Bird and Nature Sightings from Montrose Point in Chicago
As you’ve noticed, I’ve cut back on updating this blog. I have a full-time job that takes up most of my time, and to be frank, I’m repeating the same content in my posts year after year. So, except on rare occasions, I won’t be adding new posts or updating the content pages. You’re welcome […]
An obliging Eared Grebe was a pleasant surprise on February 25. The bird was inside the “hook” of the long fishing pier that extends out into Lake Michigan at the east end of the beach. Two Horned Grebes were nearby but the Eared wasn’t associating with them. Late winter Eared Grebes are very rare at […]
Lapland Longspurs usually don’t spend the winter at Montrose. We see them during fall migration, but these birds almost always continue moving south and are gone by late December. In mid January 2024, a group of Lapland Longspurs showed up in the Dunes and was still there as of January 21. The group varied in […]
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, […]
Fall Snowy Owls at Montrose are usually a harbinger of more to come over the winter, so when one showed up in the Dunes in November 2023, some of us thought this might be a flight year for them. A check of eBird shows that, as of January 1, 2024, not another has been seen […]
The Kankakee Sands is a complex of prairie and wetland habitat owned and managed by the Indiana chapter of The Nature Conservancy. Birding is excellent all year round. Summer is the season to see the grassland specialties like Henslow’s and Grasshopper Sparrows and Dickcissel, which are hard to miss and fill the air with their […]
Black-legged Kittiwakes are rare but regular visitors to Lake Michigan, mainly in November. On November 24, a crisply marked juvenile flew north over Lake Michigan past Montrose Point. This is the second Black-legged Kittiwake seen at Montrose this fall, the first occurring on November 4. If you’re at Montrose, or any other place along the […]
November is known for rare waterbirds but it’s also excellent for owls. Long-eared, Short-eared, Snowy, and Northern Saw-whet Owls have been reported at Montrose as of November 12. So, while you’re dreaming about alcids and waiting for a Black-legged Kittiwake to fly by, don’t forget to check the Dunes, woods, and shrubs for owls. Look […]
A list of the next ten or twenty new species for Montrose might include a buteo like a Broad-winged Hawk but probably not Ferruginous Hawk. On November 6 the improbable happened and a juvenile dark morph Ferruginous Hawk flew over Montrose Point. Dark morph buteos can be tricky to identify but diagnostic photos taken by […]
October is an excellent month for rarities in Illinois. In keeping with this historical tendency, a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher was discovered at Montrose on October 14 and refound on October 15. The bird moved around quite a bit and proved challenging to pin down, but spent enough time in the Dunes to delight the dozens of […]