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More rare bird sightings
Oklahoma Mesonet recorded no rainfall for the past seven day period.
Payne County rare birds for the same time frame included Neotropic Cormorant at Boomer Lake, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher west of Olivet Church/Cemetery in Perkins near the Cimarron River, a late report of a Black-andwhite Warbler near the intersection of South Cottonwood Road and E0650 Road at the Bovine Bypass.
Cushing Water Treatment Plant (restricted access) also had several individuals – Sora, Common Gallinule, American Bittern, and Solitary Sandpiper, while Lake Carl Blackwell had a Red-throated Loon that was flushed by several boats in the area, as well as Sedge Wren.
An estimated 33,000 birds crossed Payne County between Monday, March 23, 2026 at 1940 hours and Tuesday, March 24, 2026 at 0720 hours.
Peak migration traffic was an estimated 9,900 birds in flight from the NNW at 23 miles per hour, an altitude of 1,000 feet.
Expected nocturnal migrants were Yellow-rumped and Black-and-white Warblers, Song, Lincoln, Harris’s, Savannah, Swamp, and Whitecrowned Sparrows, Bluewinged Teal, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Redhead, Ringnecked Duck, Western Meadowlark, and Dark-eyed Junco.
Continuing nationwide rarities/ vagrants include Steller’s Sea-Eagle in Newfoundland, European Robin in Quebec, the changeable Texas quadruplets-- Mottled Owl, Cattle Tyrant, Crimson-collared Grosbeak, and Brown Jay. Stateside we still have the vacationing Red-flanked Bluetail in Virginia.
For more recent arrivals, Nova Scotia shared Redwing with British Columbia’s Whooper Swan.
New Hampshire shared Barnacle Goose among other geese, as Maryland counted
DEB HIRT
Yellow-billed Loon, who was quite a distance from home, as well as being crowned State First.
Ohio tagged Sage Thrasher, and Utah visited with its first Neotropic Cormorant, so the specie is getting around.
Alabama had its first Red-footed Booby, which has been hanging close to the Great Plains region for a few years now. They aren’t just coastal birds any more.
Yellow-throated Warbler was heard in South Norman this week.
Boomer Lake added Canada Goose, Blue-winged Teal, Mallard, Lesser Scaup, Mourning Dove, American Coot, Ring-billed Gull, Double- crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Turkey Vulture, Pileated, Red-bellied, and Downy Woodpeckers, Yellow- and Red-shafted Woodpeckers, Fish Crow, Carolina Chickadee, Tree and Northern Rough-winged Swallows, European Starling, Eastern Bluebird, Purple Martin, American Robin, Cedar Waxwing, House, Harris’s, and Song Sparrows, Slate-colored Dark-eyed Junco, Red-winged Blackbird, Northern Cardinal, Common Grackle, Northern Shoveler, Bufflehead, Ruddy Duck, Eurasian Collared- Dove, Pied-billed Grebe, Neotropic Cormorant, Black Vulture, Blue Jay, Carolina Wren, Northern Mockingbird, House Finch, Brown-headed Cowbird, Gadwall, domestic Mallard, Killdeer, Red-tailed Hawk, Eastern Phoebe and Fish Crow.
Lake Carl Blackwell penned Snow Goose, Wood Duck, Green-winged Teal, Hooded Merganser, Red-shouldered Hawk, American Crow, Hermit Thrush, Chipping Sparrow, Pine Warbler, Hooded Merganser, White-winged Dove, Greater Yellowlegs, Bonaparte’s and Franklin’s Gulls, Red-throated Loon, American White Pelican, Bald eagle, Tufted Titmouse, Bewick’s Wren and American Pipit.
Botanic Garden at Oklahoma State University shared Yellow- bellied Sapsucker, American Goldfinch, Ruby-crowned Kinglet and Red-breasted Nuthatch.
Lake Carl Blackwell Dam tagged Spotted Towhee, Eastern Meadowlark, Red-breasted Merganser, Brown Creeper, Black-and-white Warbler, Sharp-shinned Hawk and Brown Thrasher.
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 Yellow-throated Warbler
ANDY REAGO & CHRISSY MCCLARREN, CC BY 2.0
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