Montrose Beach & Hedge Area Friday 10-10-25

[Al Stokie]

Hello Bird People,

Started out on the pier near the protected beach where I saw one
Lapland Longspur & one Horned Lark but there were no shorebirds at all
& I had hoped to find a Dunlin. Then at 8 am I went up to the hedge
area where it seemed like birds were less than they had been but I
stayed with it & eventually saw some interesting birds after all.

Montrose Beach & Hedge (7-11 am)

D.C. Cormorant (1 fly-by)
Canada Goose (~25, lawns)
Coots (7)
Ring Billed (~50) & Herring (4) Gulls
Cooper's Hawk (2, together)
SHORT EARED OWL (1, flying around the hedge area)
(Spotted by 2 sharp eyed ladies ,Izze & Nati, as it flew by or I would
not have seen it)
Yellow Bellied Sapsucker (H-1)
Downy Woodpecker (2)
Hairy Woodpecker (1)
Flicker (2)
Eastern Phoebe (1)
Blue Jay (2)
Crow (1)
Chickadee (3)
Red Breasted Nuthatch (2, together)
Brown Creeper (1)
Golden Crowned (5) & Ruby Crowned (2) Kinglets
Hermit Thrush (5)
Robin (4)
Catbird (1)
Starling (2)
HORNED LARK (1, on the beach with the Longspur)
Nashville Warbler (1)
ORANGE CROWNED WARBLER (1)
Yellow Rumped Myrtle Warbler (~10)
Cardinal (4)
Eastern Towhee (H-1)
White Crowned Sparrow (9)
White Throated Sparrow (5)
LAPLAND LONGSPUR (1, on the beach with the Horned Lark)
Goldfinch (6)
House Sparrow (12)

So 34 species at Montrose plus roadside Pigeons for a total of 35 for the day.
I didn't see the Owl well enough for it to be top bird so
Bird-Of-The-Day will be the Lapland Longspur. Runners-Up will be the
Orange Crowned Warbler, the Short Eared Owl & the
Horned Lark. Although the day started out slowly I ended up with some
good stuff.

Good license plates were from Montana on the way to Montrose & from
Maine on the way home.

Al Stokie
At Montrose in Cook County today