White-winged Scoters
Snowy Owl (Click to see the larger version)
I thought the Snowy Owl parade was over at Montrose but this morning I saw a heavily marked individual on the fishing pier. The bird was initially near the beach but flew down and landed on the ice inside the fishhook part of the pier. As I was leaving I checked the pier again and the bird was back up on it near the light tower. This is the first Snowy Owl I’ve seen at Montrose in several weeks and the first of the year.
I walked around Montrose for a little while this morning. There wasn’t a lot around, as is expected for mid January, but I did see 2 Snow Buntings on the beach inside the protected area and a White-winged Scoter just outside the entrance to the harbor. The scoter was right up against the rocks with a group of Mallards. I saw nothing else of note birdwise, though the ice formation on the beach is rather striking.
I was surprised to see 4 Snowy Owls at Montrose this morning. I thought most had left but it appears more came in to replace them. Two were on the fishing pier, one was on the ice shelf at the west end of the beach, and the other was flying south over the point, almost like it was migrating. I also saw an adult or near adult Glaucous Gull flying north, the Snow Goose in the harbor, and 4 Snow Buntings and a single Lapland Longspur on the beach.
I had 2 Snowy Owls at Montrose this morning, an immature male or older female sitting on the shelf ice at the east end of the beach and an immature male or older female on one of the star docks inside the harbor. I did not see the immature female, which had been hanging around the fishing pier. I also had a Snow Bunting and Lapland Longspur flying over the beach.
I had 6 Lapland Longspurs at the east end of Montrose Beach on this wintery morning. They were feeding in the dunes on grass seeds near the light tower. Oh, I almost forgot, I also had 4 and possibly 5 Snowy Owls. I saw one in the harbor when I arrived and then one on the beach and three on the fishing pier, including a bird that flew in. I didn’t see the Snowy in the harbor when I went back so one of the birds on the fishing pier could have been the harbor bird.
Karen and I spent a couple hours at Montrose on October 26.
The highlight were a 100 or so Franklin’s Gulls. Most were flying over
and continuing south but a few spent some time on the beach. The largest
flock was about 50 birds, the smallest 4. This is one of my best counts
of Franklin’s Gulls at Montrose ever, a consequence no doubt of the
recent strong westerly winds. In addition to the Franklin’s we had a
number of other birds of interest, including:
American Bittern – 1 in the dunes
Bonaparte’s Gull – 6, all first cycle birds
Short-eared Owl – 2 flying around the dunes and over the lake
Greater Yellowlegs – 1 on the beach
Wilson’s Snipe – 1
American Woodcock – 1
Lapland Longspur – 1
Snow Bunting – 2
American Pipit – 1
West winds in late October do a birder good.