Category Archives: Winter Bird Reports

December 1 – February 28/29, inclusive

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.

Long-tailed Duck and Common Redpoll, December 10, 2014

I had a drake Long-tailed Duck at the mouth of Montrose Harbor this morning, December 10. This looks like the same bird that was at Loyola recently. My other good bird for the morning was a flyover Common (I assume) Redpoll while looking at the Long-tailed Duck. Also, 2 lingering Ruddy Ducks and all 3 mergansers. Video of the Long-tailed below.

December 7, 2014

Red-tailed Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk (click to see the larger version)

I spent about an hour at Montrose this morning, December 7. The birds and birding feel mostly like winter, which means I didn’t have a lot of variety, but the morning wasn’t a total loss. I didn’t see the Snowy Owl, and it wasn’t seen yesterday, so perhaps it has moved on. I suspect there will be a few more this winter, judging from the numbers to the north of us. The large raptor highlight was the continuing juvenile Red-tailed Hawk, which was dining on a rabbit near the Magic Hedge. This bird has been around for about a month and has no doubt made significant progress in reducing the rabbit population at Montrose. I also saw a young Great Black-backed Gull flying around the fishing pier, a male Red-bellied Woodpecker, and a heard only Snow Bunting. There were birds inside the harbor too, including a lone lingering Horned Grebe, a handful of Greater and Lesser Scaup, and what looks like a young male Ring-necked Duck.

Long-tailed Duck, December 3, 2014

I walked around Montrose for a little while this morning, December 3. My best find was the continuing female Long-tailed Duck in Lake Michigan near the tower at the southeast corner of the point. I haven’t seen her in a couple of days but I assume this is the same bird.

Other birds seen at Montrose this a.m. include 3 Ruddy Ducks in the lake outside of the harbor, 2 Horned Grebes inside the harbor, and a flyover Pine Siskin.

Probable Snowy Owl Pellet, February 8, 2014

Probable Snowy Owl Pellet

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

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.