Enjoying the show when well-disciplined birds take f light

Oklahoma Mesonet informs our readers that there has been no precipitation recorded over the past seven-day period on Stillwater. Most likely when it does happen, it will be a deluge to make up for what we have been missing.

Moving on, Payne County rare birds are California Gull reported at Lake Carl Blackwell. This is a first winter bird, and for those that have not yet seen it, it is a beautiful example of a gull that is quite a bit larger than American Herring Gull with a long bill, slightly narrower than what would be expected for American Herring Gull, light pink and black-tipped. The crown is peaked more toward the front of the head than the listed example, with the forehead slope less pronounced. It is a good bird to become familiar with considering all the gulls that can be available to us in this region.

Also, see the Red-throated Loon if you can at the Lake Carl Blackwell Dam, which doesn’t come this close to Stillwater this often, until recently, more apt to be in larger bodies of water, like in Oklahoma City. It is small with a slender neck and thin bill held at an upward angle with white cheeks and a gray cap that cuts through the eye. There was no jagged border between the gray and white along the neck seen in the Common Loon.

Both birds were observed through a scope for excellent views Dec. 29. Watch for both through the winter.

The nationwide rare/vagrant birds are all continuing individuals except one. British Columbia hosted Taiga Flycatcher, the first report.

New York discovered Tundra Bean-Goose, while Florida shared Gray Gull.

Texas recorded Cattle Tyrant, Crimson-collared Grosbeak, and Mottled Owl. California shared Common Ringed Plover, while Alaska reported Asian Rosy-Finch and Eurasian Sparrowhawk along Aleutians West Census area.

Great White Pelicans are amazing, especially flocks of breeding birds in the winter in northern climes, for if you stir up other birds in the midst like California and Ring-billed Gulls, yelping American Avocets, and numerous ducks, the dignified and silent pelicans

DEB HIRT

stick around until they decide to leave. As if by one common impulse, the all rise at once with a grand flapping of long black-tipped wings they seemed heavy, ungainly and awkward at first, but they soon gained headway and showed an incredible mastery of the air, as they swung into line forming one large V-shaped flock. They circled two or three times, with slow and dignified wingbeats in military precision, or all scaled in unison like welldrilled soldiers in the savoirefaire.

Finally, when satisfied that they must leave and when fully arranged in proper marching order with large and small carbuncles separating them, they all followed the leader and departed, with their black-tipped wings keeping perfect step, and their snowy plumage showing clearly cut against the cold gray sky, even when miles away.

If you are so lucky and should look up in the spring for the same sight but overhead at Boomer Lake, you might see a loud, boiling and roiling mass circling when there might be about 300 overhead looking for a place where they might rest their weary souls for a few moments before they carry on and head elsewhere for a breeding spot to accommodate them, such as writer did a number of years ago. It is hard to forget when one witnesses a colony like that and wonder how many young that had sired the spring before.

Boomer Lake added Canada Goose, Mallard, domestic Mallard, Bufflehead, Eurasian Collared-Cove, Mourning Dove, Bonaparte’s and Ring-billed Gulls, Pied-billed Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, American White Pelican, Red-bellied and Downy Woodpeckers, Carolina Chickadee, Carolina Wren, American Starling, Northern Mockingbird, American Robin, House Sparrow, House Finch, Harris’s and Song Sparrows, Red-winged Blackbird, Myrtle Yellow-rumped Warbler, Northern Cardinal, Canvasback, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Ruddy Duck, Rock Pigeon(feral), American Coot, Killdeer, Northern Harrier, Northern Flicker, Blue Jay, Tufted Titmouse, Eastern Bluebird, American Goldfinch, Darkeyed Junco, White-throated Sparrow, Northern Shoveler.

Lake Carl Blackwell mentioned Gadwall, Northern Pintail, Ring-necked Duck, Common Goldeneye, Hooded Merganser, American Herring, California, Franklin’s, and Lesser Black-backed Gulls, American Pipit, American Wigeon, Green-winged Teal, American Crow, Black Vulture, Red-shouldered Hawk, Red-headed Woodpecker, White-breasted Nuthatch, and Lincoln’s Sparrow.

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.

Great White Pelicans.

SHAHZAIB DAMN CRUZE, CC BY-SA 4.0 , VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS