Robert D. Hughes

Writer + Photographer + Content producer + Web developer. Connecting people with nature at Montrose Point in Chicago.

[Robert D. Hughes @robertdhughes63]

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

[Robert D. Hughes @robertdhughes63]

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

#MontrosePointBirdSanctuary

[Robert D. Hughes @robertdhughes63]

@brittyknows Look at all that robin poop.

[Robert D. Hughes @robertdhughes63]

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

[Robert D. Hughes @robertdhughes63]

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

[Robert D. Hughes @robertdhughes63]

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

[Robert D. Hughes @robertdhughes63]

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

[Robert D. Hughes @robertdhughes63]

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

[Robert D. Hughes @robertdhughes63]

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?

[Robert D. Hughes @robertdhughes63]

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

[Robert D. Hughes @robertdhughes63]

@4letterbird 3

[Robert D. Hughes @robertdhughes63]

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

[Robert D. Hughes @robertdhughes63]

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

[Robert D. Hughes @robertdhughes63]

@FieldMuseum We get the point.

[Robert D. Hughes @robertdhughes63]

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

[Robert D. Hughes @robertdhughes63]

@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.

[Robert D. Hughes @robertdhughes63]

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.

[Robert D. Hughes @robertdhughes63]

Chicago area birders, be on the lookout.

[𝕭𝖊𝖆𝖘𝖙 𝖔𝖋 𝕭𝖎𝖗𝖉𝖎𝖓 @GREGNEISE]

Can you say #irruption ?

[Robert D. Hughes @robertdhughes63]

@JeremyBRoberts @emmaluck22 Not a shark. Orca.

[Robert D. Hughes @robertdhughes63]

@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.

[Robert D. Hughes @robertdhughes63]

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

November is the best.