Tag Archives: Waterfowl

Red-throated Loon, White-winged Scoters, and Long-tailed Duck, February 1, 2014

Waterfowl at Montrose Harbor

Waterfowl at Montrose Harbor (click to see the larger version)

Karen and I walked around Montrose for a little while this morning. The lake was covered in ice for as far as we could see but there were a few open areas of water, and these open areas of water had birds.

Our biggest surprise was a juvenile Red-throated Loon off the end of the fishing pier. We actually heard the bird calling when we were walking on the beach but we didn’t know what it was. We thought it might be a person yelling for help since it sounded like a cry or a wail. When we got to the edge of the beach we could see the loon on the water and see and hear it calling. Mystery solved, and I don’t know if I’ve ever heard a Red-throated Loon call before. Unfortunately the bird flew off to the south before I could get my camera on it. There were also a lot of waterfowl here, including 40+ White-winged Scoters, a female type Long-tailed Duck, 5 Greater Scaup, Common and Red-breasted Mergansers, and Common Goldeneye.

The other area of open water was at the harbor mouth. We had 15 more White-winged Scoters here, as well as 35 or so Greater Scaup and a few Common Goldeneye and Red-breasted Mergansers (see the photo above). Not a bad start to February.

January 26, 2014

Brown Creeper

Brown Creeper (click to see the larger version)

Karen and I were feeling adventurous today so we decided to walk over to Montrose for a change. I live about a mile from Montrose and I almost never walk over there anymore. The theme for the day was ice and snow everywhere, and not many birds to be seen. Except for a few open patches of water, Lake Michigan was iced over as far as we could see.

Our birding highlights were a surprise Brown Creeper working a hackberry tree in the Marovitz golf course and a dazzling adult male White-winged Scoter swimming in a very small area of open water at the harbor mouth. We also saw a few Greater Scaup, a Fox Sparrow near the Magic Hedge, and good numbers of American Robins feeding in hawthorns near the beachhouse.

White-winged Scoter and Snow Buntings, January 13, 2014

I walked around Montrose for a little while this morning. There wasn’t a lot around, as is expected for mid January, but I did see 2 Snow Buntings on the beach inside the protected area and a White-winged Scoter just outside the entrance to the harbor. The scoter was right up against the rocks with a group of Mallards. I saw nothing else of note birdwise, though the ice formation on the beach is rather striking.

December 23, 2013

I was surprised to see 4 Snowy Owls at Montrose this morning. I thought most had left but it appears more came in to replace them. Two were on the fishing pier, one was on the ice shelf at the west end of the beach, and the other was flying south over the point, almost like it was migrating. I also saw an adult or near adult Glaucous Gull flying north, the Snow Goose in the harbor, and 4 Snow Buntings and a single Lapland Longspur on the beach.

Mottled Ducks! (Upon further review, not)

Mottled Ducks

Mottled Ducks. Photo by Kanae Hirabayashi (click to see the larger version).

Kanae Hirabayashi and Luiz Munoz found two Mottled Ducks, both apparent males, at Montrose Beach on May 30. This is an unexpected and extraordinary sighting. Illinois has a handful of Mottled Duck records but this is a first for Cook County, and obviously Montrose. Unfortunately for other birders, a careless photographer got too close to the birds and they flew off. They haven’t been seen since. This is the 337th species of bird recorded at Montrose.

Addendum: The photos of these birds show evidence of hybridization with Mallards, specifically, curled uppertail coverts and white in the outer tail feathers. Therefore, Mottled Duck has been removed from the list of birds recorded at Montrose.

To see a list of the birds recorded at Montrose, please refer to the Birds Recorded at the Montrose Point Area in Chicago page.

Short-eared Owl, April 4, 2013

I had a Short-eared Owl this morning, my first of spring at Montrose. I was standing at the end of the fishhook pier when the bird flew in front of me and out over the lake. I suspect the bird flushed out of the dunes. I also had a small group of Redheads and Greater and Lesser Scaup in the lake off the end of the pier. Other than that I saw nothing else of note.