Tag Archives: Shorebirds

October 13, 2021 – Peregrine Falcons and More

Peregrine Falcon

Peregrine Falcon (click to see the larger version)

It was a Peregrine kind of day at Montrose on October 13. This juvenile perched obligingly in a snag long enough to have its picture taken. We also had an adult Peregrine, which knocked a poor migrating Winter Wren out of the sky and into Lake Michigan.

The Peregrine Falcons weren’t the only highlight. October 13 was one of the best days of the fall at Montrose for passerine migration, with lots of Swamp Sparrows, Yellow-rumped Warblers, and kinglets. Bonus birds include American Avocet and three Franklin’s Gulls. I ended up with 52 species for the morning. Link to my eBird checklist below.

eBird Checklist
October 13, 2021

American Avocets, October 11, 2021

American Avocets

American Avocets (click to see the larger version)

American Avocets are strange birds. At Montrose, we see them from late April to early November and every month between. There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to this pattern – they show up when they show up. The only other shorebird with such a broad range of temporal occurrence is Killdeer. These four American Avocets graced Montrose Beach on October 11. Link to my eBird checklist for the day below.

eBird Checklist
October 11, 2021

September 7, 2021

Olive-sided Flycatcher

Olive-sided Flycatcher (click to see the larger version)

I spent about three hours birding Montrose on September 7 and it was time well spent. I tallied 51 species for my effort and saw a number of personal first of season birds. According to eBird, almost 80 species were recorded by all observers. Swainson’s Thrushes have arrived and they seemed to be everywhere. The dogwood north of the Magic Hedge and the cherry trees in the meadow were flush with them. My highlights include

Baird’s Sandpiper
Stilt Sandpiper
Black-billed Cuckoo
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Golden-winged Warbler
Northern Parula

Additionally, swarms of Chimney Swifts were moving south over the Point. I estimated 600 but that total is likely conservative. Link to my eBIrd checklist for the day below.

eBird Checklist
September 7, 2021

Good News

Montrose Beach

. Flooding at Montrose Beach (click to see the larger version)

The heavy rain on the night of August 24 flooded parts of the Dunes and beach at Montrose, creating shorebird habitat. Before the rain the Dunes and beach were bone dry. We’ll see how long this habitat lasts. We’re in the peak of shorebird migration, so additional rain can only help.

Whimbrel Time

A Whimbrel made a brief appearance at Montrose on August 22, the first one reported this summer. We’re coming into the peak time for Whimbrels, from late August to early September. Take a look at the screenshot below from eBird.

eBird screenshot

Obviously the beach is the best place to look for Whimbrels. We see them along the shore, up on the beach mixed in with Ring-billed Gulls, in the Dunes, and flying by. Whimbrels are vociferous birds and their loud, excited call is distinctive. Don’t forget to check the beach and Dunes in the afternoon and evening too.

We Have Liftoff!

On August 10 I saw the two surviving juvenile Piping Plovers, Imani and Siewka, make sustained flights, first out over Lake Michigan north of the beach and back, and then over Lake Michigan east of the Point. One of the adults accompanied them on these sojourns. This is the first time I’ve seen them fly for any distance or length of time. Before they could fly, the young plovers were vulnerable to a variety of avian and mammal predators and competitors, including gulls, Cooper’s Hawks, Peregrine Falcons, Great Blue Herons, Raccoons, skunks, and aggressive parental Killdeer. Now they have at least a fighting chance against these threats and their chances for survival increase dramatically. Two of the siblings from the 2021 brood disappeared before fledging and were likely lost to predators.

2021 is the third year in a row Monty and Rose have raised young at Montrose to fledging, a monumental conservation success story by any measure.