Tag Archives: Lesser Black-backed Gull

The Sweet Season, May 9, 2019

Common Nighthawk

Common Nighthawk. Photo by M. Ferguson (click to see the larger version)

The sweet season has commenced. Days like May 9 make suffering through Chicago winters worth it. I don’t know if the volume of birds was better than the fantastic weekend of May 4-5 but the variety certainly was. I tallied 95 species in about 3.5 hours of morning birding, my best spring total to date (according to eBird, over 120 species were reported). My highlights include 3 Black-bellied Plovers, Willet, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Common and Forster’s Terns, a roosting Common Nighthawk, 5 woodpeckers, 19 species of warblers (Pine, Northern Parula, and Blue-winged being the best), and Clay-colored Sparrow. Link to my eBird checklist below.

eBird Checklist
https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S56042131

Iceland Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Red-throated Loon, April 27, 2019

Iceland Gull

Iceland Gull (click to see the larger version)

Lake Michigan was alive with birds this morning, April 27. Red-breasted Mergansers, Caspian Terns, and Double-crested Cormorants were conspicuous in their abundance. I didn’t see any unusual large shorebirds but I did have a pale third cycle type Iceland Gull on the beach and a second cycle Lesser Black-backed Gull flying around the fishing pier. Also, a late Red-throated Loon going north. Link to my eBird checklist for the day below.

eBird Checklist
https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S55463035

Great Black-backed and Lesser Black-backed Gulls, November 9, 2014

I spent about an hour at Montrose this morning, November 9, mostly looking at the lake from the fishing pier. Lake Michigan was nice and calm and the visibility was excellent but there wasn’t much out there, either on the water or flying by. I did have a first cycle Great Black-backed Gull, probably one of Steve Spitzer’s birds from Loyola, a Common Merganser, my first of the season, and a lone Snow Bunting. Walking back I found a first cycle Lesser Black-backed Gull on the beach, again probably a Steve bird from Loyola. I didn’t look for the Red-necked Grebe but others said it was still in the harbor.