Tag Archives: Mimids

May 10, 2014

I spent a few hours at Montrose this morning. It wasn’t as active as May 8 but I still ended up with 86 species, and I had almost 20(!) birds today that I didn’t see on Thursday. Here are my highlights:

Mute Swan – 3 flew in from the south and landed in the lake just off the beach
Northern Shoveler – 3 flying north over the lake
White-winged Scoter – 1 in the lake off the fishhook pier
Red-breasted Merganser – 11
Great Egret – 11, including a group of 8, all flying south
Northern Harrier – 1 immature flying south high over the point
Ruddy Turnstone – 2 on the beach
Laughing Gull – 1 adult flying south over the fishhook pier
Common Tern – 3
Red-headed Woodpecker – 1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker – 1 female
Yellow-throated Vireo – 1
Philadelphia Vireo – 1
All 5 swallows, with most of the Cliffs and Banks moving south
Marsh Wren – 1
Northern Mockingbird – 1
Blue-winged Warbler – 1
Black-throated Blue Warbler – 1 male
Blackburnian Warbler – 1
Mourning Warbler – 1
Scarlet Tanager – 1 male, flew in off the lake and landed in the dunes
Lark Sparrow – 1, flew in off the lake and landed in the dunes
Dickcissel – 1 singing male

There seemed to be a fair amount of turnover between today and Thursday, with fewer White-crowned Sparrows, Catharus thrushes, Gray Catbirds, Brown Thrashers, Eastern Kingbirds, and Least Flycatchers today. Warblers are still scant.

Hooded Warbler and Northern Mockingbird, June 2, 2013

Montrose wasn’t very active this morning, as is to be expected for the first week in June, but I had a few goodies. A male Hooded Warbler was singing in the Magic Hedge. I never saw him but others did. I also had a Northern Mockingbird in the willows in the dunes. Other birds seen or heard include Semipalmated Plover, Yellow-bellied and Willow Flycatchers, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Veery, 8 migrating Blue Jays, Wilson’s, Magnolia, and Chestnut-sided Warblers, Ovenbird, and American Redstart.

LeConte’s Sparrow and Northern Mockingbird, May 9, 2013

I went over to Montrose this evening to see if any shorebirds were on the beach. I didn’t have anything other than a pair of Spotted Sandpipers but there was a Northern Mockingbird working the willows in the dunes. I also had a LeConte’s Sparrow in the meadow, my first of the year and getting late. As others have reported there were scads of White-crowned Sparrows around. Interestingly, I didn’t see a single warbler of any kind.

Sage Thrasher!

Sage Thrasher

Sage Thrasher. Photo by Kanae Hirabayashi.

A Sage Thrasher (Oreoscoptes montanus) was discovered at Montrose on Saturday, October 29 by local birder and nature photographer Rob Curtis. The bird was still present the next day, much to the delight of those who couldn’t make it to Montrose on Saturday. This is a NEW species for Montrose, number 334. Sage Thrashers are found in the western United States but occasionally wander to the eastern United States, particularly in the fall. This is about the 6th record for Illinois. The photo at left was taken by my good friend Kanae Hirabayashi. October, or Rocktober as I like to call it, rarely disappoints.

For a complete list of the birds seen at Montrose, see the Montrose List.