Field Trip Recap: Montrose Point Beginner Bird Walk

 
Hundreds of cormorants, a large dark diving bird, flying right to left over lake water.

Double-crested Cormorants. Photo by Geoff Williamson, April 19, 2025, Montrose Point.

words by trip leaders Christine and Geoff Williamson

Montrose Point in Chicago's Lincoln Park is one of the premier birding locations in all of Illinois. Even on this chilly day on April 19, with temperatures in the mid-40s, a nippy wind blowing from the north, and misty surroundings that made it seem like we were walking through a cloud, the group of a half-dozen birders led by Christine and Geoff Williamson were able to see 50 species of birds.

All morning, flock after flock of Double-crested Cormorants cruised by heading north. Our tally for the morning reached nearly 3,000 birds (2,965, to be exact)!

A lot of Red-breasted Mergansers were also present out on Lake Michigan; curiously, most of these were seen heading southward.

Small oval shorebird with sandy cap and back, dark eye and eyebrow, dark ring around neck, which face and chest, and orange bill and legs, standing on the sand.

Piping Plover. Photo by Geoff Williamson, April 19, 2025, Montrose Point.

Among the highlights was seeing two Piping Plovers: both Pippin and Imani have returned to Montrose Beach.

We also had very close views of a confiding Snow Bunting on the fishhook pier. It was coming into its black and white breeding season plumage!

Sparrow-like bird with white head and breast, black streaky back and wings, and brown marshmellow streaks on head, around neck and on wings, sitting on a pier.

Snow Bunting. Photo by Geoff Williamson, April 19, 2025, Montrose Point.

We had a nice diversity of sparrows with eight species represented. Though the warbler migration has not yet started in earnest, we did find four species— Pine, Palm, Black-throated Green, and an early Common Yellowthroat—despite missing Yellow-rumped, the expected mid-April warbler.

View from behind a sparrow-sized bird with its tail high and head low, perched on a branch. Yellowish underneath and a bright yellow chin and neck with a black mask across its eyes.

Common Yellowthroat. Photo by Geoff Williamson, April 19, 2025, Montrose Point.

 
Field TripKris HansenMontrose Point