Tag Archives: Lake Michigan

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.

October 31, 2014 Storm

I went over to Montrose this afternoon to see the wave action on Lake Michigan from the storm that went through. I’ve lived in Chicago all my life and I’ve seen some impressive weather but this storm has to rank near the top in terms of violence and intensity. A large part of the dunes at Montrose Beach was flooded. At times part of the fishing pier was under water. Waves were crashing 20-30 feet high against the fishing pier. Lake Michigan was roiling. I even saw a few birds, including a Northern Harrier flying south over the lake.

The Return of the Green Gunk

Shorebirds and Algae

Shorebirds and Algae (click to see the larger version)

Green gunk has returned to Montrose Beach. Green gunk is just algae that has washed up and accumulated on the beach. Shorebirds love to feed in this stuff. This morning, July 26, there were ~30 Sanderlings, ~6 Semipalmated Sandpipers, a fresh juvenile Least Sandpiper, 4 Semipalmated Plovers, plus the local Killdeer and Spotted Sandpipers feeding in the gunk inside the protected area at he east end of the beach.

March 4, 2014

Waterfowl trapped by ice

Waterfowl trapped by ice (click to see the larger version)

I went over to Montrose this morning, March 4, to see what was around. There were a couple very small areas of open water along the shore, one at the harbor mouth and the other near the tower at the bend of the point. Both areas had birds, mainly White-winged Scoters, Greater Scaup, Redheads, Common Goldeneye, and Red-breasted Mergansers. The open area near the tower was all of about 10 feet in diameter and crammed with birds. The situation looked desperate and reminded me of when whales get trapped in small areas of open water surrounded by ice in the Arctic. Lake Michigan was frozen from horizon to horizon, though there was a decent sized lead just east of the fishing pier. I couldn’t figure out why the ducks that seemed to be trapped didn’t just get up and fly a few hundred yards to the larger area of open water. Maybe they were afraid of losing their places or leaving the safety of what little open water they thought existed. When I was walking back from the fishing pier I did see a group of scoters flying from the small area of open water near the tower to the lead, so some of them figured it out. I also saw several dead ducks on the ice which I guess shouldn’t be surprising considering the conditions.

March 21, 2013

We’re three weeks into meteorological spring now and winter just won’t let go. I didn’t see anything of note, except that ice seems to be reforming on Lake Michigan! Yes, it’s been that cold. The harbor is still mostly frozen over and the beach is covered in ice. I wonder if this is the beginning of a new ice age?

March 15, 2013

Montrose Beach

Ice encrusted Montrose Beach, looking west from the fishhook pier. This is spring? (click to see the larger version)

There seemed to be some movement this morning, especially waterfowl. The slight southerly component to the wind must have done some good, though it still felt like winter. Some of the birds I saw include:

Canada Geese – ~200, in groups of 10s, 20s, and 30s
White-winged Scoter – 1
Canvasback – 6
Ring-necked Duck – 2 in the harbor
Scaup sp – ~50
Northern Shoveler – 2
Green-winged Teal – 1
Gadwall – 2
Great Blue Heron – 1
Lapland Longspur – 1
Snow Bunting – 1