Montrose Point Again & Darrell Road Marsh Tuesday 5-5-26

[Al Stokie]

Wasn't going to go to Montrose again until the next favorable wind day
but I saw on Discord that 2 Ruddy Turnstones were there at sunrise so
I tried to see them but it was raining when I arrived so I spent the
1st hour of my visit in the car waiting for the rain to end. When it
did stop the Ruddy Turnstones were gone but other shorebirds were
still present.

Montrose Point (6:45-10:45 am)

D.C. Cormorant (33)
CATTLE EGRET (1, on the lawns but very skittish)
Canada Goose (4)
Mallard (6)
Red Breasted Merganser (1-PR, beach)
Killdeer (1)
Piping Plover (2-3, later Fran M had 6)
Spotted Sandpiper (3)
Sanderling (2) (FOY)
Dunlin (3)
WILLET (11 on the beach & 4 more on the pier)
Ring Billed (~50) & Herring (4) Gulls
Caspian Tern (28)
Rock Pigeon (3)
Downy Woodpecker (1)
Flicker (3)
Least Flycatcher (1)
Purple Martin (8)
Tree (2), Rough Winged (8), Bank (15) & Barn (2) Swallows
Blue Jay (H-1)
Chickadee (1)
Ruby Crowned Kinglet (3)
House Wren (1)
Swainson's Thrush (1)
Gray Cheeked Thrush (1)
WOOD THRUSH (1)
Robin (~25)
Gray Catbird (3)
Brown Thrasher (1)
Starling (6)
Warbling Vireo (H-2)
Northern Waterthrush (1)
Ovenbird (1)
Yellow Warbler (2)
Redstart (2-M)
Yellow Rumped Myrtle Warbler (2)
Common Yellowthroat (4)
Cardinal (4)
Eastern Towhee (1-M)
Song (H-1) & Swamp (1) Sparrows
White Crowned (6) & White Throated (10) Sparrows
Red Wings (6), Grackles (10) & Cowbirds (3)
House Finch (H-2)
House Sparrow (~15)

Then I saw on Discord that Dan M had found a male RUFF at the Darrell
Road Marsh so I decided to try for it. It took over an hour to get
there & it was very hard to see as it kept going in & out of view but
I did finally see it well thanks to the help of others who see better
than I do.
Other shorebirds there included both Yellowlegs & Short Billed Dowitcher.

So 10 species of shorebirds for the day but only 6 species of warblers
after yesterday's 15 species. Saw 52 species for the day after
yesterday's 71 species.
Bird-Of-The-Day will be the male Ruff & Runner-Up will be the always
moving Cattle Egret.
Today's Ruff was the 2nd one I've seen in the last 4 days which has
never happened to me before.

Al Stokie
Mostly in Cook County today with one stop in Lake County