The birds that survived

Oklahoma Mesonet reported 0.65 inches of precipitation in the past weekly period.

Payne County rare birds for the same timeframe include Myrtle x Audubon’s Yellow-rumped Warbler, Neotropic Cormorant, Snow Goose, Spotted Sandpiper and Audubon’s Warbler at Boomer Lake, Black-chinned Hummingbird and lesser Goldfinch at Sanborn Lake, Common Gallinule off South Murphy St., and Forster’s Tern flagged early at Lake Carl Blackwell.

An estimated 2,330,200 birds crossed Payne County between Monday, April 13, 2026 at 2000 hours and Tuesday, April 14, 2026 at 0650 hours, which was a high number. Peak migration traffic was also a high estimated 176,800 birds in flight from the north-northeast, wind speed of 48 mph, at an altitude of 2,000 feet.

Expected nocturnal migrants were Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Song, Lincoln’s, Savannah, and Lark Sparrows, Dark-eyed Junco, Northern Parula, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Yellow-rumped and Orange- crowned Warblers, Gadwall, White-eyed Vireo, Lesser Scaup and Spotted Sandpiper.

The nationwide rarities/ vagrants thus far this month are few and far between. Texas came up with a Winter Wren as opposed to an earlier reported Pacific Wren, which had not been the case at all.

British Columbia had a Short-tailed Albatross and Parakeet Auklet, both very nice finds.

Pennsylvania had a California Gull and American Oystercatcher, both great finds for the state, while Kentucky found Ruff, a truly handsome bird this time of year.

Arizona checked Nutting’s Flycatcher.

Nevada tagged Yellow-footed Gull, which took two decades to get there, making this one No. 2 for the state.

The Cretaceous period boasted a staggering array of birds. A 10-km-wide asteroid, which was a leftover of the birth of our solar system, happened to intersect with earth. When it smashed into the present Yucatan, it detonated with

DEB HIRT

the force of a billion nuclear bombs, leaving sheer death and destruction in its wake for days, creating winter that cost the entire planet years. Most dinosaurs died over a short period of time thanks to that single asteroid.

Northwestern New Mexico was a treasure trove for a community of dinosaurs that thrived for a few hundred thousand years before the fatal obliteration. Only birds survived, which was simply due to their small size, making tinier better, as they could find crevices to hide. Not so amazing.

Boomer Lake added Canada and Greater White-fronted Geese, Blue-winged Teal, Mallard, domestic Mallard, Mourning Dove, Spotted Sandpiper, Greater Yellowlegs, Ring-billed Gull, Piedbilled Grebe, Double-crested and Neotropic Cormorants, Great Blue Heron, Turkey Vulture, Eastern Phoebe, Eastern Kingbird, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Blue Jay, Fish Crow, Carolina Chickadee, Purple Martin, Carolina Wren, Northern Mockingbird, European Starling, Eastern Bluebird, American Robin, Cedar Waxwing, House, Harris’s, White-throated, and Lincoln’s Sparrows, American Goldfinch, Red-winged Blackbird, Brown-headed Cowbird, Orange- crowned and Myrtle Yellow- rumped Warblers, Northern Cardinal, Snow Goose, Eurasian Collared-Dove, American Coot, Franklin’s Gull, Northern Flicker, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Chipping, and Field Sparrows, Common and Great-tailed Grackles, Yellow-rumped, Pine, and Yellow-throated Warblers, Accipitrine hawk sp., Tufted Titmouse, Cliff Swallow, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Barn Swallow, House Finch, Northern Shoveler, Killdeer, Osprey, Red-shouldered Hawk, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Eastern Warbling Vireo, Blue Jay, and Cooper’s Hawk.

Lake Carl Blackwell ticked Wood Duck, Northern Harrier, Barred Owl, Red-headed, Downy, and Hairy Woodpeckers, White- and Red-eyed Vireos, American Crow, Spotted Towhee, Black-and-white Warbler, Northern Parula, Lesser Scaup, Hooded Merganser, Upland Sandpiper, Forster’s Tern, Great Egret, Tree Swallow, American Pipit, Savannah, Lark, and Swamp Sparrows, Eastern Meadowlark, White-winged Dove, White-breasted Nuthatch, Bewick’s Wren, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Common Loon, and Pileated Woodpecker.

The Botanic Garden at Oklahoma State University counted Rock Pigeon (feral), Nashville Warbler, Summer Tanager, and Wild Turkey.

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 Nashville Warbler.

WILLIAM H. MAJOROS, CC BY-SA 4.0 , VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS