It Gets Better from Here

43 minutes ago
4 min read

5/3/2026

I was fired up for this weekend. I know it is a bit early for migration to be in full swing, but I was excited. Knowing it is a bit early, I made another grassland run on Saturday. Sunday, though... that was going to be for all the birds. I was over-eager, it appears.

Saturday, I got up early. Out the door at 5 o'clock in the morning early. I was heading up to Kankakee Sands to hit the grasslands there. My target was Lark Sparrow. I birded the area and had Grasshopper, Field, Song, Savannah, and Henslow's Sparrows. It was super cold, and not much was cooperative. Most birds were singing from the ground. I had a few Ring-necked Pheasant, and a number of Wild Turkey. In spite of my efforts, I was not coming up with Lark Sparrow.

I did finally find some Lark Sparrow, but they were heard only. There was a tree-line along one edge of the road, and they were hanging out on the other side of it. No amount of pishing would convince them to come into the open. There is a small set of woods on the other side of the road, there. There, I had a number of White-throated Sparrow feeding in some honeysuckle bushes. A few Black-and-white Warblers were singing in the woods, too.

I finally headed out and drove around some other areas. Nothing much of note. I did have a close-by female Ring-necked Pheasant that I grabbed some shots of. Seems like maybe some have been released here recently. I do not recall seeing this many in the past.

Sunday was all about the migrants. I hopped in the car around 6:30 AM and headed to Eagle Creek Park. There are a number of parks closer to where I live. A number of nice parks. In the end, it just comes down to going where you know. I have been going to the park for years, and I am comfortable birding there. I really should learn the parks closer to home, though.

I was prepared for a good day. As I got into my car, a Nashville Warbler was singing from the tree in my front yard. I pulled into the park and quickly rolled the windows down. I was greeted with silence. It was not a good sign. I slowly drove a winding route to the marina. Granted, I was there just after sunrise. The morning was quite cold; so, it is not entirely shocking that the park was mostly quiet. It was disappointing. I had a couple of Pine Warbler singing near Lilly Lake. Other than that, I did not hear a warbler until I was on the main road to the marina. There, I finally heard my first Northern Parula and Yellow-throated Warbler of the day.

I pulled onto the marina road and started heading to the lower lot. They have built a new upper lot, and the area was alive with warblers calling: Yellow-rumped and Palm, mostly. I could hear some Black-throated Green and Nashville Warblers, too. I drove down to the lower lot and parked. I had more of the same with an additional Black-and-white Warbler singing. I picked a spot and started trying to pish birds in. No joy. I moved and tried again. I finally got a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and the Black-and-white to come by to see what all the noise was about. An Osprey slowly soared across the road. Later, a pair of Bald Eagles would circle through the area.

I headed uphill to the upper lot. It was still very birdy. I picked a spot and started pishing. I got a lot of activity pretty quickly, but nothing would actually come out into view. That pretty much summed up my morning. I spent a while up here trying to pish stuff in with zero luck. House Wren and Eastern Towhee peeked out from cover. A Blackburnian Warbler sang once. A Great Crested Flycatcher wheeped from the tree tops. I had a lot of White-throated Sparrows feeding in dense brush. Just nothing quite curious enough for a photo. As the sun hit more area, the birds dispersed and disappeared.

I met up with some other birders and finally got eyes on a Black-throated Green Warbler. Very high up. Similarly, the Blue-headed Vireo I spotted was very high up. Good to see this bird, though. It is one of my favorite species. I birded back down to the lower lot and found an out-of-place Common Yellowthroat. Not much else.

I drove the park a bit, but it was pretty quiet. I stopped along circle drive and managed very brief look at a Golden-winged Warbler. As usual with this species, it quickly disappeared.

That pretty much sums up my day and weekend. Migration has started, but it is not super busy yet. The weather has been super cold, and the winds have not been great. It will just get better from here.

Thanks for reading,

Mike