Tag Archives: Sparrows

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

May 5, 2018

Yellow-headed Blackbird

Yellow-headed Blackbird (click to see the larger version)

The hit parade of spring migration wonderfulness continued today, May 5 at Montrose. I ended up with 101 species in 6 hours of birding, only the fifth time I’ve topped 100 species in a day at Montrose. Passerines were abundant, with White-crowned, White-throated, and Swamp Sparrows and Yellow-rumped and Palm Warblers leading the way. There were also good numbers of Gray Catbirds and Swainson’s Thrushes. Interestingly, many of these birds were feeding in the tops of trees that were just leafing out, apparently on newly emerged midges. Shorebird variety, however, was low, which was surprising given the complete lack of dogs on the beach (thanks to CPD security) and the presence of a large fluddle on the public beach. The large number of people probably didn’t help (there were 2 major events at Montrose today). My highlights include

White-eyed Vireo – 1, feeding in the top of trees, a common theme today
All 6 regularly occurring swallows
Golden-crowned Kinglet – 1, getting late
20 species of warbler, the best being Prothonotary and Golden-winged. Only Yellow-rumped, Palm, Northern Waterthrush, and Ovenbird were common however
Clay-colored Sparrow – 2
Lark Sparrow – 1
Yellow-breasted Chat – 1
Yellow-headed Blackbird – 1
Orchard Oriole – 2

eBird Checklist
https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S45299316

Montrose Unleashed, Part II, May 1, 2018

Franklin's Gull

Franklin’s Gull (click to see the larger version)

I took today off in anticipation of what I expected to be a great day of birding at Montrose Point in Chicago. It was fantastic, exceeding even my own optimistic expectations. The southwest winds brought in a ton of migrants – I’ve lost track of all the FOS’s I snatched up today. A review of eBird reports from Montrose shows about 125 species reported from about 20 submissions. This will probably go down as one of the best days this spring. My highlights include

Baird’s Sandpiper – Probably the same bird from yesterday. A very good spring bird for us.
Willet – 2
Franklin’s Gull – Older immature bird on the beach
All 6 regularly occurring swallows
All Catharus thrushes plus Wood Thrush. Excellent numbers of Swainson’s Thrushes.
19 species of warblers highlighted by Pine, Hooded, Blackpoll, Chestnut-sided, and Blackburnian
Grasshopper Sparrow – 1
Le Conte’s Sparrow – 1
Dickcissel – 1
Bobolink – 1
Orchard Oriole – 1
Rusty Blackbird – 1

I ended up with 102 species for the day, only the fourth time I’ve cracked the century mark at Montrose in the 30+ years of been birding the place.

eBird Checklist
https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S45143092

Short-eared Owl, Northern Shrike, Le Conte’s Sparrows, and Black-throated Blue Warbler, October 21, 2017

Montrose wasn’t quite as birdy (for me) as on Thursday, but it was still pretty good today, October 21. I ended up with 47 species in a little over 2 hours of effort, highlighted by

Baird’s Sandpiper – the continuing juvenile
Semipalmated Sandpiper – the continuing molting first cycle bird
Short-eared Owl – 1 in the dunes
Northern Shrike – 1 in the dunes
Black-throated Blue Warbler – female near the Magic Hedge
Le Conte’s Sparrow – 2 in the dunes

The Northern Shrike was my bird-of-the-day; I haven’t seen one at Montrose in a few years. Maybe this will be a flight year for them. The algae mat continues at the east end of the beach, and it continues to attract shorebirds and ducks. The dominant passerine was Swamp Sparrow.

eBird Checklist
https://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S40043108

Short-eared Owl, Nelson’s and Le Conte’s Sparrows, October 19, 2017

Green-winged Teal

Green-winged Teal (click to see the larger version)

I spent a couple hours birding Montrose this morning, October 19, and it was inexplicably good. By inexplicable I mean no cold front passed the night before and no cold front is expected to pass until next week, so I don’t know why today was so productive. The increase in sparrow activity compared to yesterday was noticeable – today may have been “the” sparrow day of the fall at Montrose for me. I ended up with 54 species, highlighted by

Black-crowned Night-Heron – 3 immature birds flying around the point. Getting late.
Baird’s Sandpiper – the continuing juvenile bird
Semipalmated Sandpiper – the continuing first cycle bird
Franklin’s Gull – 2 first cycle birds
Short-eared Owl – 2 in the dunes
Le Conte’s Sparrow – 2, 1 in the dunes, the other in the native planting area
Nelson’s Sparrow – 1 in the native planting area

The algae mat at the east end of the beach continues to attract good numbers of shorebirds and ducks (where was this mat 2 months ago when we needed it?)

eBird Checklist
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S40010343

Blue Grosbeak, Lark Sparrow, and Clay-colored Sparrow, May 1, 2017

I spent about 3.5 hours at Montrose this morning, May 1, and it was worth just about every minute. Passerines were in in good numbers; I had a number of goodies and FOSs. Shorebirds, however, were disappointing. I woke up extra early and made it the beach just before sunrise, but all I could muster were a few Spotted Sandpipers, probably the nesting birds, and a couple Killdeer, again probably the local breeding birds. I ended up with 78 species, highlighted by

Virginia Rail – 1 in the eastern panne
Sora – 3
Forster’s Tern – ~60, strong movement
Merlin – 1
Great Crested Flycatcher – 1
Eastern Kingbird – 5
All 5 regularly occurring swallows
Sedge Wren – 1 singing in the eastern panne
Gray-cheeked Thrush – 1
Wood Thrush – 2
Veery – 1
11 species of warblers, Blue-winged being the best
Clay-colored Sparrow – 1, thanks Phil
Lark Sparrow – 1
Blue Grosbeak – 1 immature male
Bobolink – 1

Bird of the day goes to the immature male Blue Grosbeak. I’ve only seen 2 or 3 BLGR at Montrose in my 35+ years birding there, so I was fairly excited. Link to my eBird checklist below.

eBird Checklist
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S36453350