Tag Archives: White-winged Scoter

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.

March 15, 2013

Montrose Beach

Ice encrusted Montrose Beach, looking west from the fishhook pier. This is spring? (click to see the larger version)

There seemed to be some movement this morning, especially waterfowl. The slight southerly component to the wind must have done some good, though it still felt like winter. Some of the birds I saw include:

Canada Geese – ~200, in groups of 10s, 20s, and 30s
White-winged Scoter – 1
Canvasback – 6
Ring-necked Duck – 2 in the harbor
Scaup sp – ~50
Northern Shoveler – 2
Green-winged Teal – 1
Gadwall – 2
Great Blue Heron – 1
Lapland Longspur – 1
Snow Bunting – 1

White-winged Scoter, February 28, 2013

A female type White-winged Scoter was in Lake Michigan just south of the east end of the harbor this morning. This has been a good February for White-winged Scoters in Illinois. Hopefully this trend will continue into March.

I didn’t see the Ross’s or Snow Geese. The grass they have been feeding on is covered in an inch or two of snow so perhaps they flew off to greener pastures.