Boom - Bust
- 1 minute ago
- 8 min read
5/31/2026
The month flew by, in more ways than one. May means migration. I meant to keep on top of posts, but... excuses. My best excuse is that I just did not have much to share until later in the month, and then I was busy. The month was really good, overall. I got out every weekend except this last one.
I already posted about the weekend of the 2nd/3rd; so, I will start with the weekend of 9th/10th. Saturday was a nice day, and I got to Eagle Creek Park later than hoped. The sunny day meant that I was not going to have long to shoot. I had a good mix of warblers. I heard a couple of Golden-winged Warblers, but I did not see any. There were early (it seemed to me) reports of Mourning and Canada Warbler. Oddly, a Worm-eating Warbler was being seen in the park. There is nothing in this part of the park that has suitable habitat for the bird. This and a Cerulean were causing eager rumors of being able to pick up all the warbler species in the park this year. In spite of the number of warblers, I was struggling for shots. I tried several areas throughout the park. The sun and time were working against me. I struggled out a few shots of Chestnut-sided, Black-throated Green, and Magnolia Warbler. I even struggled to get a decent shot of Swainson's Thrush. The problem really was me. Plenty of birders were seeing a lot more; with reports of: Blue-headed Vireo, Blackburnian Warbler, the warblers mentioned above, and more.
Sunday was a bit of the same, but with so many extra birds. I heard a lot of Golden-winged Warblers and briefly saw one. Least Flycatcher were calling everywhere, and there were tons of my favorite vireo, the Blue-headed Vireo. Still, I struggled. By mid-morning, I had only really photographed a House Wren. I always seemed to be a step behind. At one point, I returned to my car only to have another birder tell me about the Black-throated Green Warbler perched in the limbs above my car.... The bird I was hoping to find the day before had shown up, though. There were reports of Black-throated Blue Warbler in the park. By the end of the day, I had at least seen two. The first one I heard call as I was slowly driving along the road. I raced the car forward to alert another birder. After parking and getting back to the trailhead, another pair of birders called out that they had spotted it. Teamwork got us all on the bird.
By this point, it was getting late for photos. Determined to get something out of the day, I shot later in the morning than what I should have. I headed into the heavy tree cover to get some shade and, hopefully, some salvageable shots. I at least got some shareable Blackburnian and Black-throated Green Warbler shots out of it. As I was thinking it was time to call it a day, I heard another Black-throated Blue Warbler sing. I walked down trail to where I thought I heard it call from and pished. The bird about flew into my face. After ducking, I quickly located the bird and snapped a few shots.
The number of shots I have to share are not really representative of the number of birds I saw this day. It was a very birdy day at the park. In spite of the lack of photos, I had a great weekend. We could use more springs like this.
The next weekend was kind of a bust. I spent the 16th/17th at Eagle Creek Park, again. The birds, however, did not. Things were really slow. Lots of American Redstart. On the 16th, I headed to a new park not far from me to try and get something from the day. There were reports earlier in the spring of Lark and Grasshopper Sparrow at the park. I got really lucky. As soon as I walked onto the path, a pair of sparrows flew up out of some dandelions that had gone to seed. They were a bit larger and had a lot of white in the tail. I had found my Lark Sparrow. They had not flown back far and were perched up. I slowly wandered towards them, and they let me approach within photographable distance. Maybe I do not have to drive up to Kankakee to look for this species any longer.
I walked a small loop at the park and had quite a number of species. Magnolia Warbler and Common Yellowthroat were hanging out in a small wood lane. Of course there were birds like Gray Catbird and Song Sparrow, too. Field Sparrow were common. I did hear one Grasshopper Sparrow. In the parking lot, Chipping Sparrow and House Finch were hanging out on the fence posts. The surprise bird of the park was an immature Rose-breasted Grosbeak calling from a small tree along the path through the field. Of everything I saw, I only managed a decent shot of this Indigo Bunting.
Finally, Memorial Day weekend arrived, and I was thinking that birding was going to be a bust again. It was warmer out, and we had had a bit of weather over the area and to the south of us. I had not been following any local birding chatter; so, I was surprised to get to the park and find it booming with birds. There was even a Connecticut Warbler being seen at the marina. It was a long day of birding. The skies were a bright overcast, and that meant I could pretty much shoot all day. My only real regret this day is that my niece was staying with us but had not packed any birding clothes/footwear. We would go pick some up this evening, but it meant that she missed out on this morning. And, it was a spectacular morning.
I did see the Connecticut and almost got a decent shot of it. It was a bit obscured and blurry. So close. On the other hand, after years of trying, I finally was able to get nice photos of what, in my opinion, is the most beautiful warbler. Canada Warbler were everywhere. No matter how many times I have seen this species before, I have never got a photo I was happy with. My friend Scott Enochs and I were birding near the Peace and Learning Center when I heard one. As usual, I tried pishing, and the bird flew out onto an open branch. This has never happened before. Normally, it is a lot of twisting and ducking around to look for a window. I took a lot of shots, but they all pretty much look the same. Such a beautiful bird.
A couple seconds later, a Wilson's Warbler came though and gave us pretty nice views.
And the birds just kept coming. I messed up my shots at a Mourning Warbler. But I had more Canada. Blackburnian, Chestnut-sided, Bay-breasted, and Black-throated Green Warblers were singing. Philadelphia Vireo were bouncing around in the trees. At one point, a whole flock of Blackpoll Warblers appeared and slowly trained through the trees. They moved so quick. American Redstart were still plentiful. As were Least Flycatcher. I could never work out a shot of a definitive Alter Flycatcher, but I heard several. Eastern Wood-Pewee were plentiful, and I had one especially confiding Eastern Kingbird. The bird was not even remotely shy. What an amazing day.
The next day, unfortunately, was not as good. The highlight was a single Canada Warbler in the spot where the Connecticut was the day before. I had the niece in tow and was hoping to get her some nice new lifers. I got her a Magnolia Warbler, which she said is actually the prettiest warbler. What can you say? We birded for a while, but there just was not much going on. I got a more typical Canada Warbler shot and the cooperative Eastern Kingbird was still cooperating.
I thought that I would take my niece by the local park to look for Lark Sparrow. It was not a new bird for her, but they are beautiful. We immediately found Grasshopper Sparrow where I had the Lark Sparrow last time. I spent a lot of time walking back and forth, trying to work out an approach, chasing the Grasshopper Sparrow from perch-to-perch. The niece made fun of me and posted pics to her friends. I finally worked out a couple of shots and gave up.
The only other bird I got a photo of was a Field Sparrow.
Just as we were leaving, I spotted a pair of sparrows on the path. They were around a small bend, but I could see one jumping along the path and fanning its tail at the other. Lark Sparrow courtship apparently involves displaying the tail. I thought the birds were occupied and would not notice us coming up on them. I was wrong. As soon as I stepped out, they flushed and flew to the far end of the field. Disappointment was high.
I was struggling to come up with ideas for where to bird on Memorial Day when it suddenly dawned on me that my niece had probably not seen Prairie Warbler before. She confirmed it would be new, and we suddenly had a plan. Memorial Day morning started early morning at The Crest. It is a park on the other side of the reservoir from Eagle Creek Park. Henslow's Sparrow and, formerly, Grasshopper Sparrow, can be seen here. It is also a good place for Blue Grosbeak. I have not had any luck seeing/hearing them there this year, but others have. Common Yellowthroat are... common. Very common. We were not focused on any of those birds, though. I had her play the call of the Prairie Warbler in the car on the way over; just so she would know what we were listening for - a buzzy scale. The bird is quite loud, and I knew we would be able to hear it from the parking lot. As soon as we pulled in, she said she could hear it. We walked back and found one singing 30' up in a tree. I tried pishing it, but it did not care. A few minutes later, we spotted a female.
We walked the area a bit and had Eastern Towhee calling; along with Field Sparrow. I walked her over the grassland area and we did not have a lot. I could hear Yellow-breasted Chat calling, and we tracked one down. A bird was quite actively calling from about, again, 30' up in a tree. While trying to pish it down, I looked down and saw a second bird staring at us from about eye height, where I would expect this bird to be. I was too slow to snap a shot. I did not hear Henslow's Sparrow on the way through, but we had one singing on the way back. I, of course, was not going to walk by without tying to see the bird. The bird was very pish responsive. I snapped a couple of shots and then moved on. My final shot of the day was of a Tree Swallow. The niece thinks they are pretty, and it is hard to disagree.
That pretty much wrapped up my May. The final weekend was spent with the niece, but we hung out and played board games. I also spent the weekend packing; as I leave for vacation on Monday. All in all, it was a spectacular spring at Eagle Creek Park. It was also good spend some more time birding with my niece. I look forward to some more trips out with her.
Oh, and by this final weekend, my friend Scott had found every expected eastern warbler in the park this spring. So congrats to him! It is not an easy accomplishment.
Stay tuned for pics from Brazil!
Thanks for reading,
Mike
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