Date March 22, 2025
Location Illinois Beach State Park, IL
I had recently learned that this species was a newly accepted ABA species (ABA 2) and that they were commonly seen in Lake county, Illinois, the county just north of Cook county (Chicago). We went to this state park in pursuit of some interesting migrants on the shores of Lake Michigan, but the waves were high and there wasn't much there. We walked inland on one of the trails and Logan asked someone about this bird. He suggested we look by the pine trees by a nearby resort.
We had passed the resort to our right as we walked south along the beach, so we simply went back up that way. We found a few stands of tall pine trees, and upon arriving, saw a bird fly to the left and perch on an open branch of a deciduous tree (no leaves yet, of course). And there it was, easily identified.
It certainly pays to ask the locals.
[not in Cornell guide as of publication of this post]
