Never really know what birds might turn up
Oklahoma Mesonet informed that we received 1.34 inches of rainfall over the past week. Writer had been watching for migrants at The Lowlands depressions with water, but alas, none could be found other than Canada Geese.
Payne County rare birds for the same period include Purple Finch at Sanborn Lake on Nov. 12, Indigo Bunting at The Botanic Garden of Oklahoma State University on Nov.11, and late Scissor-tailed Flycatcher at Lake Carl Blackwell— HPELS. Fall migration is over. There will still be late and early birds observed at various times of the year, and naturally vagrants/ rarities from time-totime. Keep those feeders in mind, as one never knows what might turn up. There could also be some stray hummingbirds late fall and winter.
Ongoing nationwide vagrant/ rare birds include Quebec’s Eurasian Curlew and Taiga Bean-Goose, Maine’s Common Gull, Connecticut’s Pink-Footed Goose, Florida’s Bananaquit, and Yellow-headed Caracara, Texas’ Nutting’s Flycatcher, Brown Jay, and Mottled Owl, Arizona’s Berylline Hummingbird and California’s Taiga Bean-Goose.
Newfoundland and Labrador counted Northern Lapwing, Quebec added Eurasian Curlew, and Florida ticked Antillean Palm Swift (Palm-Swift). The Antillean Palm Swift is found in the Caribbean (Cuba, Jamaica, and Hispaniola).
Boomer Lake tallied Canada Goose, Northern Shoveler, Gadwall, Mallard, Ruddy Duck, American Coot, Double- crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Turkey Vulture, American, Crow, House, Harris’s, Savannah, and Song Sparrows, American Goldfinch, Northern Cardinal, domestic Mallard, Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon), Mourning Dove, Killdeer,
DEB HIRT
Ring-billed Gull, Red-shouldered, and Red-tailed Hawks, Downy Woodpecker, Blue Jay, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, European Starling, Eastern Bluebird, American Robin, red Fox Sparrow, slate-colored Darkeyed Junco, Yellow-rumped Warbler, American Wigeon, Canvasback, Lesser Scaup, Pied-billed Grebe, Great Horned Owl and Red-winged Blackbird.
Lake Carl Blackwell tagged Franklin’s Gull, American Pipit, Vesper Sparrow, Wood Duck, Greater Scaup, Bufflehead, Hooded Merganser, Bonaparte’s Gull, American Herring Gull, Horned and Eared Grebes, Common Loon, American White Pelican, Black and Turkey Vultures, Bald Eagle, Red-bellied and Pileated Woodpeckers, yellow- shafted Northern Flicker, Eastern Phoebe, Blue Jay, Golden-crowned Kinglet, White-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Northern Mockingbird, Eastern Bluebird, Cedar Waxwing, House Finch, Spotted Towhee and Chipping Sparrow.
Sanborn Lake penned in Northern Harrier, Belted Kingfisher, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Taiga Merlin, Eastern Phoebe, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Purple Finch, Whitecrowned, Lincoln’s, and White-throated Sparrows, Brown-headed Cowbird and Common Grackle.
Oklahoma State University Wetlands listed Wild Turkeys. eBird listed the 2024 State of Canada’s Birds based on over fifty years of data, both conservation successes and growing threats. It is very similar to what we are experiencing in our own country.
Writer wishes to remind listers and casual birders with cameras that when you travel, take photos in different parts of the country and the world. The Merlin is heavily and darkly streaked in the Pacific Northwest, but in Eurasia it has only faint reddish streaks. It is a good photo reminder of what there is to offer elsewhere. You will also increase your knowledge base, learning why these birds look differently.
Salt Plains experienced over a dozen Whooping Cranes and Canton Lake shared King Eider over the week.
Keep your eyes on the round and your head in the clouds.
Happy birding! Deb Hirt is a wild bird rehabilitator and photographer living in Stillwater.
The Antillean Palm Swift.
ZANKAM, CC BY-SA 3.0
