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Fall birds beginning to arrive
Oklahoma Mesonet reported 0.03 inches of precipitation over the past weekly period.
Welcome to the first week of fall migration!
Payne County rare birds for the same time frame include Common Gallinule at Cushing Water Treatment Plant (restricted access) and our injured American Herring Gull at Boomer Lake.
Migrant arrivals include Green-winged Teal, Sora, Black-bellied Plover, American Golden-Plover, Wilson’s Snipe, Red-necked Phalarope, California Gull, Common Tern, American Bittern, Osprey, Northern Harrier, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Alder Flycatcher, Tree Swallow, American Redstart, Black-throated Green, Canada, and Mourning Warblers and Northern Waterthrush.
Departures shall be Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Western Kingbird, Wood Thrush, Bachman’s Sparrow, Louisiana Waterthrush, Blue-winged Warbler, Prairie Warbler, Scarlet Tanager, and Worm-eating Warbler.
Nationwide rare/vagrant birds are the ongoing semi-resident Steller’s Sea-Eagle of Newfoundland, Cattle Tyrant in Texas, Yellow Grosbeak in Colorado, and White-winged Tern of California.
We also have Curlew Sandpiper in Newfoundland, Quebec’s White-faced Ibis and Rufous Hummingbird, as well as British Columbia’s Arctic Loon and Masked Booby.
Iowa shared Royal Tern, while Tristram’s Storm-Petrel was located during a pelagic trip in Bodega Bay, California.
Alaska did not let us down with Great Knot on St. Paul Island, Terek Sandpiper on Buldir, and Hermit Warbler at Skagway rounded out the state.
In early migration news an estimated 62,000 birds crossed Payne County between
DEB HIRT
2030 hours Monday, August 4,2025 and 0640 hours, Tuesday, August 5, 2025.
Peak migration traffic was an estimated 38,000 birds in flight recorded August 4 at 2150 hours at an altitude of 5,300 feet from the SSW at 13 mph.
Expected nocturnal migrants were Painted Bunting, Lark Sparrow, Eastern Kingbird, Indigo Bunting, Yellow Warbler, Spotted Sandpiper, Western Kingbird, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Yellow-crowned Night Heron, Baltimore Oriole, Warbling Vireo, Green Heron, Upland Sandpiper, and Orchard Oriole. Boomer Lake added Canada Goose, Mallard, Eurasian Collared- Dove, Mourning Dove, Chimney Swift, American Herring Gull, Green Heron, Great Egret, Great Blue Heron, Turkey Vulture, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Eastern Kingbird, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Purple Martin, Barn and Cliff Swallows, Carolina Wren, Northern Mockingbird, Eastern Bluebird, American Robin, House Sparrow, Spotted Sandpiper, Blue Jay, Carolina Chickadee, American Robin, Common Grackle, Northern Cardinal, Tufted Titmouse, European Starling, and Orchard Oriole.
Lake Carl Blackwell shared Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Ruby- throated Hummingbird, Killdeer, Western and Eastern Kingbirds, American Crow, American Goldfinch, Chipping Sparrow, Ring-billed Gull, Black Tern, Forster’s Tern, Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers, Carolina Wren, House Finch, Eastern Meadowlark, Red-winged Blackbird, Indigo Bunting, Dickcissel, Northern Bobwhite, Mississippi Kite, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Bluegray Gnatcatcher, Summer Tanager, Blue Grosbeak, and Painted Bunting.
Cushing Water Treatment Plant (restricted access) tagged Common Gallinule, Pied-billed Grebe, Great-tailed Grackle, Wood Duck, and Eastern Phoebe.
Botanic Garden at Oklahoma State University checked off Rock Pigeon (feral).
Cimarron River – Ripley penned in Snowy Egret, Belted Kingfisher, and Fish Crow.
Teal Ridge is still providing habitat for Bell’s Vireo.
Keep your eyes on the ground and your head in the clouds. Happy fall birding to all!
Deb Hirt is a wild bird rehabilitator and photographer living in Stillwater.
A Hermit Warbler.
HTTPS://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/37699157@N00, CC BY 2.0
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