White-winged Scoters
Ring-billed Gull (click to see the larger version)
I had my first juvenile Ring-billed Gull at Montrose today, June 23. They usually start appearing around June 22-24 and will increase in the coming weeks. I also had a tardy adult male American Redstart.
I walked around Montrose this morning, June 22, and had a couple nice surprises, notably a female Canada Warbler and a male Yellow-breasted Chat. The Canada Warbler was in the Magic Hedge and moving around quite a bit. I never saw it again after the initial encounter. I heard the chat singing in the peripheral plantings just west-southwest of the water feature, and with a little effort tracked it down and saw it. Both birds are rare at this time of the year at Montrose. I also saw an immature male Orchard Oriole, part of an apparent mated pair that have been around for a few weeks.
Black-billed Cuckoo (click to see the larger version)
Montrose was excellent this morning, May 24, with a notable influx of flycatchers, later warblers, female warblers, Swainson’s Thrushes, and Red-eyed Vireos. I ended up with 81 species in about 2.5 hours, including 19 species of warblers. It was hands down the best day of the spring for me for passerines. My highlights include:
Black-billed Cuckoo – 1
Eastern Wood-Pewee – 25
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher – 3
Alder Flycatcher – 8
Willow Flycatcher – 6
Philadelphia Vireo – 1
Sedge Wren – 1, the continuing bird in the Meadow
Swainson’s Thrush – 40
Worm-eating Warbler – 1, the continuing bird. Seen and heard singing in
the bushes near the water feature.
Mourning Warbler – 10
Northern Parula – 1
Bay-breasted Warbler – 5
Blackburnian Warbler – 10
Blackpoll Warbler – 25, many females
Black-throated Blue Warbler – 1
Black-throated Green Warbler – 10
Canada Warbler – 12
Wilson’s Warbler – 15
Grasshopper Sparrow – 1
Dickcissel – 1
Bobolink – 1
Orchard Oriole – 1
eBird Checklist
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S29876572
A Worm-eating Warbler was clearly the best bird at Montrose this
morning, May 22. I first heard it singing in the peripheral plantings
just about due south of the Magic Hedge. I initially passed the bird off
as a Chipping Sparrow and even walked by it a couple times without
visually confirming the identification. On my last pass I decided to
actually look at the bird and my Chipping Sparrow morphed into a
Worm-eating Warbler. The bird hung around for a while and multiple
people were able to see it. There are only a handful of records of
Worm-eating Warbler for Montrose and this is the first one I’ve seen
there. I hope some of the photographers got good shots of it.
eBird Checklist
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S29842439
I spent about an hour and half at Montrose this morning, May 19. It wasn’t half bad and I saw a few goodies. I guess my expectations were low because we’ve had northerly winds for the last few days, which are usually the kiss of death for spring migration along the Chicago lakefront. The winds were very light last night however, which probably encouraged birds to move, and it is near the peak of migration so there should be birds around regardless of the winds. I ended up with 63 species. Here are my highlights:
Common Tern – 2 flybys
Red-headed Woodpecker – 1
Hairy Woodpecker – 1, a good bird for Montrose
Yellow-throated Vireo – 1
Sedge Wren – 1, singing in the Meadow
Veery – 1, singing
Mourning Warbler – 1, my FOY
Blackburnian Warbler – 1
Black-throated Blue Warbler – 2, male and female
Scarlet Tanager – 1
eBird Checklist
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S29772742
Eastern Whip-poor-will (click to see the larger version)
I was at Montrose from 6 to 8 this morning and it was impressive. I don’t know if this constituted a fallout but there were a lot of birds around. I almost didn’t go out because of the thick fog (.25 mile visibility), but I was curious if the fog had downed any birds. The warblers weren’t the best I’ve ever seen but still good (I ended up with 22 species), but the tanagers, grosbeaks, and thrushes were
excellent. There was definitely turnover compared to the last few days. Here’s a rundown of what I saw (not a complete list; for a complete list follow the eBird link below):
Common Nighthawk – 1 perched on the outer branches of a Honey Locust (!)
Black-billed Cuckoo – 1
Great Crested Flycatcher – ~6
Least Flycatcher – ~10
Eastern Kingbird – ~15, some in groups of 4 and 5
White-eyed Vireo – 1
Yellow-throated Vireo – 1
Philadelphia Vireo – 1
Red-eyed Vireo – ~5
Ruby-crowned Kinglet – ~12
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher – ~12
Eastern Bluebird – 1
Wood Thrush – 1
Veery – ~6
Swainson’s Thrush – ~40
Gray-cheeked Thrush – 3
Gray Catbird – ~50, they seemed to be everywhere
Blue-winged Warbler – 1
Golden-winged Warbler – 1
Orange-crowned Warbler – 3
Nashville Warbler – 2
Tennessee Warbler – ~5
Northern Parula – 2
Chestnut-sided Warbler – ~5
Cape May Warbler – ~5
Magnolia Warbler – ~15
Yellow-rumped Warbler – ~15
Black-and-white Warbler – 2
Black-throated Blue Warbler – 1 male
Black-throated Green Warbler – 2
Bay-breasted Warbler – 1
Palm Warbler – ~25
Canada Warbler – 1
Common Yellowthroat – ~40
Wilson’s Warbler – 1
Ovenbird – 2
Northern Waterthrush – ~6
American Redstart – ~8
Scarlet Tanager – ~12, some in groups of 3 and 4
Savannah Sparrow – ~20
Swamp Sparrow – ~40
Lincoln’s Sparrow – 2
White-crowned Sparrow – ~40
White-throated Sparrow – ~25
Rose-breasted Grosbeak – ~12
Indigo Bunting – ~8
Bobolink – 1
Orchard Oriole – 1 immature male
Baltimore Oriole – ~12
Pine Siskin – 1
eBird Checklist
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S29565588