I spent the morning hiking around these two sites looking for late landbirds and waterfowl migrants,  I stopped at Darby Bend Lakes in Prairie Oaks, then went down to the Kuhlwein and former silo wetlands.  The lakes had loads of sparrows, but little else; the only waterfowl were Canada Geese.  The Darby wetlands are completely dry.  Kuhlwein still had lots of sparrows, plus pipits and Palm Warblers; the former silo wetlands now have two signed trails - the Teal Loop to the N and the Harrier Loop to the S - but had no water despite the recent rains and had very few birds.  The notables included

Vultures - a flock of 25 Turkey Vultures kettled over the nearby town of Alton, while a Black Vulture was over the north loop of the greenway trail at Darby wetlands.

Phoebe - 1 was fly-catching along the south pond shore at Darby Bend Lakes

Kinglets - 2 Ruby-crowns were foraging along the stream corridor at Darby Bend Lakes

Thrushes - flocks of Robins were at Darby Bend Lakes (DBL), along with 4-5 E.Bluebirds.  Another bluebird flock was at Kuhlwein.

Larks & Pipits - Horned Larks were widespread in the Darby Wetlands, while a flock of 4 Pipits were fly-overs at Kuhlwein.

Warblers - Yellow-rumps were abundant at Darby bend lakes (40+), while 2 Palm Warblers were at the Kuhlwein wetlands

Sparrows - Song & White-throated Sparrows were abundant at Darby Bend lakes; Songs were also common at Kuhlwein.  White-crowned sparrows were at all 3 sites, but only 1-2 were at the wetlands (vs. 6-8 at DBL). Swamp Sparrows were at DBL and Kuhlwein, but not at the Teal loop.  Savannah Sparrows were in the dry parts of the Darby wetlands, while Kuhlwein also had a Lincoln's Sparrow.

Meadowlarks - 5 were in the low areas along the Teal Loop, where there were still loads of grasshoppers.  I'd expect more here over the next few weeks.

Blackbirds - Redwings were in small flocks at every site, but I could only find a few grackles at DBL.

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