also saw a few Greater Scaup, a Fox Sparrow near the Magic Hedge, and good numbers of American Robins feeding in hawthorns near the beachhouse.

The Montrose Birding Blog

Bird and Nature Sightings from Montrose Point in Chicago