Southbound birds on the rise

Payne County Mesonet reports no rainfall again this week.

Payne County rare birds for the past seven days lists only Cedar Waxwing at W. Lakeview Rd. and N. Husband St.

Southbound migration is starting to kick up a notch with an estimated 31,400 birds crossing Payne County between Monday, Sept. 6, 2024 between 1930 hours and Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024 at 0700 hours. Peak migration traffic estimated 16,800 birds in flight at a speed of 15 mph coming from the SSW at an altitude of 6,300 feet recorded on Sept. 16 at 2130 hours.

Expected nocturnal migrants were Scissor-tailed and Great Crested Flycatchers, Baltimore Oriole, Gray Catbird, Dickcissel, Snowy Egret, Bell’s and Warbling Vireos, Yellow Warbler, Upland Sandpiper, Eastern

DEB HIRT

Kingbird, Indigo Bunting, and Green Heron.

Continuing rare/vagrant birds are counting Large-billed Tern and Gray Gull in Florida with Slate-throated Redstart in California.

Nova Scotia added Black-throated Gray Warbler, as British Columbia ticked Mississippi Kite and the east Asian Citrine Wagtail, a bird of interest.

North Carolina checked Lark Bunting and Black-throated Gray Warbler, while Oklahoma proudly displayed Arctic Tern.

Montana impressed with a Mexican Violetear, and Nevada shouted out Roseate Spoonbills and Black Turnstone, while California thumbed up with a Wood Sandpiper.

Current and predicted vagrancy conditions are currently high at 0.6, with a current magnetic field distortion at 0.4, with high 1.6 solar activity conditions.

Species richness trends are hovering between 50 and 75, which should be on the upswing within the next couple of weeks.

Species demographic trends show Western Tanager on the upswing, which it has been for a few years, while Indigo Bunting has been falling in numbers.

Demographics show that one is likely to discover vagrant birds if a species is doing well. Unfortunately, many are in decline, but some are doing very well.

Oklahoma is doing well with welcoming in our wintering birds for the season, which are just as tired of the excessive heat as we are. Writer also hailed a Bewick’s Wren at Lakeview and Husband last week.

Chimney Swift migration is well underway, and it was excellent to note this year that we seemed to have a slight population increase.

On Sunday, Sept. 15, Mitch Park in Edmond noticed a Black-throated Green Warbler, so hopefully more will arrive soon enough, but we are just getting started with the southbound rush.

Boomer Lake Park counted Canada Goose, Mallard, domestic Mallard, Eurasian Collared- Dove, Mourning Dove, Chimney Swift, Killdeer, Little Blue and Great Blue Herons, Snowy and Great Egrets, Scissor- tailed Flycatcher, American Crow, Carolina Wren, Northern Mockingbird, Greattailed Grackle, Northern Cardinal, Chimney Swift, American Coot, Spotted Sandpiper, Turkey Vulture, Red-shouldered Hawk, Red-bellied, Pileated, and Downy Woodpeckers, Eastern Kingbird, Blue Jay, Carolina Chickadee, Glue-gray Gnatcatcher, European Starling, American Robin, House Finch, Red-winged Blackbird, Belted Kingfisher, Eastern Phoebe, Bewick’s Wren, House Sparrow, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Cliff Swallow, and Eastern Bluebird.

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 Citrine Wagtail.

J.M.GARG, CC BY-SA 3.0 , VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS