Category Archives: Winter Bird Reports

December 1 – February 28/29, inclusive

Sandhill Crane, December 13, 2021, Plus a Few Winter Birding Tips

Sandhill Crane

Sandhill Crane over Montrose Harbor, December 13, 2021. (click to see the larger version)

A Sandhill Crane flew over Montrose Harbor on December 13. This is unusual for a couple reasons. Sandhill Cranes are uncommon migrants at Montrose. Their fall migration is usually a few miles west of us, so we miss most of them (see the recent November 22, 2021 Sandhill Cranes post for insight into this). Possible reasons for this scarcity include the intimidating wall of high rises along Lake Shore Drive and the lack of thermal formation over Lake Michigan. Sandhills are thermal seeking and thermal dependent during migration. These rising columns of warm air make flying long distances easier for them. If you’ve ever watched a group of Sandhills in flight you’ve probably noticed them wheeling and gaining altitude, looking for and finding thermals. Sandhills are also highly social birds, so seeing a lone crane is atypical. The Montrose bird looked lost and out of place, like it took a wrong turn and got separated from its friends.

2021/2022 Winter Birding Tips

Winter is the slow season at Montrose. It’s just a fact of life. You could consider yourself lucky and doing well if you saw 20 species there in a morning. As such, there are some things to do and birds to look for.

  • This is shaping up to be a good winter for Snowy Owls. Though none have been reported from Montrose yet, several have been seen just to the north and south along Lake Michigan. The best places to check for Snowies are the beach and Dunes and on the fishing pier, especially after it ices over.
  • The fruiting trees are hosting numbers of robins and starlings. That’s probably all you will see but there’s always a chance a more unusual frugivore will show up, like a Townsend’s Solitaire or Varied Thrush.
  • The open waters of Lake Michigan and the harbor are attracting large numbers of ducks, mainly Red-breasted Mergansers, but as long as the water remains open, an unusual duck, loon, or grebe is possible. Don’t forget to check the harbor mouth too.
  • Several expected sparrows have been turning up in the Butterfly Garden, especially towards the north end in the hawthorns. Where groups of common birds gather, something unusual may find its way.

As always, don’t forget to check the Montrose Point eBird Hotspot for current sightings.

Montrose Point eBird Hotspot

February 17, 2021 – Frozen

Montrose Point, with the Chicago skyline in the background

Montrose Point, with the Chicago skyline in the background (click to see the larger version)

I walked over to Montrose on February 17 and it looked like the Arctic. Lake Michigan was frozen over with thick ice north to south and east all the way to the horizon. Deep snow made walking challenging. I felt like Jeremiah Johnson, trudging through the snow with my gear. The last time I can remember Lake Michigan being so frozen was during the brutal winter of 2013/2014 when 93% of the surface was covered in ice by early March. According to NOAA, current ice coverage on Lake Michigan is 27%, so most of this ice is along the shore.

Birds were sparse. I ended up with a whopping 16 species, one of my lowest totals this winter. Best were continuing White-crowned and Swamp Sparrows that have managed to hang on despite the snow and cold. More interesting to me were a group of American Crows eating sumac berries. Sumac berries are considered a low-quailty fruit; most wildlife avoid consuming them unless they’re really desperate.

The good news is that temps are supposed to warm up above freezing by next week, which should start melting all the snow and ice.

Link to my eBird checklist for the morning below.

eBird Checklist
February 17, 2021

Open Water Means Life

White-winged Scoters, Red-breasted Mergansers, and Greater Scaup

White-winged Scoters, Red-breasted Mergansers, and Greater Scaup. March 2014. (click to see the larger version)

Lake Michigan is a huge body of water. At 300 miles long and almost 120 miles at its widest, it’s rightly considered an inland sea as much as a large lake. In winter, Lake Michigan supports tens if not hundreds of thousands of waterfowl. Most are Common and Red-breasted Mergansers, Common Goldeneye, Long-tailed Ducks, and Greater Scaup. Any open area of water on the Lake will host at least a few of these species in winter. These birds depend on the Lake for food. As long as they have access to open water they can hunt for fish, crustaceans, and mollusks and survive the worst that winter has to offer. They’re all resilient birds. Lake Michigan has never completely frozen over, but it’s come close. The winter of 2013/2014 was especially cold and saw a 93% peak ice coverage in early March. The stress this puts on the birds that depend on having open water is enormous. Some don’t make it. I remember the winter of 2013/2014. In early March, Lake Michigan was frozen to the horizon at Montrose Point in Chicago, with a tiny open spot off the southeast point. In this open spot were a group of Greater Scaup, White-winged Scoters, and Red-breasted Mergansers, all desperate and trying frantically to survive. The only thing keeping the water from freezing was their paddling and movement. I found several dead ducks, some frozen on the ice, and a few even on land. This is a reminder of how harsh nature can be, and what happens when a resource becomes unavailable to large numbers of birds.

Red-breasted and Common Mergansers and Herring Gulls

Red-breasted and Common Mergansers and Herring Gulls. February 2021. (click to see the larger version)

As I write this post in mid-February 2021, Chicago is experiencing a stretch of unseasonably cold late winter weather. Most of Lake Michigan at Montrose is frozen to the horizon, with small areas of open water at the harbor mouth and off the fishing pier. From a birding point of view, checking these open areas is worthwhile since they tend to attract and concentrate ducks and gulls. In addition to the expected Common and Red-breasted Mergansers and Common Goldeneye, we’ve seen Long-tailed Duck and Black Scoter. According to NOAA, Lake Michigan has about 27% ice coverage, a far cry from 93% in 2014. If the unseasonably cold weather persists, the 27% will no doubt increase.

February 10, 2021 – Waterfowl and Gulls

Black Scoter

Black Scoter (click to see the larger version)

I walked over to Montrose on February 10, the first time I’ve been there since the polar air and bitter temps set in a week ago. Not surprisingly, Lake Michigan was mostly frozen, though an area of open water extended from the harbor mouth and along the shore up to the fishing pier. Hundreds of waterfowl and gulls were here, mostly Red-breasted and Common Mergansers, Common Goldeneye, and Herring Gulls. Best were a female type Black Scoter, a female Long-tailed Duck, seven Iceland Gulls, and a first cycle Lesser Black-backed Gull. A frozen Lake Michigan concentrates waterfowl in the remaining open water; these conditions are great for birding but admittedly hard on the birds. More photos are at my eBird checklist for the morning, URL below.

eBird Checklist
February 10, 2021

Long-tailed Duck, February 2, 2021

Long-tailed Duck with a fish (click to see the larger version)

A very tame female Long-tailed Duck showed up in the harbor on February 1. She was still there on February 2. The bird has a pale spot on the bill, a mark I associate with male Long-tailed Ducks, but I think the head is too dark for a young male and the scapulars are brown, not pale gray as would be expected on a young male Long-tailed. Note the small fish she caught in the photo. More photos of this bird are at my eBird checklist for the day, URL below.

The west side of Montrose Harbor is still open and has been hosting a decent variety of waterfowl for us and for the time of the year, including Greater and Lesser Scaup, a Bufflehead, an American Black Duck, and until recently, a Brant and Snow Goose. This will probably change with the bitterly cold air forecast to arrive over the weekend.

eBird Checklist
February 2, 2021