Category Archives: Rare Birds

Posts about rare birds

Black-necked Stilts, Franklin’s Gulls, and Probable Neotropic Cormorant, May 27, 2016

Franklin's Gulls

Franklin’s Gulls (click to see the larger version)

I spent a couple hours at Montrose this morning, May 27. Most of the passerines from earlier in the week must have flown north with the south winds, which isn’t surprising. The waterbirding however was much better. Two Black-necked Stilts and 2 immature Franklin’s Gulls were on the beach early in the morning. The stilts were in the fluddle on the beach, working west and feeding along the way. They flew to the east and disappeared after a little while. The Franklin’s Gulls didn’t stay long either. Black-necked Stilt is an accidental species at Montrose, with just one previous record.

The real excitement came when a group of Double-crested Cormorants flew over that contained a noticeably smaller cormorant. We could tell the bird was brownish, so it was probably an immature, and based on size likely a Neotropic, a species unrecorded at Montrose. The bird was too far away and the flock was moving too fast to make out any other plumage features. I’m not going to add it to the list of birds seen at Montrose because of the distance involved but I think it was a Neotropic.

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Say’s Phoebe, May 16, 2016

Says' Phoebe

Say’s Phoebe. Photo by Ron Blazek (click to see the larger version)

A Say’s Phoebe was at Montrose this morning, May 16. The bird was found in the southeastern corner of the Dunes and worked its way to the western panne where it was last seen. This is the second record of Say’s Phoebe from Montrose, the first coming from May 11, 2001. Say’s Phoebe is casual in Illinois (3 to 7 accepted records in the last 10 years).

Slaty-backed Gull, January 30, 2016

Slaty-backed Gull

Slaty-backed Gull in Montrose Harbor. Photo by Kanae Hirabayashi. (click to see a larger version)

An adult Slaty-backed Gull was at Montrose Harbor this morning, January 30. I first noticed the bird sitting on the water at the west end of the harbor around 7:45. I had a hunch it was a Slaty-backed due to the large size, dark upperpart color, heavy head and neck streaking, and prominent white tertial crescent. When the bird flew I could see several additional clinching field marks, including the broad white trailing edge to the wing and “string of pearls” primary pattern. The bird settled down on the ice for the next 45 minutes or so and several people were able to see and photograph it. It seemed quite content but at 8:45 it got up and flew to the north and didn’t come back. This is the 340th species and 20th gull for Montrose.

I had a few other things at Montrose this a.m., including an adult Thayer’s Gull in the harbor, 6 flyby White-winged Scoters, and the 2 continuing female type Ruddy Ducks in the lake south of the handicapped parking lot. Some kind of small fish are running in the harbor, which probably explains why there have been so many Herring and Ring-billed Gulls around, and why the Slaty-backed showed up.

Quincy Ivory Gull, January 3, 2015

Ivory Gull

Adult Ivory Gull at Quincy, Illinois. Photo by Amar Ayyash. (click to see the larger version)

After getting off to a late start Karen and I arrived at Lock and Dam 21 at 3:00 on the afternoon of January 3, 2015 to look for the adult Ivory Gull found a couple days earlier by local birder Jason Mullins. I didn’t need Ivory Gull for anything, having seen the 1991/92 Chicago bird and several others in Iowa and Wisconsin, but Karen needed it for a lifer, so we decided to make the long trek to Quincy, Illinois to look for the bird after reading that it was seen that morning. I was also reluctant to go because of the inclement weather and forecast poor road conditions, but the only precipitation we encountered was liquid, so the roads were just wet and not icy as I had feared.

At about 4:00 a fellow from Kansas spotted the bird standing on a small ice floe about a mile up river and probably in Missouri waters from where we were at the lock and dam. We could tell it was little Pagophila but we wanted better looks so we got in our cars and raced north. Just south of the bridge we saw a group of birders with scopes standing in a parking lot next to the river and when we got closer one of them pointed out over the river, so we knew they had the Ivory Gull. After some fumbling around we were able to get on the bird with our scopes, though it was still a long way off. We watched it preen and bath and nearly become a meal for a couple Bald Eagles (there are a lot of Bald Eagles around Quincy). We didn’t have the same mouth watering looks that others had but we saw the bird reasonably well and Karen got her lifer and I got my second Illinois Ivory Gull.

Curve-billed Thrasher and Clay-colored Sparrow, June 29, 2014

The Curve-billed Thrasher was still at Montrose early this morning, June 29. I was near the north end of the Magic Hedge when I noticed Geoff Williamson looking at and then pointing to something. I assumed he had the thrasher and when I got closer I could see the bird perched near the top of a Jack Pine. The thrasher posed obligingly for a minute or 2 before flying about 50 yards to the east and disappearing into the underbrush. I didn’t follow it but I assume it’s still in the area.

Clay-colored Sparrow

Clay-colored Sparrow (click to see the larger version)

Geoff also alerted me to a Clay-colored Sparrow he heard singing near the Park Bait Shop while driving in. I went over to the area and after a little poking around found the Clay-colored in the group of small evergreens just across the road from the Park Bait Shop. This is a very unusual sighting as Clay-colored Sparrows don’t normally occur at Montrose in late June.