Tag Archives: Waterfowl

January 13, 2024

Herring, Ring-billed, and Iceland Gulls

Herring, Ring-billed, and Iceland Gulls (click to see the larger version)

The middle of January is about the slowest time of the year for birding at Montrose. If you see 20 species on a visit you’re doing very well. January 13, 2024 proved to be the best mid winter day of birding I’ve experienced at Montrose. I tallied 32 species in a couple hours of birding, and 41 species were reported to eBird by all observers for the day. My highlights include

Iceland Gull
Long-tailed Duck
Long-eared Owl
Northern Harrier
American Pipit
Lapland Longspur
Snow Bunting
Horned Lark
Orange-crowned Warbler
Common Grackle
Fox Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow

Some of these birds were likely driven south by an approaching Artic cold front. The temperature on January 13 was in the 20s, but dropped below zero overnight and is expected to stay in this range for several days. Extreme weather events like this often produce extreme birding events.

May 19, 2023 – The Best Day

American Wigeon

American Wigeon (click to see the larger version)

May 19 will go down as the best day for migration in 2023. Montrose was full of warblers, thrushes, and flycatchers. It was also full of birders. Over 140 species were reported to eBird by all observers, and several people topped 100, which only happens a couple times each year. My highlights include

American Wigeon (late)
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Ruddy Turnstone (4)
Common Tern
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
Alder Flycatcher
Golden-winged Warbler
Prothonotary Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Mourning Warbler (6!)
Hooded Warbler
Summer Tanager
Dickcissel

Migration will start to wind down, but late May is still an excellent time for later warblers and vireos, and flycatchers will continue to increase through the end of the month.

Fishing Lines and Diving Birds

Fisherman and his gear

A fisherman and his gear (click to see the larger version)

One of the most distinctive sounds of spring at Montrose is the firing of fishing lines. Fishermen use fire extinguishers fitted with a pipe to propel their lines out into Lake Michigan. This setup functions like a canon, and the sound it makes is loud enough to startle you if you’re nearby. I’ve also noticed how close some waterbirds come to these fishing lines. I’ve seen Horned Grebes, Red-breasted Mergansers, and a Common Loon on one occasion swim right up to the lines. These birds may have been curious and looking for an easy meal. I can imagine a grebe or merganser getting tangled or grabbing the baited hook, which would be a mess for the fisherman and the bird. A tangled and thrashing Common Loon would be a worst case scenario. Loons are big enough and strong enough to do serious damage to a human trying to free them. They have sharp bills that can draw blood or poke out an eye. My guess is that fishermen would cut the line and lose their bait rather than try to free a struggling bird.

Greater White-fronted Goose, March 26, 2023

Greater White-fronted Goose

Greater White-fronted Goose (click to see the larger version)

March is the month for waterfowl and one of the more uncommon waterfowl species at Montrose is Greater White-fronted Goose. We usually see them in early March or even late February if the weather is right. Sometimes large movements involving hundreds of birds occur, but a few dozen is more typical. For some reason, we saw only one White-fronted at Montrose in spring 2023, a flyover immature on March 26. This is a bit late but also a helpful reminder that birds don’t always behave like we expect them to. One interesting tidbit about White-fronted Geese is that hunters refer to them as specklebellies, an allusion to the prominent dark spotting and barring on the underparts of the adults.

Dabblers and Divers – March 2, 2023

American Wigeon

American Wigeon flying north past Montrose Point (click to see the larger version)

An impressive flight of dabbling and bay ducks took place on the morning of March 2. This flight included numbers of Northern Pintail, American Wigeon, Redheads, and Canvasbacks, the latter uncommon at Montrose. Most of these birds were flying north into a strong headwind. This seems counterintuitive but is typical behavior for migrating spring ducks along the western shore of Lake Michigan.

Glaucous Gull and Long-tailed Duck, February 10, 2023

Glaucous Gull

Glaucous Gull (click to see the larger version)

Now that February is here we’re starting to think about spring and migration, but it’s still winter and we’re still getting winter birds. I can’t think of two more wintry birds in Chicago than Glaucous Gull and Long-tailed Duck. Both were at Montrose on February 10. This is the first Glaucous Gull I’ve seen at Montrose all winter. Not to be outdone, a tame adult male Long-tailed Duck graced the inside of the fishing pier. The Glaucous Gull flew off shortly after I photographed it, but the Long-tailed was still there when I left. More photos are at my eBird checklist for the morning, URL below.

eBird Checklist
February 10, 2023