Tag Archives: Yellow-rumped Warbler

More July Weirdness – Yellow-rumped Warbler and (pow!) Townsend’s Solitaire

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler (click to see the larger version)

July isn’t the most notable month for rarities at Montrose, but this July is proving to be the exception to that rule. On July 18 I found an adult male Yellow-rumped Warbler in full breeding plumage. I can’t think of a month less likely for Yellow-rumpeds in Chicago than July. Yellow-rumped Warblers nest in the northern United States and throughout Canada and that’s where they should be in July. Talk about an anomaly.

Even more anomalous than a July Yellow-rumped Warbler is a July Townsend’s Solitaire. On July 18 Mark Kolasa found one at Montrose. Townsend’s Solitaires are birds of the western United States and Canada and shouldn’t be anywhere near Illinois or the Midwest in July, though they are rare but regular visitors to our state in winter. This bird was seriously misoriented, but remember, the misoriented birds make birding magical.

June 12, 2014

I went over to Montrose late this afternoon to see what was around. Three Semipalmated Sandpipers were inside the protected area at the east end of the beach. On land I heard a Dickcissel calling from the trees inside the forbidden area and I saw a Great Crested Flycatcher in the Magic Clump. The biggest surprise was a male Yellow-rumped Warbler in the peripheral plantings. On my way back I stopped at the Golf Course Pond and had 5 Black-crowned Night-Herons.