New bird arrivals love the water

Oklahoma Mesonet reported 0.80 inches of precipitation over the past seven-day period.

Payne County migratory bird arrivals for the month of October include Snow, Ross’s, Greater Whitefronted and Cackling Geese, Canvasback, Ring-necked Duck, Greater Scaup, Surf Scoter, Bufflehead, Hooded and Red-breasted Mergansers, Ruddy Duck, Western Grebe, Sandhill Crane, Dunlin, American Woodcock, Bonaparte’s little, and Herring Gulls, Common Loon, Roughlegged and Ferruginous Hawks, Long-and Shorteared Owls, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Brown Creeper, Winter Wren, Goldencrowned Kinglet, Hermit Thrush, Sprague’s Pipit, Purple Finch, Pine Siskin, Thick-billed Longspur, Fox, White-crowned, Harris’s, White-throated, LeConte’s, Song, and Swamp Sparrows, Rusty Blackbird, Chestnutcollared Longspur, Horned Grebe, Mountain Bluebird, Redhead and Townsend’s Solitaire.

Departures shall be Yellow- billed Cuckoo, Common Poorwill, Chimney Swift, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Semipalmated and Snowy Plovers, Long-billed Curlew, Sanderling, Stilt, Semipalmated, Western, Spotted, and Solitary Sandpipers, Wilson’s and Red-necked Phalaropes, Lesser Yellowlegs, 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, Broad-winged and Swainson’s Hawks, Redheaded Woodpecker, Least Flycatcher, White-eyed, Red-eyed, and Philadelphia Vireos, Barn Swallow, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Gray Catbird, Clay-colored and Vesper Sparrows, Yellowheaded Blackbird, Ovenbird, Black-and-white, Tennessee, Nashville, and Mourning Warblers, Northern Parula, Black-throated Green and Wilson’s Warbler, Summer Tanager, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Blue Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting, Dickcissel, Black-necked Stilt, Common Nighthawk and Northern Rough-winged Swallow.

Payne County rare birds for the same time frame include Northern Yellow Warbler at Boomer Lake, Audubon’s Yellow-rumped Warbler at Lake Carl Blackwell, Western Kingbird at Peter’s Park in Perkins, Eastern Kingbird between South Western Rd. and E0735 Road, Painted Bunting, Purple Martin, Red-eyed Vireo, Rosebreasted Grosbeak, and Cliff and Bank Swallows at Sanborn Lake, Blue Grosbeak

See HIRT on C2

Deb Hirt

LIFE AT BOOMER LAKE

CONTINUED FROM C1

just north of Olivet Church, Ring-necked Duck at Lake Carl Blackwell, Mississippi Kite off Moreland Ct. near Brookwater Way, Eastern Wood-Pewee at Bearded Birding Wildlife Refuge (private), Blue Grosbeak at Botanic Garden of Oklahoma State University and Wilson’s Warbler at Teal Ridge.

Boomer Lake added Canada Goose, Bluewinged Teal, Mallard, domestic Mallard, Doublecrested Cormorant, Great Egret, Turkey Vulture, Ruddy Duck, American Coot, Franklin’s Gull, Great Egret, Great Blue Heron, Belted Kingfisher, Eastern Phoebe, Scissortailed Flycatcher, Blue Jay, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Rubycrowned Kinglet, Carolina Wren, European Starling, Northern Mockingbird, Eastern Bluebird, House Sparrow, Eastern Meadowlark, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Yellowthroat, Northern Yellow Warbler, Myrtle Yellowrumped Warbler, Northern Cardinal, American Avocet, Pied-billed and Eared Grebes, White-faced Ibis, Northern Shoveler, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning Dove, Killdeer, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Franklin’s and Ring-billed Gulls, Snowy and Western Cattle Egrets, Cooper’s and Red-tailed Hawks, House Sparrow, Red-headed and Downy Woodpeckers, Yellow-shafted Northern Flicker, Gray Catbird, House Finch, Red-winged Blackbird, Orangecrowned, Pine, Nashville Warbler and Fish Crow.

Keep your eyes on the ground and your head in the clouds. Happy birding!

A Ring-necked Duck paddles around Boomer Lake in 2016.

Deb Hirt I News Press File Photo