Robert D. Hughes

@terrordroma I wouldn't mind seeing one of these in Illinois.

🍫

It looks and feels a little more like winter in Chicago these days. From Montrose Point. January 18, 2024. #MontrosePointBirdSanctuary

@brittyknows Look at all that robin poop.

American robins keeping warm against a sun-heated wall in the 4 degree F afternoon.

@ROCKON88782244 The dark gull on the left is a young Herring Gull. We have had multiple Iceland Gulls recently at Montrose though.

@robertdhughes63 A pair of Iceland Gulls?

That cream colored gull on the right is an Iceland Gull. It didn't come from Iceland but still traveled several thousand miles to get to Chicago. From Montrose Point, January 13, 2024. #MontrosePointBirdSanctuary

@terrordroma LA food looks almost as good as Chicago food.

(1/3) The Radna Silom stand in Thai Town LA continues to kill it with their excellent pad thai that takes me right back to Thailand. They also have some equally excellent pad kra pao.

It's amazing how much an inch of snow can transform a landscape. From Montrose Point in Chicago. January 7, 2024.

Almost 2024. View from the end of the fishing pier at Montrose Point in Chicago. The Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary is in the background on the right. December 31, 2023. #MontrosePointBirdSanctuary

The Chicago area was awash in Limpkins this summer and fall. A few are hanging on into winter, thanks to unseasonably mild weather. This one was at Melody Farm Nature Preserve in Lake County, Illinois on December 24, 2023. Nice Christmas gift, eh?

@JeremyBRoberts Is it gulping to breathe because it isn't swimming?

Let's go swim with a Whitetip Reef Shark, or Triaenodon obesus. This small shark, found on Indo-Pacific coral reefs, is known for its distinctive white-tipped dorsal and caudal fins.

@4letterbird 3

How many owls would you have to see in a day to know that something has gone completely right?

@brittyknows I noticed that too up here on the north side.

There’s a sunset for you.

@FogleBird Nice. I don't think I've seen Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers eating cedar berries.

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

@FieldMuseum We get the point.

diNOT

Lots of Sandhill Cranes moving south over Chicago today, November 27. They look like they're flying down Western or Ashland Avenue.

@robertloerzel They're moving in big numbers today, November 27. I've had multiple flocks from my northside Chicago apartment. All are 1 or 2 miles west of me, flying down Ashland or Western Avenue.

Just morning, @robertdhughes63 told me to expect sandhill cranes flying over Chicago today. Look and listen for them!

Black-legged Kittiwakes are rare but regular visitors to Lake Michigan, mainly in November. This juvenile, with its distinctive "m" shaped wing pattern, flew by Montrose Point in Chicago on November 24, 2023.

Chicago area birders, be on the lookout.

@JeremyBRoberts @emmaluck22 Not a shark. Orca.

Shark or No Shark? (I wish I could look at this and know what @emmaluck22 sees. She's a super genius about this [shark/no shark])

@VBuschey Snowy Owls like open areas. At Montrose we often see them on the beach, in the dunes, and on the fishing pier. They generally avoid wooded areas. Time of day doesn't matter.

@robertdhughes63 What time of day are they most likely to be spotted? And do they hang out on a particular type of tree or pine ?

Whoo-hoo! First Snowy Owl of the season at Montrose Point in Chicago today, November 12. November is the best.