Rare birds or rarely seen?

Oklahoma Mesonet reported 0.86 inches of rainfall over the past seven days.

Payne County rare birds for the same period included Neotropic Cormorant and continuing Snow Goose at Boomer Lake, continuing Common Gallinule at 920 South Murphy Street, Song Sparrow in the South Jardot Road vicinity, Gray Catbird in the South Chester Street area and early Northern Yellow Warbler at Lake Carl Blackwell.

An estimated 62,600 birds crossed Payne County between Monday, April 20, 2026 at 2010 hours and Tuesday, April 21, 2026 at 0640 hours.

Peak migration traffic was an estimated 77,300 birds in flight from the north, wind speed of 46 mph at an altitude of 1,700 feet recorded at 2310 hours on April 20, 2026.

Expected nocturnal migrants were Spotted Sandpiper, Song, Clay-colored, and Savannah Sparrows, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Orange-crowned and Blackand- white Warblers, Eastern Kingbird, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Great Crested Flycatcher, Blue-winged Teal, Baltimore Oriole, Lesser Yellowlegs and Western Kingbird.

The nationwide rarities/ vagrants for the month still include Steller’s Sea-Eagle in Newfoundland, as well as the Texas’ Crimson-collared Grosbeak, Brown Jay and Cattle Tyrant.

Mid-April is the place to be in Florida, namely The Dry Tortugas if you can swing it for such notables at Garden Key this year, the infamous Cuban Pewee, which has been coming more often over the past decade.

It is not a rare bird, just rarely seen, and this is one of those few times that a drably- colored bird could not be more welcome.

Quebec has seen Taiga Bean-Goose several times on the north side of the St. Lawrence, which could have been the individual that had been out of Albany, New York this winter.

New York did have a lovely specimen of a Tufted Duck.

DEB HIRT

The Ruff appeared in Nebraska, which was last seen there multiple decades ago, while Colorado got more than its share with Mexican Duck, Common Black Hawk, Tricolored Heron and the wonderful Crissal Thrasher.

California has been enjoying Little Stint, while Alaska located Whooper Swan.

Boomer Lake added Canada and Snow Geese, Mallard, Mourning Dove, Chimney Swift, Neotropic and Double- crested Cormorants, Great Blue Heron, Turkey and Black Vultures, Eastern Kingbird, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Eastern Warbling Vireo, Fish Crow, Tufted Titmouse, Purple Martin, Carolina Wren, European Starling, Brown Thrasher, Northern Mockingbird, Eastern Bluebird, American Robin, Cedar Waxwing, American Goldfinch, House, Chipping, Lincoln’s, White-throated, and Clay-colored Sparrow, Baltimore Oriole, Brown-headed Cowbird, Orange-crowned, Nashville, and Myrtle Yellow-rumped Warblers, Common Yellowthroat, Northern Cardinal, Dickcissel, Spotted Sandpiper, Great Egret, Common and Great-tailed Grackles, Eurasian Collared-Dove, White-winged Dove, Cliff and Barn Swallows, Red-winged Blackbird, Red-bellied and Downy Woodpeckers, Franklin’s Gull, Blue-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, Forster’s Tern, Green Heron, Osprey, Cooper’s Hawk, Eastern Phoebe, Carolina Chickadee, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Spotted and Baird’s Sandpipers, American Coot, Killdeer, Field, Lark, Savannah, Swamp, and Harris’s Sparrows, domestic Mallard, Northern Flicker, Bewick’s Wren, House Finch, American Crow, Lesser Scaup, Ruddy Duck, American Avocet, Western Willet, Pied-billed and Eared Grebes, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and Northern Parula.

Lake Carl Blackwell counted Pileated Woodpecker, Wood Duck, Northern Bobwhite, Lesser Yellowlegs, Least Sandpiper, Bonaparte’s Gull, Western Cattle Egret, Redtailed Hawk, Red-headed and Hairy Woodpeckers, Whiteand Red-breasted Nuthatches, Northern House Wren, American Pipit, Pine Siskin, Grasshopper Sparrow, Orchard Oriole, Yellow-throated Warbler, Summer Tanager, Wild Turkey, Bald Eagle, Red-shouldered Hawk, Spotted Towhee, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Tree Sparrow, Greenwinged Teal, Hummingbird sp., Great Crested Flycatcher, and Pine Warbler.

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.

An Orchard Oriole.

ALAN D. WILSON, CC BY-SA 3.0 , VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS