Beaver, October 11, 2015

Beaver

Beaver (click to see the larger version)

The best bird this morning wasn’t even a bird but a Beaver. I saw this one swimming south in Lake Michigan, hugging the fishing pier. I’m always surprised how big Beavers are when I see them in the wild; I’d say this one was 2.5 feet long and maybe 40 pounds. There really isn’t any suitable Beaver habitat at Montrose so I think most pass through and don’t stay long, though there is evidence in the form of chewed branches that they use the Dunes.

To see a short video of the Beaver on YouTube, follow this link. For more on Beavers in general, take a look at this Wikipedia article.

Whimbrel, September 24, 2015

Whimbrel

Whimbrel (click to see the larger version)

A juvenile Whimbrel was at Montrose Dunes this evening, September 24. The bird spent a couple hours in the dunes, mostly in the southeast corner. This is the latest Whimbrel I’ve seen at Montrose and possibly the latest I’ve seen in the Midwest. The peak for fall Whimbrel migration on the west side of Lake Michigan is around Labor Day.

Bonaparte’s Gulls, April 25, 2015

There was a lot of activity on the lake at Montrose this morning, April 25, including good numbers of Caspian Terns, Double-crested Cormorants, and Red-breasted Mergansers. More exciting were the Bonaparte’s Gulls. In about 45 minutes I estimate I had about 200 moving north past the point, and I only stopped looking when the rain started coming down in earnest. Bonaparte’s Gulls have become rare at Montrose in the spring, so seeing this many was a pleasant surprise. I also had a single Common Loon and White-winged Scoter and flocks of Lesser Scaup. Migrant landbirds were scarce, as would be expected with northeast winds.