2026 Chase Blogs and Photographs

A Robin!
Written January 16, 2026

Almost everyone, both birders and non-birders, is familiar with the “American Robin” (Turdus migratorius). They occur all across North America. In Europe there is a species known as “Robin” (Erithacus rubecula). For general purposes this European species often referred to as the “European Robin” to differentiate it from the “American Robin” These two species are not related and only share the term “Robin” in their names. That often confuses people. The European Robin is smaller than the American Robin, and it has a warm orange breast as opposed to the red chest of an American Robin.

There are very few records of a European Robin being seen in North American. The most notably sighting was one in a county near my home in 2015. Only a couple of birders were able to see that bird before it disappeared. On Thursday January 8th, a European Robin was reported along a residential avenue in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. As predicted, it drew a crowd. Within a few days several hundred birders arrived, saw, and enjoyed this “mega rarity”. This European Robin was cycling back and forth between a row of Juniper bushes at a corner and a wooded thicket about 75 yards away. There were times when it was easily seen and well photographed in or near the bushes and at other times it was barely visible in the wooded thicket.

Chris Hitt contacted me, and a plan to chase this bird was developed. The plan called for Chris to fly into Philadelphia on Monday morning from North Carolina, I would pick him up, and we would then drive to Montreal. We would attempt to see the bird on Tuesday morning. On the way through New York State, we planned on stopping to see a recently identified Taiga Bean-Goose near Albany New York. This was not a lifer, or even an ABA (American Birding Association) life species, for either of us but it would be nice to see. The European Robin was an ABA Area life species for both of us. A mega rarity. The target of this adventure.

On Monday the 12th, after driving north from Philadelphia, we arrived at the Bean-Goose site early afternoon, to find out that it had not been seen that day. We searched the area with no luck and then headed to Montreal. We knew we would be arriving after dark so our first opportunity to see the European Robin would be Tuesday morning. The last couple of hours of the drive to Montreal had serious winter driving conditions but we managed.

On Tuesday morning we were up and out of our lodging shortly before 7 am and were at the location of the European Robin in about 20 minutes, slightly before dawn. We parked and reconnoitered the situation. We had been given excellent local information (thanks Paul L), and we knew where to find the hedge where the bird was spending time.

We walked to the corner, and the hedge, where several earlier arriving birders pointed out the bird feeding along the edge of the sidewalk. We saw, we enjoyed, I photographed.

In the word that birders use – tick! A successful chase for a mega rarity! It would be nice if every chase was so easy. But if they were all as easy as this they would not be as satisfying. While there, it was nice to see and chat with other birders including fellow Philadelphia area birders Martin Dellwo and Debbie Beer.

We could have loaded back into our vehicle and headed home, but we had other thoughts. We were in Canada, it was winter, and that provided an opportunity for winter birding. We had places we could go and things we could see. As the day went on, we tried several locations west of Montreal and had limited success. That is part of winter birding. We did enjoy flocks of Snow Buntings and Horned Larks. Rarely do we see those two species in the numbers we were able to see. A major target for the late afternoon was a long staying Northern Hawk-Owl in the Ottawa area. We arrived at the location it had been favoring and after finding a rare parking spot, we surveyed the area. So much area, and so many trees in which it could be roosting. We chatted with people using the park and they were able to direct us to the tree the Hawk-Owl favored. We found the tree and there it was. It was a bit distant, but it is always great to see this species.

Upon a recommendation from a birder we talked to, we went to a local nature reserve and ended the day watching a feeding station with various birds coming into feed. It was a long but very successful day.

Wednesday our plan was to drive from Ottawa to the Amherst Island ferry at Millhaven, birding along the way, and then bird Amherst Island. Of course, we checked as to what was being seen along the general route planned for our day. We were pleasantly surprised to learn that a Slaty-backed Gull was being seen at a waste disposal site (aka “a dump”) along our expected route. After birding along some agricultural fields south of Ottawa we headed to the dump. The location was a bit confusing, and we did not interpret the directions correctly. In brief, we went to the wrong place. But we recovered and got to the right location. We spoke with the dump employees and told them we were “crazy birders from the states”, and we would quietly stay very far out of their way if they let us in. The on-site employees were very gracious to allow us to access this limited access site. There were hundreds of gulls in the air when we arrived but quickly, they flew off to unknown places. Then, as we waited for the gulls to return, a car with other birders showed up. Among them was the lady who originally found and identified the Slaty-backed Gull a few days before. From her, and the other two ladies, we got super “local information”. They said they had just seen the gull roosting at a lake nearby, but it had flown. After waiting at the dump, a bit longer, Chris and I decided to head to the lake. We had been warned by the other birders that the road was very, very icy and the views of the lake were very restricted by private houses. We drove along the road and yes, the road was a sheet of ice, and the lake was barely visible. But sometimes you get lucky. As we slowly drove by a house, and a resident was out in his driveway. We stopped, introduced ourselves as “crazy birders from the states” and asked if there was any public access to view the lake further down the road. He quickly said that we should not go further down the road because even the residents there could not get in and out because of the icy road. But he told us to pull in his dry driveway, and we could access a view of his lake from his deck. “Stan” came up huge. What a super guy. Not only did we get good views of roosting gulls from his deck, but Stan also took us to a 92-year-old neighbor’s house, and we got great views there. We were limited on time because we wanted to get the 1:30 ferry to Amherst Island so we quickly scanned and scanned the roosting flocks of gulls out on the frozen lake. Just as we were about to leave, we picked out the Slaty-backed Gull among the birds. It was obvious. I got good scope views; Chris got good scope views. And as we got Stan to the scope the birds took off. We hate it when that happens. No photographs but the gull was seen well in direct comparison with a Great-black Gull near it, so we are sure of the identification. We had to move on, but we will always remember the courtesy that Stan gave to a couple of strangers from south of the border. Canadians can be quite friendly and helpful.

We were on the 1:30 ferry to Amherst Island. I have been to the island multiple times, but Chris had never been there. We knew that it was not a classic raptor and owl year out on the island, but we were in the area, and it was an opportunity for Chris to add to his list of classic birding places visited. We did the normal birding sequence around the island and enjoyed multiple Rough-legged Hawks and various other birds. We were on the 5 pm ferry from the island and then headed for a meal in Kingston and lodging. A very good day.

We knew there was weather heading into Kingston, but it did not seem to be something that would affect our plans for Thursday. We were wrong. Both Chris and I woke up about 5 am on Thursday. Our plan was to do some local birding in the Kingston area before heading “home”. But we realized that overnight the temperature dropped from 35 degrees to 10 degrees, the wind had picked up, and it was snowing. The forecast was for 5-7 inches of snow. There was no chance of doing any quality birding in the area that morning. It was time to head home. By 5:30 am we were on the road after a quick stop at a Tim Horton’s for coffee and muffins. We were out on Route 401 shortly before 6 am. Let’s just say that driving in the dark, on a barely plowed major road, with accumulating snow, with high winds, and with multiple large trucks traveling like it is a summer day, is not a calming, casual adventure. But we managed. It continued to snow all the way to Syracuse, New York. It was pretty smooth driving after that. I dropped Chris off at Philadelphia Airport and he was able to catch an earlier flight home. I was home by 1:45 pm after a much-needed stop at a car wash.

It was a great successful chase and birding adventure. We saw and enjoyed a European Robin in North America. A mega rarity. We then did some winter birding in Ontario. That is always an adventure for birding and driving. We had sunshine until late afternoon on Monday and then we saw the sun again midday Thursday while on the ride home. Lots of gray skies on this trip. That lack of sunshine, and the occasional snow showers, made photography a challenge but that is expected. It was “winter birding in Canada”.

Now on to the next chase.

A set of pictures is at: http://www.thefilemyrs.com/Birding/BirdPhotographs/2026Pictures/2026_01RobinChase/index.html

A video of the European Robin is at: https://youtu.be/bGi8HT8TYBg?si=9TAGgq1kAWniwpQX
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Our eBird trip report is at: https://ebird.org/tripreport/463969