Cape May Warbler

Cape May Warbler photographed in Cook County, Illinois by Carolyn Fields.

There are at least two things that make these places so special. The first is that you get absolutely superb views of the birds. The vegetation tends to be diminutive in nature and the few tall trees are scattered. No warbler neck at these spots, for the brilliant sprites can be enjoyed with barely a tip of the head. And the second extraordinary aspect of the traps is that, when the weather is right, they draw an amazing quantity and diversity of birds. Because of a proposal I was working on that was due May 15, my spring birding had been largely stymied. But once that deadline passed I have been out nearly every day and have concentrated on the traps.

The most heavily birded of these locations (and indeed quite likely the best covered place in all of Illinois) is the little point of land situated between Montrose Harbor and Lake Michigan on Chicago’s northside. Well over a hundred species have been recorded here in a day on several occasions (the bird list for Lincoln Park, of which Montrose is a part, exceeds 300 species). I was among the first to arrive on Tuesday morning and I was treated to an American bittern that flushed off the main trail. (One time several years ago, birders arriving at Montrose encountered a bittern standing in three inches of mowed lawn. It stood straight and still, no doubt convinced that the pattern of its plumage made it invisible.)

You rarely see many warblers at dawn, but if there was any flight at all during the night they gradually appear as the temperature rises and nocturnal travelers head to earth for their daily respite. With a low sun casting its rich light, the Magic Hedge at Montrose lives up to its name and comes alive with color and song. You stand there with friends, assessing each movement as your brain processes the information, before calling out to alert the others to a noteworthy find. (Sometimes the exclamations are not volitional, motivated instead by the sheer beauty of the subject) Oh my god, do you see that Blackburnian (which looks as it it swallowed a glowing ember that stuck in its throat)?. Where is the Cape May? The Canada would be my first of the year. I am on the male black-throated blue, but not the female. The maggies are particularly common today.

With luck, warbler migration will last another week . And I have work to do- I haven’t yet seen a golden-winged this year, or the rare local nesters like hooded, Kentucky, or prothonotary. And we have not yet reached the peak period when the uncommon Connecticut passes through these parts, although a few birds have already been reported. Ah, the traps await- with wonderful birds as bait, the birders are easily caught.