An Eastern Phoebe and Eastern Meadowlark were at Montrose this morning. There were also a lot of Song Sparrows around. On the waterfowl front I had 4 Canvasbacks, 3 Green-winged Teal, and 3 American Wigeon flying south along the lake. The trails and paths were wet and muddy but at least the snow and ice are starting to melt.
Long-tailed Duck, March 8, 2013
Long-tailed Duck (click to see a larger version)
A female Long-tailed Duck was at the northwest side of the harbor this morning. She was swimming in a small area of open water near the harbor wall with a group of Common Goldeneye. Long-tailed Ducks are uncommon visitors to Montrose and they only rarely show up in the harbor.
Horned Lark, March 6, 2013
I had a Horned Lark fly in off of Lake Michigan this morning. This is just the second bona fide spring migrant passerine I’ve had at Montrose, the first being a Song Sparrow a couple of days ago. There were also 2 drake Greater Scaup in the lake and the Snow Goose continues in the harbor.
The forecast calls for a warmup by the end of the week. I can’t wait.
Great Black-backed Gull, March 4, 2013
I had a third or fourth cycle Great Black-backed Gull this morning. The bird flew in from the north, circled a couple of times near the harbor and continued south. Great Black-backed Gulls are very uncommon visitors to Montrose. I also saw the Snow Goose in the still frozen over harbor.
March 1, 2013
The female type White-winged Scoter was still in the lake just south of the east end of the harbor this morning. I also had a female Greater Scaup in the harbor and a White-throated Sparrow under a tree at the east end of the harbor.
Waiting for spring…
White-winged Scoter, February 28, 2013
A female type White-winged Scoter was in Lake Michigan just south of the east end of the harbor this morning. This has been a good February for White-winged Scoters in Illinois. Hopefully this trend will continue into March.
I didn’t see the Ross’s or Snow Geese. The grass they have been feeding on is covered in an inch or two of snow so perhaps they flew off to greener pastures.