Big Sit: Youthful Jaegers vs Bruhs with Bins
Montrose Point, IL
Thursday 1 October 2020
71 °F
This sunday, two young birder teams engaged in an epic Big Sit battle at Montrose Point: the Youthful Jaegers: Oliver, Peter, Simon, myself pitted against the Three Bruhs with Bins: Jake, Isoo, and Eddie. Who could see the greatest number of species from a ten foot radius in one calendar day?
Both teams were in position around 6:45 and quickly tallying up the species. We focused on the shorebirds seen on the protected beach which included the continuing BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS as well as a PECTORAL SANDPIPER (the one bird mixed in).
The classic white tail feathers gave away the ID of this incoming STILT SANDPIPER too, cool!
The passerines behind us in the Hedge put on quite a show too, especially when we pished for them. Here is a PHILADELPHIA VIREO. We were poised on the cement wall between the Magic Hedge and the beach.
NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH I saw when walking in the dunes and I was able to get everyone else on it from the circle too, cool!
We got our SORA for the day as it got snatched out of thin air by this PEREGRINE FALCON! Look at those feet! Breakfast!
More passerines behind us. PALM WARBLER:
SWAINSON’S THRUSH:
NELSON’S SPARROW was an easy one to snag in the panne part of the dunes that day but getting someone on it all the way from the count circle was less easy. Luckily, I had Simon on the phone with his scoped trainer on the area right in front of me when I flushed one of these beautiful orange sparrows. This was the tactic for a number of the bird species seen, and yes it 100% counts! This Nelson’s gave me a beautiful view (outside the count circle)
There were two star shorebirds of the day. First, this stunning AMERICAN AVOCET:
And a surprise LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER, a great bird for the county! While anyone from the team was out of the count circle for any reason including photographing these birds, at least one person would stay behind and monitor bird activity to see if anything new could be added to the Big Sit list. It was a great tactic.
MAGNOLIA WARBLER:
GREAT BLUE HERON:
TENNESSEE WARBLER:
AMERICAN KESTREL:
AMERICAN COOT:
FORSTER’S TERN:
Raptors made a bit of a showing migrating through in the afternoon, including several OSPREY:
The Big Sit Birders left to right: Ben (joined us later on), Eddie, Isoo, Oliver, Simon, Peter, me, and Jake. Posing in front of some lovely garbage cans.
Mid-afternoon, Isoo got a text from Jack B saying he had a possible Yellow Rail at Rainbow Beach which would be a MEGA if true! So, accordingly, we all abandoned ship and drove down to Rainbow Beach in hopes for flushing the Rail. After all, my group had won the Montrose Big Sit with 84 species; the other team came out at about 75, I think. Only one team in Illinois came out higher than ours; a group at Fort Sheridan up in Lake County with just one species more at 85 species.
So, as we pulled into Rainbow Beach on the south side we all spied the continuing WILD TURKEY:
Our tactic for flushing rails: drag a rope with gallon milk jugs filled with rocks through the grassy area where the rail was reported in hopes of flushing it. 
We soon flushed many SORA and many sparrows, including this SAVANNAH:
And another NELSON’S:
Unfortunately, the Yellow Rail was never found. We only had this GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL as a consolation prize: 
Afterward, Simon took a bunch of us to a nearby spot where we got our lifer Plains Garter Snakes & Common Skinks (a type of lizard), both of which were AWESOME! So all in all, it was a great day! Bird-of-the-day to all of the beautiful Nelson’s Sparrows with runner-up to the Long-billed Dowitcher. GREAT stuff!
Happy birding,
Henry
World Life List: 1119 Species
