It had been a long time now since I had been far from home, searching for new things. So, despite today's extremely cold weather forecast, it was time for me to hit the Chicago lakefront! Two targets were in my sights, and I had high hopes for the day. It is not too often that one may be privileged enough to see both a Harlequin Duck and an Eared Grebe in the same day in Illinois, but those were my targets, with Montrose Harbor being designated stop #1. Up at 3:30 and out the door at 5, and I was on my way.
First stop before an hour + long road trip is always the gas station uptown. As soon as the engine of the truck ceased to make a noise in the parking lot, a sound of the night was made evident, a male Great-Horned Owl was my first sign of wildlife for the day. I caught a brief glimpse of it as it flew from a nearby tree just on the edge of the gas station's light. Not a bad way to start the day in the least. After grabbing some refreshments and filling up the tank, I headed out for Chicago.
I arrived at Montrose Harbor around quarter to seven in the morning, and prepared for the harsh conditions outside before leaving the comfort of the truck. I walked over to the harbor, where I first spied some Red-Breasted Mergansers and many Canada Geese and Ring-Billed Gulls. European Starlings were everywhere on the lawn, and as I made my way to the harbor mouth to check it, a Golden-Crowned Kinglet vocalized from the tall and barren trees nearby. The mouth of the harbor held two Horned Grebes, a pair of Mallards, and more Red-Breasted Mergansers kept swimming and flying by every minute. Walking back to the truck, some American Coots made an appearance in the harbor as well. Up to this point, there was no sign of the Eared Grebe that had been here for over two weeks.
After getting back into the truck and pulling up to the parking nearest the sanctuary, I stepped back out into the cold and walked the outer wall, searching the lake for anything that I hadn't seen recently. I was surprised to find how excited I was to find two male Common Goldeneyes far out into the lake, I don't normally get excited about seeing them. Many more Red-Breasted Mergansers and some Herring Gulls were also here. I walked back towards the Fishhook Pier at the north/northeast end of the sanctuary, and saw a couple of people checking out the beach. What I found back there after talking with them a little bit was a group of Mallards with one American Coot amongst them, and a dead American Coot not too far away. As I struck up another short conversation with another birder in between the dunes and the pier, we had a single flyover Snow Bunting. The sanctuary itself only yielded a Dark-Eyed Junco.
Back out at the harbor, I checked another section, finding an American Wigeon that took some time out to preen on one of the docks. Nearby two female Hooded Mergansers offered some more diversity as well. After that I climbed back into the truck and went back to the mouth of the harbor to check once again for the Eared Grebe. I did not find it once again, but noticed a grebe on the far side from where I was that intrigued me. One of the birders from earlier found me and told me where the Eared Grebe was reportedly seen earlier in the day by another person, and there I found a grebe that dove, and I never saw it again. I still don't know whether it was a Horned or the Eared Grebe. After failing to relocate that grebe, I went back to the truck and headed over to the other side of the harbor to check the other grebe. Again, not the Eared, but most certainly the most cooperative Horned Grebe I have ever come across!
This was the highlight of the day.
Next stop was Loyola, where I had never been before. I spent very little time here as it was extremely blustery and my eyes couldn't take much more abuse. I scanned the water for the Harlequin Duck, but failed to locate it. However, it was present as it was found by another (when I wasn't there) feeding with some Mallards on the beach (where I did not expect it to be, so I didn't bother to look there).
Finally, it was time to head back to my neck of the woods. On the way home, I decided it would be best to check some local backroads, after a brief stopover at the South Elgin Dam, where I found my first Common Goldeneyes of the season on the Fox River. A Red-Tailed Hawk was also nearby. Driving near Otter Creek FP, a few waves of migrating Sandhill Cranes, totaling between 150-200 birds, flew directly overhead. Other backroads produced small numbers of Horned Lark, Mourning Dove, two unidentified raptors (one hawk, one small falcon), a Northern Harrier, and several more Red-Tailed Hawks.
It was a VERY cold day, but good (enough) birding. The best thing I was able to get was a greatly needed image of a Horned Grebe, so the day wasn't a total failure after all.
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