Local birds awaiting even more rain
Oklahoma Mesonet reported. 6.90 inches of rainfall over the past seven-day.
Migrant arrivals for the month of November include Trumpeter and Tundra Swans, White-winged and Black Scoters, Long-tailed Duck, Common Goldeneye, Common Merganser, Iceland and Glaucous Gulls, Red-throated and Pacific Loons, Red Crossbill, Lapland and Smith’s Longspurs, and American Tree Sparrow.
Migrant departures should be Black-bellied Whistling- Duck, Blue-winged Teal, Rufous Hummingbird, King Rail, Sora, Sandhill Crane, American Avocet, Black-bellied Plover, American Golden- Plover, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Baird’s, Least, and Pectoral Sandpipers, Long-billed Dowitcher, American Bittern, Great Egret, Cattle Egret, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Peregrine Falcon, Fish Crow, Common Yellowthroat, Blue-headed Vireo, Grasshopper and Lark Sparrows, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Tree Swallow and Vesper Sparrow.
An estimated 58,300 birds crossed Payne County last night between Monday, Nov. 4 at 1750 hours and Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024 at 0650 hours. Peak migration traffic was an estimated 35,900 birds in flight at 17 mph from the south at an altitude of 1,300 feet at 2140 hours on Nov. 4.
Expected nocturnal migrants were Dark eyed Junco Song, Fox, Lincoln’s, Harris’s, Vesper, and White-throated Sparrows, Orange-crowned Warbler, Western Meadowlark, Brown Creeper, Ruddy Duck, Redhead, Ring-necked Duck and Gadwall.
Current and predicted vagrancy conditions are moderate at 0.7, with geomagnetic disturbance at 0.4, and solar activity at a high of 1.7. Coastal species richness is higher for the season between 25 and 50.
Demographics show Western
DEB HIRT
Tanager at a steep rise, while Chestnut-sided Warbler comes in at a slight rise.
The vagrant/rare bird alert begins with Maine’s Common Gull, followed by Florida’s Bananaquit, Yellow-headed Caracara, and Large-billed Tern, while Texas shares Brown Jay and Mottled Owl.
Kansas counted Brambling, while Arizona added Berylline Hummingbird, and New Mexico ticked Streak-backed Oriole.
South Dakota checked Brambling, as California counted Taiga Bean-Goose.
Stillwater’s birds are waiting for more rain and are still gathered in The Lowlands. This Monday we counted 25 Mallards and 32 Canada Geese on their new lakefront adjunct. With all this rain, the dam area has all rocks and soil covered. We’ll see what else happens a little later this week.
Boomer Lake counted Canada Goose, Northern Shoveler, Gadwall, Mallard, Green-winged Teal, Ringnecked Duck, Ruddy Duck, American Coot, American Avocet, Killdeer, Franklin’s and Ring-billed Gulls, Double- crested Cormorant, yellow shafted Northern Flicker, Blue Jay, Carolina Chickadee, European Starling, American Pipit, Myrtle Yellow-rumped Warbler, American Wigeon, Redhead, American Coot, Pied-billed Grebe, Turkey Vulture, American Crow, Carolina Wren, Northern Mockingbird, House and Song Sparrows, Mourning Dove, Least Sandpiper, Great Egret, Great Blue Heron, Red-bellied and Downy Woodpeckers, American Robin, Red-winged Blackbird, Brown-headed Cowbird, Common Grackle, Northern Cardinal, American Herring Gull, Red-tailed Hawk, and Belted Kingfisher.
Lake Carl Blackwell chimed in with Northern Pintail, Wild Turkey, Greater Yellowlegs, Bonaparte’s Gull, Bald Eagle, Eastern Bluebird, Osprey, American Kestrel, American Crow, Barn Swallow, White-breasted Nuthatch, American Goldfinch, White-throated Sparrow, Red-shouldered Hawk, Tufted Titmouse, Eastern Meadowlark, Pine Warbler, Lesser Scaup, Eurasian Collared- Dove, American White Pelican, Black Vulture, Northern Harrier, and Pileated Woodpecker.
Keep your eyes on the ground and your head in the clouds. Happy birding!
Deb Hirt is a wild bird rehabilitator and photographer living in Stillwater.
A Streak-backed Oriole.
EMMANUEL MIRANDA AT ENGLISH WIKIPEDIA., CC BY-SA 2.5
