Nine people in jackets, with binoculars, smiling at camera, with trees behind them.

words by Shelley Weinberg

Friday morning, Oct. 10, was a chilly day in the high 50s with partly sunny skies, and it was starting to feel like fall weather. Despite being smack in the midst of fall migration, according to Birdcast, only 1,100 birds had flown over Cook County the night before.

Yet, the Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary was buzzing with activity. We quickly found multiple Red-breasted Nuthatches and Brown Creepers. An Eastern Phoebe seemed to be following our group around while it was searching for insects, giving us plenty of good looks.

Small bird clinging vertically to a tree trunk, facing left. The back is gray and the breast is orange. The short dark bill leads into a black stripe across the eyes and neck, with a black cap on top and white streaks above and below the black streak — Red-breasted Nuthatch. *Photo by Grace Palacio, Montrose Point, Oct. 10, 2025.*

We spied a pair of Cooper’s Hawks circling and on one occasion they seemed to be chasing a larger bird, which our trip leader, Vinod Babu, suspected but could not confirm was some type of owl. It would take a couple of hours, but we did ultimately find the owl!

Two birders we ran across reported seeing a Short-eared Owl in the dunes that flew into the grass. So we headed into the grassy area of the dunes and were lucky enough to have an owl emerge and fly over our heads. Quite an exciting moment! Vinod suspected a Great Horned Owl and from photos taken by one of our group, we were able to confirm that identification.

Bird in flight photographed from the rear against a cloudy sky. The bird is brown, with a short tail and wings arched out in flight. — Great Horned Owl. *Photo by Dan Zemans, Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary, Oct. 10, 2025.*

We ventured out on the pier and were lucky enough to have both a Lapland Longspur and a Horned Lark. Both birds were foraging on the beach close to the pier and gave us great looks for 10-15 minutes. Then they suddenly flew off over the water and we quickly saw why: a Cooper’s Hawk and an American Kestrel had flown overhead and flushed them. The male kestrel then perched on a rope near the beach and showed off its beautiful colors for the group.

Two streaky brown sparrow-like birds standing on the sand, facing left, one past the other. One has a pinkish bear and orange on its cheeks and wings. The other has a black streak on its cheeks leading out to a gray bill, with yellow above and below. — Horned Lark (bottom) and Lapland Longspur. *Photo by Shelley Weinberg, Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary, Oct. 10, 2025.*

When we ventured over to the front water feature, we were given a lesson in thrush ID. Both Hermit and Swainson’s Thrushes presented themselves in rapid sequence so we could clearly see their different field marks. We also had a surprising appearance from a Winter Wren who popped out right behind us in full view.

Adding to our list of raptors, we were lucky enough to have a fly-by from a Peregrine Falcon. We also had an assortment of migrant sparrows such as Dark-eyed Juncos and both White-crowned and White-throated Sparrows. We saw four types of woodpeckers and multiple Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned Kinglets to add to our migrating bird spottings. Overall, we had 43 species on this very birdy fall walk.

Field Trip Recap: Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary