Category Archives: Birding Tips

Sandhill Cranes (not at Montrose but not far away), November 22, 2021

Sandhill Cranes

Migrating Sandhill Cranes over Chicago. Taken at Graceland Cemetery. (click to see the larger version)

A big push of Sandhill Cranes took place over Chicago on November 22, 2021. These birds were migrating en masse, responding to an intense cold front and strong northwest winds, typical behavior for Sandhills in late fall. When I started to see flocks from my apartment around noon I walked over to Graceland Cemetery to get a better look. From Graceland I could see multiple flocks drifting south one to two miles to the west and 300 to 500 feet high, possibly following the Chicago River or Western Avenue (the photo shows how I was seeing them). We rarely get big numbers of Sandhills like this at Montrose, unless the wind is blowing very hard from the west, and it wasn’t on November 22.

Sandhill Crane migration is fairly predictable in late fall – be alert for strong cold fronts with west winds. They also seem to move better on days with clear or at most partly cloudy skies. Heavy overcast and precipitation discourage them from flying.

Weather and Birding Forecast, November 12 – 14, 2021

A strong cold front will move through Chicago over the weekend of November 12 – 14. Daily high temperatures will be in the low 40s and winds will be westerly, at least for Saturday and Sunday, and in the 10 to 15 mile per hour range. This is an excellent setup for a late fall push of birds. These conditions often produce Short-eared Owls and Franklin’s Gulls, and we could see a few hawks migrating down Lake Michigan, especially Northern Harriers. Sandhill Cranes also move on these conditions, though we rarely see large numbers of them at Montrose. There’s always the possibility of something extraordinary showing up – it is November after all.

An Outside to Inside Approach to Birding Montrose

Graphic of Montrose Point

Graphic of Montrose Point (click to see the larger version)

You may wonder what the best way to bird Montrose is, especially if you’ve never been there before. Many of the experienced birders take an outside to inside approach. By this I mean starting at the outside areas like the beach and Dunes and working inwards to the interior areas. The reason for this is that lighting is better early in the morning in the more open areas. The interior areas are darker early in the morning and it sometimes takes a while for the birds to warm up and become active. Also, any shorebirds that were resting on the beach overnight may get flushed by early morning beachgoers, so checking the beach first thing can pay off. After birding the beach and Dunes I like to walk the peripheral areas at the east end of the Point. Again, these areas are more open and have better lighting early in the morning, and you can still scan Lake Michigan for waterbirds or look for landbirds coming in off the lake. When I’m done birding the periphery I start checking the interior, including the Magic Hedge and Butterfly Garden. By mid morning the lighting has improved and birds are more visible and active in these areas.

You’re free to bird Montrose however you like, but if you start at the beach and Dunes and check the interior areas later in the morning you’ll optimize your time there.

November Cometh

Snow Buntings

Snow Buntings at Montrose Dunes, fall 2020. (click to see the larger version)

November is one of the most exciting months of the year at Montrose. The list of rarities found there in November is long and distinguished. As examples, an Ancient Murrelet, just the fourth record for Illinois, made an appearance in 2019, and in 2020 the fourth state record Cassin’s Sparrow delighted birders. General birding can be good too. Here are a few November birding tips:

  • Check the beach and Dunes for Lapland Longspurs and Snow Buntings. The buntings favor the more open areas of the Dunes, and the longspurs are usually flying over. Both will sometimes feed out in the open on the beach or even in the algae that washes up on the beach.
  • On days with brisk west winds, Short-eared Owls are a good bet in the Dunes. They usually kick up out of the denser vegetation and fly out over Lake Michigan.
  • With a little effort and luck, Northern Saw-whet and Long-eared Owls can be found in the peripheral plantings. Look for whitewash and listen for scolding, excited Black-capped Chickadees.
  • The fishing pier is an excellent place to scan Lake Michigan for loons, grebes, and waterfowl, either resting on the surface or in flight. Overcast days with light winds offer the best viewing conditions.
  • Northern Shrikes like the Dunes and more open areas of the Point. Look for them perched in the tops of trees or flying through, flashing their white wing and tail spots.
  • Black-legged Kittiwakes sometimes turn up, especially on days with northeast winds. They aren’t a sure bet but if you’re at Montrose on a day with easterly winds, pay attention to the gulls flying by. This applies for jaegers too.

See the Montrose Glossary page for descriptions of the locations mentioned above.

Harris’s Sparrows

Harris's Sparrow

Harris’s Sparrow at Montrose. Photo courtesy of Mike Ferguson. (click to see the larger version)

The middle of October is Harris’s Sparrow time in Chicago. We see a handful every year at Montrose, usually in fall. On October 15 Terry Walsh found an adult Harris’s at the Magic Clump, and Kevin Lin found an immature on October 17. The best way to look for Harris’s is to check groups of sparrows, especially White-throated and White-crowned, which can occur anywhere at Montrose at this time of the year.

Where Are the Cold Fronts? October 7, 2021

Weather map

Weather map showing a cold front approaching Chicago. Photo by Heart of Illinois ABC. (click to see the larger version)

We’ve been experiencing unseasonably mild conditions for most of October, with intermittent rain and south or east winds. It’s felt more like April or May and this pattern is forecast to continue into the middle of the month. These are poor conditions for fall migration. When October comes, birders look forward with eager anticipation to cold fronts and west winds, ideal conditions that bring large numbers of migrants south. A cold front is the leading edge of a colder air mass that originates to the north of us. The graphic illustrates what a cold front looks like on a weather map – a blue, curved line with small triangles that look like teeth. Migrants ride these cold fronts south out of Canada. If you’ve been to Montrose in the last week you’ve probably noticed how flat it feels. We are getting migrants, but not big numbers of birds we should be seeing now, like Yellow-rumped Warblers and White-throated Sparrows. At some point this pattern will break and things will change. Being a birder means waiting a lot for something to happen.