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Spotting some birds with a worthwhile vagrant potential
Mesonet.org reported no rainfall over the past week.
Payne County rare birds were the ongoing American Herring Gull, Yellow Warbler, Audubon’s Yellow-rumped Warbler, and an apparent Audubon’s Yellow-rumped Warbler cross at Boomer Lake, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker at Botanic Garden of OSU, Eastern Wood- Pewee at a residence on Glenwood Ave., and Blue Grosbeak off Cimarron River.
Payne County migration arrivals for October include Snow, Ross’s, Greater White-fronted, and Cackling Goose, Canvasback, Ringnecked Duck, Greater Scaup, Surf Scoter, Bufflehead, Hooded and Red-breasted Mergansers, Ruddy Duck, Western Grebe, Sandhill and Whooping Cranes, Dunlin, American Woodcock, Bonaparte’s, Little, and Herring Gulls, Common Loon, Roughlegged Hawk, Ferruginous Hawk, Long- and Short-eared Owls, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Brown Creeper, Winter Wren, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Purple Finch, Pine Siskin, Thick-billed and Chestnut- collared Longspurs, Fox, White-crowned, Harris’s, White-throated, LeConte’s, Song, and Swamp Sparrows, Rusty Blackbird, Horned Grebe, Mountain Bluebird, Redhead, and Townsend’s Solitaire.
Payne County departures shall be Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Common Poorwill, Eastern Whip-poor-will, Chimney Swift, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Semipalmated and Snowy Plovers, Long-billed Curlew, Stilt Sandpiper, Sanderling, Semipalmated, Western, Spotted, and Solitary Sandpipers, Lesser Yellowlegs, Wilson’s and Red-necked Phalaropes, Sabine’s and Laughing Gulls, Caspian, Black, and Common Terns, Neotropic Cormorant, Snowy Egret, Little Blue and Green Herons, Yellow- crowned Night-Heron, White-faced Ibis, Broadwinged and Swainson’s Hawk, Scissor-tailed and Least
DEB HIRT
Flycatchers, White-eyed, Red, and Philadelphia Vireos, Barn Swallow, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Gray Catbird, Clay-colored Sparrow, Yellow- headed Blackbird, Ovenbird, Black-and-white,Tennessee, Nashville, Mourning, Black-throated-green, Wilson’s and Palm Warblers, Northern Parula, Summer Tanager, Rose-breasted and Blue Grosbeaks, Indigo Bunting, Dickcissel, Black-necked Stilt, Common Nighthawk, and Northern Rough-winged Swallow.
An estimated 2,809,500 birds crossed Payne County between Monday, Oct. 6 at 1910 hrs., and Tuesday, Oct. 7 at 0730 hrs. Peak migration was an estimated 664,500 birds in flight at an altitude of 1,200 feet cruising at 22 mph heading SSE.
Expected nocturnal migrants were Yellow-rumped and Orange-crowned Warblers, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Lincoln’s Sparrow, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Dickcissel, Gray Catbird, Common Nighthawk, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Indigo Bunting, Least Flycatcher, Spotted Towhee, Summer Tanager, and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.
Writer will just touch on nationwide rare/vagrant migrants. The biggest news was New York’s first Arctic Warbler, which still has worthwhile vagrant potential.
Ohio captured its first Marsh Sandpiper, British Columbia hosted its first Olive-backed Pipit, with Redflanked Bluetail in Gulf of Alaska.
Blackburnian Warbler made it to Washington State, as was Prothonotary Warbler in Montana.
Boomer Lake added Canada Goose, Mallard, Mourning Dove, Chimney Swift, American Coot, Killdeer, American Herring Gull, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Egret, Great Blue Heron, Turkey Vulture, Belted Kingfisher, Red-bellied and Downy Woodpeckers, Northern Flicker, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Least Flycatcher, Eastern Phoebe, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Blue Jay, American Crow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Carolina Wren, European Starling, Northern Mockingbird, Eastern Bluebird, Cedar Waxwing, House Sparrow, House Finch, Chipping Sparrow, Redwinged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Nashville, Pine, myrtle Yellow-rumped Warbler, Audubon’s Yellow-rumped Warbler, Audubon’s x Yellow- rumped Warbler, and Northern Cardinal.
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 Marsh Sandpiper.
HARI K PATIBANDA, CC BY 2.0
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