Tag Archives: Shorebirds

Piping Plover and White-eyed Vireo, November 3, 2018

White-eyed Vireo

White-eyed Vireo (click to see the larger version)

When you think of November and the Chicago lakefront, birds like Black-legged Kittiwake, Purple Sandpiper, Harlequin Duck, and Red-throated Loon come to mind, but today’s highlights at Montrose include 2 species that shouldn’t be anywhere near northern Illinois at this time of the year. The Piping Plover found in mid-October was still on the beach. This bird has been present for 2 weeks and doesn’t appear to have any intention of leaving. I’m guessing that 98% of the world’s Piping Plovers are on their wintering grounds now, making this one of the latest Piping Plover records for Illinois.

The other late bird was a White-eyed Vireo (found by Jeff Bilsky). This is the latest White-eyed Vireo for Montrose I know of and one of just a handful of fall records for us (White-eyed Vireos are more or less regular in spring). Link to my eBird checklist for the day below.

eBird Checklist
https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S49644408

Piping Plover, October 18

Piping Plover

Piping Plover (click to see the larger version)

A very late Piping Plover was at Montrose Beach on October 18. The bird has been present for a couple of days and represents the latest record of this species for Montrose.

While the Piping Plover was the best bird it wasn’t the only goodie. I tallied 59 species in about 3 hours of birding, highlighted by Short-eared Owl, the continuing Eastern Wood-Pewee, and a female Black-throated Blue Warbler. Link to my eBird checklist below.

eBird Checklist
https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S49271735

October 13, 2018 – Brrr

Eastern Wood-Pewee

Eastern Wood-Pewee (click to see the larger version)

It was so cold at Montrose this morning, October 13, Lake Michigan was steaming. This is a common sight in winter but rare at this time of the year, caused by a large difference in temperature between the water and air (about 30 degrees today early in the morning). Birding was productive, with lots of expected mid fall migrants like Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned Kinglets, Yellow-rumped Warblers, and Hermit Thrushes, plus a few late warblers and other passerines. Many insect-eating passerines were feeding on the ground or close to it because of the cold. I ended up with 56 species in about 4 hours. Best birds were Semipalmated Sandpiper, Merlin, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Eastern Wood-Pewee, and Nelson’s Sparrow. Link to my eBird checklist for the day below.

eBird Checklist
https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S49165548

Dunlin, August 23, 2018

Dunlin

Dunlin (click to see the larger version)

A juvenile Dunlin was at Montrose Beach on August 23. This is the earliest Dunlin I’ve ever seen in Chicago and only the second juvenile. We usually don’t start seeing immature Dunlin until the second or third week in September, and by then they’ve started to moult and show gray first basic/formative upperpart feathers, so this is significant.

eBird Checklist
https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S48021520

Semipalmated Sandpiper, June 24, 2018

Semipalmated Sandpiper

Semipalmated Sandpiper (click to see the larger version)

We’re in the gray area for shorebird migration. The first southbound shorebirds should start appearing any day now (Least Sandpipers and Lesser Yellowlegs) if they haven’t appeared already, but a few shorebirds could still be moving north. This morning, June 24, I saw a Semipalmated Sandpiper at Montrose Beach. I tend to think this bird is a very late northbound migrant as opposed to a very early southbound migrant. We see Semi Sans regularly at Montrose well into June; I think this bird is at the tail end of that trend.

eBird Checklist
https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S46761203