Forecast low for rare birds next 2 weeks
Oklahoma Mesonet reported 1.20 inches of rainfall over the past week. We are catching up quick!
Payne County rare birds for the same time frame include Scissor-tailed Flycatcher at Lake Carl Blackwell, Nashville Warbler at a private Cimarron Hill Rd. residence, and Indigo Bunting at The Botanic Garden of Oklahoma State University.
An estimated 39,700 birds crossed Payne County Monday Nov. 11, between 1820 hours and Tuesday Nov. 12, 2024 at 0700 hours. Peak migration traffic was an estimated 9,800 birds in flight from the WSW at an altitude of 1,000 feet and a speed of 11 mph.
Expected nocturnal migrants were Harris’s and White-crowned Sparrows, Dark-eyed Junco, Bufflehead, Lesser Scaup, Western Grebe, Cackling Goose, Gadwall, Yellow- rumped Warbler, Western Meadowlark, and Ruddy Duck. The rare bird forecast shows geomagnetic vagrancy conditions coming in at low and expected to remain so for the next two weeks. Current vagrancy conditions are at a low 0.3, geomagnetic disturbance via current magnetic field distortion is at -0.4, while current solar activity conditions are at a moderate 1.7.
Nationwide rare/vagrant birds for the week include the ongoing Brambling from British Columbia, Quebec’s Taiga Bean-Goose, and California’s Song Thrush from Southeast Farallon Island (restricted area), California’s Song Thrush from Southeast Farallon Island (restricted area), Maine’s Common Gull, Florida’s Bananaquit, Texas’ Brown Jay and Mottled Owl, and Arizona’s Rufous-capped Warbler, Berylline Hummingbird, and California’s Taiga Bean-Goose rounds out the new arrivals for the current week.
DEB HIRT
Boomer Lake Park counted Canada Goose, Northern Shoveler, Mallard, Ruddy Duck, American Coot, Killdeer, Franklin’s and Ringbilled Gulls, Double Crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Red-tailed and Red-shouldered Hawks, Red-bellied and Downy Woodpeckers, Blue Jay, Carolina Chickadee, Carolina Wren, European Starling, Northern Mockingbird, American Robin, House, Song, and Lincoln’s Sparrows, American Pipit, House Finch, American Goldfinch, Dark-eyed Junco, Song Sparrow, myrtle Yellow- rumped Warbler, Bald Eagle, Turkey Vulture, yellow- shafted Northern Flicker, American Crow, Tufted Titmouse, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Wood Duck, Gadwall, Pied-billed Grebe, Belted Kingfisher, Northern Cardinal, domestic Mallard, Redhead, and Eastern Bluebird.
Lake Carl Blackwell added Horned Grebe, Greater White-fronted Goose, Greenwinged Teal, Eurasian Collared- Dove, Osprey, Hairy Woodpecker, White-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Chipping and Savannah Sparrows, Red-winged Blackbird, Ring-necked Duck, Lesser Scaup, Mourning Dove, Bonaparte’s and American Herring Gulls, Common Loon, red-shafted Northern Flicker, slate-colored Darkeyed Junco, Pine Warbler, American Wigeon, Northern Pintail, Hooded Merganser, Least Sandpiper, Eared Grebe, American White Pelican, Pileated Woodpecker, House Finch, Wild Turkey, Greater Yellowlegs, and Common Grackle.
Lake Carl Blackwell Dam tagged Red-breasted Merganser, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Bewick’s Wren, White-throated and Vesper Sparrows, Western Meadowlark. an unknown jaeger, and Canvasback.
The Botanic Garden at Oklahoma State University ticked Indigo Bunting, Red-headed Woodpecker, Winter Wren, and Sharp-shinned Hawk.
Oklahoma State University Wetlands checked Field Sparrow.
Oklahoma State University Cross Country Course chimed in with Northern Harrier and American Kestrel.
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 Taiga Bean Goose.
ANDREY GULIVANOV, CC BY 2.0
