Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary, 16 April 2005

Illinois, apparently, is recognized as the 6th most popular state and Chicago is the 9th most visited U.S. city by overseas visitors (which I guess includes me). Chicago - with a population of about 3 million - is located on the shores of Lake Michigan in the heart of the Midwest, home to world-championship sports teams, an internationally acclaimed symphony orchestra, renowned architecture and much more. Quite a place really…

It’ll come as a surprise to no-one that the airline I work for tends to fly to BIG cities - buying jumbo jets to fly 400 non-existent passengers to non-existent airports in the middle of the boonies just doesn’t make financial sense sadly no matter how good the birding might be - and the cities we fly to in the US are pretty huge indeed…

Fortunately there is usually somewhere relatively close to these cities to go birding (there’d be nothing to write about if there weren’t!). Chicago’s most famous spot is a tiny area of lakeside dunes, shrubs and trees, and grassland a couple of miles north of the city centre - the Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary, home to the “Magic Hedge”. A hook of land jutting out into Lake Michigan, Montrose Point attracts hordes of birders and hordes of migrants. In the middle of May in the right conditions it’s possible to see 25 species of warblers here - and a remarkable total of over 315 species have been recorded (including Magnificent Frigatebird, Black-tailed and Ivory Gulls, Yellow and Black Rails, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, and Kirtland’s Warbler).

If you find yourself with a few hours in Chicago it’s an easy and very accessible place to reach. I tend to go by taxi (from downtown it’s about 10USD each way at current prices) - ask for the turning off Lakeshore Drive onto Montrose, and follow the road around to the right. The small sanctuary (which only exists because of huge pressure brought about by local activists) is opposite the marina on the left side of the road. One thing to be aware of is that EMPTY taxis rarely appear opposite the sanctuary - it’s best to walk back up to the main road (about 1000m), or even walk back along Lakeshore and have a look at the other little parks and patches of woodland nearby…

Magic Hedge, with restoration work

Once you get out to the Point it’s fairly obvious where the best areas are. Most people scour the “magic hedge” which runs from the road down towards the beach and the Lake - it is a migrant trap, but don’t ignore the rough grass in the centre of the Point (excellent for sparrows) or the small drinking pool which can give cracking views of a whole host of birds…

Drinking Pool area on Montrose Point

Anyway, a bright, still, sunny day in mid-April is never going to turn up anything particularly rare - but one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, I always say. The locals may not have been too impressed about the quality of the birding out on Montrose Point on this particular day - the turnover of birders coming and going was higher than the number of migrants doing the same - but I had a great time: show me a pristine Hermit Thrush and I’ll never consider it a wasted morning.

I only saw about thirty species - no dendroica sadly (still a couple of weeks too early) - but as well as the aforementioned Hermit Thrushes, some good views of Northern Flicker, Vesper and Field Sparrows, and some very bright American Robins had me clicking away merrily and hinted at the passage to come.

Okay, enough talking..how about some photos…

Hermit Thrush

 

American Robin

 

American Robin

 

Vesper Sparrow

 

Vesper Sparrow

 

Field Sparrow

 

Song Sparrow

 

Swamp Sparrow

 

Northern Flicker

 

Red-winged Blackbird

 

Eastern Towhee

 

American Goldfinch

Trip List (note, numbers marked with a “+” are approximate):
English and scientific names mainly from “The North American Bird Guide”, Sibley D, Pica Press, 2000:

Double-crested Cormorant Phalacrocorax auritus 20+; Canada Goose Branta canadensis 10+; Mallard Anas platyrhynchos +; Red-breasted Merganser Mergus serrator 3; Killdeer Charadrus voveiferus 1; Caspian Tern Sterna caspia 3; Ring-billed Gull Larus delewarensis 100+; American Herring Gull Larus smithsonianus 1; Mourning Dove Zenaida macroura 3-4; Northern Flicker Colaptes auratus 5-6; American Crow Corvus brachyrhynchos 3; Northern Rough-winged Swallow Stelgidopteryx serripennis 1; Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica 2; Black-capped Chickadee Poecile atricapilla 1; Ruby-crowned Kinglet Regulus calendula 1; American Robin Turdus migratorius c)50; Hermit Thrush Cathurus guttatus 1; Brown Thrasher Toxostoma rufum 4-5; Starling Sturnus vulgaris 10+; Eastern Towhee Pipilo arthyrophthalmus 2 (m and f); Field Sparrow Spizella pusilla 3; Chipping Sparrow Spizella passerina 1; Savannah Sparrow Passerculus sandvichensis 1; Vesper Sparrow Pooecetes gramineus 2; White-throated Sparrow Zonotrichia albicollis 2; Song Sparrow Melospiza melodia 2-3; Swamp Sparrow Melospiza georgiana 3-4; Dark-eyed Junco Junco hyemalis 1; Brown-headed Cowbird Molothrus ater 8-10; Red-winged Blackbird Agelaius phoeniceus 20+ (left); Common Grackle Quiscalus quiscula 20+; American Goldfinch Carduelis tristis 4; House Sparrow Passer domesticus 10+

View from Montrose Point to Downtown Chicago, 07:00 am 16 April 2005

All photographs © Charlie Moores.