Next we made the requisite stops in Keyes at Esther Israel’s house and the sewage ponds.  We saw Black and White Warbler and White-winged Dove.  With recent rains, there were several playas in the fields outside of town.  Birds were plentiful and included White-faced Ibis, Stilt Sandpiper, Solitary Sandpiper, Sanderling, Lesser Yellowlegs and Black-necked Stilt.  A Peregrine made several passes, but didn’t catch anything. 

Saturday we awoke at the Mesa B&B to overcast skies, mist, 20 mph winds, and a temperature of 47.  Our first bird of the day was a Golden Eagle cruising the Mesa ridges. 

The Kenton area produced many migrants and local specialties.  We got Sage and Curve-billed Thrashers, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Rock and Canyon Wrens, Western-Wood Pewee, MacGillivray’s and Wilson’s Warblers, a pair of Western Tanagers, Blue Grosbeak, Scrub Jay and Common Raven. At the state park, we enjoyed more good birds.  There was a pair of Vermilion Flycatchers with two immature birds.  Along the creek were Olive-sided Flycatcher, Yellow Warbler, House Wren, Lesser Goldfinch and Lark Sparrows. 

The lake is now about half full because of the recent heavy rains.  It’s been over two years since it has had water.  A few things had returned, such as Avocet, Double-crested Cormorant, Osprey and Yellow-headed Blackbirds. 

At the Benton Ranch more birds were found.  Our haul included Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Western Screech Owl (perched in a tree), Yellow-breasted Chat, Parula, Least Flycatcher, Red-eyed, Warbling and Blue-headed Vireos, and Summer Tanager.  There were a lot of empid flycatchers, which remained unidentified. This beautiful, cool day ended with two Barn Owls flushed from an old farmhouse.  The high temperature never got out of the 60’s. 

A separate building held a nursery. Inside were cute little baby cottontails, flying squirrels, red squirrels and ‘possums. Also here was a tailless House Wren that had been caught by a cat and a House Finch with conjunctivitis.

A young Blue Jay followed us around everywhere, constantly begging for food. Rondi has a very large pet goat that likes to butt women. She armed the ladies with water bottles to keep to goat at bay. Perhaps the cutest critter we saw was a cuddly-looking young beaver, that allows Rondi to pet it.

We had a very enjoyable and enlightening two-hour tour of WildCare. Rondi was a very gracious host. WildCare does a fine job of rehabilitation of injured and sick birds and other animals. I encourage everyone to consider a donation or to volunteer some time to this wonderful cause.

I also would like to thank Pat Velte for arranging this tour and to Rondi Large and the staff of WildCare for allowing us behind the scenes.

September 25, 2005 - Lake Overholser - by Jimmy Woodard
Six of us met on Sunday, September 25, for a morning of biking and birding. President Nealand Hill birded by car and spotted birds for us. The bikers were: Karla and Beth Krugen, Laurie MacIvor, Brian Muzny and Jimmy Woodard.

From left: Karla Krugen, Laurie MacIvor, Jimmy Woodard, Brian Muzny,  and Laura Krugen make a birding trip around Lake Overholser.

We began by riding into the woods below the dam at Lake Overholser. It became fairly “birdy” as we neared the 10th Street bridge next to the river. We found several Nashville and Orange-crowned Warblers, Chickadees, Cardinals, Eastern Phoebes, Red-headed Woodpecker, Doves and a tree full of Brown Thrashers. On the east end of the dam, Nealand had a Belted Kingfisher, a few gulls and several egrets and herons for us.

We continued the ride along the east and north side of the lake, stopping at a few places along the way. We did not find anything out of the ordinary. The weather was sunny and cool. A light breeze made the ride very enjoyable. On the west side of the lake, we saw several gulls, Forster’s Terns and Avocets, at the new park that’s being built.

As we neared the end of the ride, we rode right up to a young Osprey holding a fish. It tolerated our presence for almost a minute, before it flew off with its prize. It was a wonderful day to ride and to bird. We enjoyed it very much and will probably do it again.

September 3 - 6, 2005 Black Mesa - by Jimmy Woodard
At 8 a.m. on Saturday, September 3, Jane Boren and Donna Stone from Norman met up with Max Fuller, Jerry Vanbebber and I to begin a field trip to the Oklahoma panhandle. We birded our way to Fort Supply Lake where we were joined by Lorene Alcorn, Marilyn Bradford and Betty Clark from Shawnee. We found several birds including Black & Forster’s Terns, Bell’s Vireo, Turkey, Sharp-shinned Hawk, and Red-headed Woodpeckers. We also found an adult Bald Eagle, probably part of a nesting pair.

Our next stop was Optima Lake which can actually be considered a lake, albeit a shallow one. It now has water across the floor of the lake bed. There were thousands of ducks in eclipsed plumage. We ID’d Pintail, Gadwall, Shoveler, Ruddy, both teals and Wood Duck. There were also many cormorants, herons, egrets, Black-necked Stilts, Avocets, Ibis, Forster’s and Black Terns. Below the dam we saw Osprey, Brown Thrasher, Blue Grosbeak, Lark Sparrow, Say’s Phoebe, and a possible Western Wood-Pewee who wouldn’t call for us.

We continued west to Keyes and Boise City. Birds seen were Yellow-headed Blackbird, Eastern Kingbird, Lark Bunting, Wilson’s Phalarope, Bank Swallow and Scaled Quail. We stopped for gas in Boise and paid $3.10 a gallon which was probably the most any of us had ever paid before.

We drove through Black Mesa State Park and ran into Sheila Edgmon of Tecumseh, Terry Mitchell of Tulsa, and Berlin Heck of parts unknown. While trading stories we found Chihuahuan Raven, Canyon Towhee, Wilson’s Warbler, and Vermilion Flycatcher.

On Sunday, the wind blew hard in the morning which would be the pattern for the next several days. Despite the winds we did find one Magpie, one Golden Eagle, Blue Jay, Curve-billed Thrasher, Scrub Jay, Rock and Canyon Wrens, Peregrine Falcon, Mississippi Kite, and MacGillivray’s Warbler. We found a Burrowing Owl outside the park which was a lifer for Lorene. We ended the evening by calling up a pair of Western Screech Owls, a lifer for several of the folks.

At the Black Mesa B&B for the night, we enjoyed viewing the stars and Mars and Jupiter and three of its moons in the scope. The winds picked up and blew hard overnight brining in clouds and a half-inch of rain.

On Monday morning the wind again blew hard spurring some of the group to head for home. We worked the Kenton area hard but couldn’t find the likes of Lewis’s Woodpecker or Bushtit. We were able to find Black-chinned Hummingbirds and Common Raven. In the park we saw Prairie Falcon, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Chipping and Clay-colored Sparrows, and Lesser Goldfinch.

Sheila, Max, Jerry and I took a break from the wind to visit Autograph Cliff near Boise then had lunch at the Pizza Hut in town. Afterward, we headed to Keyes and found a Horned Grebe at the sewage ponds. We searched north of Boise for Mountain Plovers but could not find any. 

Overnight we again had storms with vivid lightning. Another half-inch of rain was very welcome. Tuesday’s birding started in the state park with Brewer’s Sparrow, Orange-crowned Warbler, Spotted towhee, Lazuli Bunting, and Sage Thrasher (lifer for Jerry!). Later in the day we found a pair of Willow Flycatchers. After dark we looked for Poorwills, but did not hear or see one.  We did enjoy a fantastic light show with storms all around us.  It was an impressive lightening display.

Wednesday morning brought us light winds…finally!  Jerry, Max and I found the best birding of the trip at the park on our final day of vacation.  There were a lot of birds in the sunflowers along the creek.  The brush was alive with Pine Siskin, House finch, Mourning Dove, Wilson ’s and Yellow Warblers, Blue Grosbeak, and Chipping Sparrows.  We enjoyed a long look at a Cassin’s Vireo in a willow tree and we had single females of Bullock’s Oriole and American Redstart. 

The bird activity seemed to be picking up, but we had to head for home.  We stopped at Optima, but didn’t see anything new.  We ran into Gary and Ladonna Davis, a birding couple from Blackwell.  They had also been to the Mesa and had found a Townsend’s Warbler at the Petrified Forest Trail in the state park.  Terry Mitchell had seen one along the Cimarron River, but the rest of our group missed it. 

Our amalgam group of birders found a total of 131 species. The migrants weren’t plentiful but we enjoyed the birds and scenery anyway. It was another great visit to the mesa country.

April 29 - May 1, 2005 - Black Mesa, by Jimmy Woodard
After suffering shorebird overload while birding Hackberry Flats on Thursday with Lou and Mary Truex, I needed a change of pace.On Friday I embarked on a one‑man tour of the Mesa Country.  This trip wasn't as exotic as Larry Mays' recent visit to the Rio Grande Valley, or the Vanbebber Victor Lifer Tour of the Texas Coast.  Mine was only a three-day weekend visit to my favorite place in Oklahoma. Friday began mild in Oklahoma City, but by the time I arrived at Fort Supply Lake, the temperature was 40 degrees with a strong north breeze.  Fog coming from the lake made viewing conditions marginal.Good numbers of birds were found, including over 500 Ruddy Ducks and at least 200 Eared Grebes, most in their breeding plumage.  Lots of swallows milled around over the lake, including Cliff, Barn, Tree, Bank and Rough-winged.   

On the road along the east side of the lake, seven Spotted Towhees sitting exposed in a bare tree was a surprise.  Another surprise was a brightly colored Philadelphia Vireo.  There were over fifty Spotted Sandpipers working the edges of the lake.  In the campground were lots of Lark, Vesper and White-crowned Sparrows.  Also found were American Goldfinch, Pine Siskin, Great-crested Flycatcher, Red-headed Woodpecker, and a tree full of Western Kingbirds.  

Near Balko, I saw my first Yellow-headed Blackbirds and Wilson's Phalaropes for the trip. At Optima, the camp area below the dam held an interesting mix of birds, including Bullock's Oriole, Sage Thrasher, Eastern Kingbird, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Scissortail, Townsend's Solitaire, Say's Phoebe, Turkey and Pheasant.  The creek had several Virginia Rails calling and making some strange noises. The lake was covered with thousands of phalaropes and smaller numbers of ducks, ibis and shorebirds.  There were hundreds of Yellow-headed Blackbirds in the catt5ails.  I flushed a Barn Owl from a bathroom.  I had a flyover of a small group of longspurs, which were probably Chestnut-collared.  

Sunset Park in Guymon held a group of Cedar Waxwings, Pine Siskins, Robins, and another solitaire.  West of town, one Magpie perched on a wire and several jackrabbits along the roadside were both nice sights. The Keyes Sewage Ponds never fail to produce birds, and this trip was no different.  Seen were Cinnamon Teal, Black-crowned Night Heron, American Wigeon, Green-winged Teal, Scaled Quail, and more blackbirds and phalaropes.  

I took the backroads from Keyes to Boise City and found a pair of Mountain Plovers, a Great Horned Owl nest with two very large downy chicks, and a roosting Peregrine Falcon. The Boise City sewage ponds had lots of ducks, phalaropes, avocets and grebes.  The final surprises of the day were a late Snow Goose and a very approachable Red Fox.  Saturday dawned cold, but with little wind.  A visit to Keyes produced a Curve-billed Thrasher and I found a female Bufflehead at the Boise City sewage ponds.  West of Boise, I saw a Chihuahuan Raven nest.  I also saw my first antelope for the trip.By the time I made it to the state park, the wind had begun to blow at its usual 15-25 miles per hour.  I did manage to find some birds, such as Lark Bunting, Burrowing Owl, an adult Bald Eagle, Rock Wren, Semipalmated Plover, and a pair of Vermilion Flycatcher.  In the Kenton area, I found Lewis' Woodpecker, Golden Eagle, Clay-colored Sparrow, and a Ferruginous Hawk. I met and birded with a nice couple from Virginia, Jim and Sandra Elder.  I showed them several new birds.  They had driven from Virginia to Arizona, Utah, and Colorado, and were heading back home through Oklahoma. I stayed out late watching rainshowers roll in and whistled up a Western Screen Owl between the rains.  I also heard a Poorwill call in the distance. On the road to Keyes and everywhere there were hundreds of sparrows and larks all along the roadsides.  In Keyes I found a Rose-breasted Grosbeak and a Swainson's Thrush.  There were about the only migrant passerines I found over the weekend.  Most of the birds were permanent residents or breeders.  It seems as if migration may be a little delayed in the panhandle this year. The Keyes sewage ponds again had lots of birds.  Ducks were plentiful and included Bufflehead, Pintail, Hooded Merganser, and Wood Duck.  There were also Willets, Avocets, phalaropes and dowitchers. I dodged more showers as I made my way home via Optima and Doby Springs.  I added Harrier, Marsh Wren, Sharp-shinned Hawk and American Pipit.  My total trip list ended up at 142.

April 2, 2005 - Lesser Prairie Chickens
The OKC Audubon field trip for Lesser Prairie Chickens on Saturday, April 2, was successful. We found a minimum of 12 birds on each of three separate leks in Harper and Beaver County . Due to high grass and the leks being on ridges, I feel these numbers were dubiously low. I'm sure there were many more birds we couldn't see at each site.  We counted 12, 15, and 16 for sure at the three sites.  

The birds were quite active at the second and third leks we visited. while we were at the first lek, we kept hearing birds somewhere to our west. After tracking down the sound, we found out we were hearing these birds from about a mile and a half away!!

March 18, 2005 - Southwest Oklahoma
A hardy crew, composed of Patti and Brian Muzny, Jimmy Woodard, Max Fuller, Henry Benedict, Fay Carver and Jerry Vanbebber, left Oklahoma City on the morning of March 18, 2005 , and headed southwest in pursuit of birds, particularly those of the unique SW portion of our state.  We had a cool, but mostly sunny day and we were all anticipating some unique sightings and a weekend of birding with friends.  

With Brian sound asleep in the back of our Suburban and Jimmy riding "shotgun," we were off!  Our first stop would be the sewer ponds at Cache.  The ponds held quite a few of the expected ducks, but they were VERY suspicious of our intentions and difficult to see well as they exploded up out of first one pond, then another.  But, we did find Marsh Wrens and Sora Rail, plus two Wood Ducks.  We saw several beautiful Pintail Ducks and many Blue-winged Teal. That woke Brian up!  

Next stop was Hackberry Flat, where we met Kurt Meisenzahl and Bob and Jenelle Harris.  Jerry Vanbebber was anxious to add a few lifers to his list on this trip and we were all trying very hard to make his wish list a reality.  Hackberry's water supply was at its peak and there was water and waterfowl everywhere, but they were also shy and we couldn't get extremely close to any of the large flocks of ducks.  But after intensive searching, we finally found one of Jerry's "most wanted."  A beautiful Cinnamon Teal was captured in the scope and we had an excited birder!  Jerry also was able to see his first Tree Swallow.   

In my opinion, finding a one little Cinnamon Teal amid the thick "duck soup" of Hackberry was even more unlikely than finding a needle in a haystack without a magnet.  But we had the advantage – we had Jimmy!  He also found one Long-tailed Duck.  

We had Black-necked Stilts, Avocet, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, the state's supply of Killdeer, a few Northern Harriers, Snipe, Dowitcher, Pied-billed Grebe, several Savannah Sparrows and Vesper Sparrows.  

In a grassy, weedy area, Jimmy thought we might flush Short-eared Owls if we got out and walked.  So, we all got out and began to tramp through the weeds.  No owls were flushed, but we noticed Jimmy stalking something on the ground.  He told us he had some little bird running along the ground.  I circled around in front of Jimmy and began walking toward him.  The rest of our group formed a loose circle and began closing in.   

As I moved closer toward Jimmy, a beautiful LeConte's Sparrow just stopped and looked up at me.  I stood still and everyone else tightened the circle.  Everyone had excellent, out-in-the-open  looks at this elusive and hard to see sparrow. It was incredibly cooperative and tame. It was worth the walk for that one!  

We left Hackberry and drove back toward Altus with thoughts of more food and a place to sleep for the night.  Jerry added one more lifer with a Chihuahuan Raven that sailed from a utility pole south of Altus . We met Anita Vanbebber at the hotel and ended our day with a feast of Mexican food at our favorite place on the north side of Altus .  

On Saturday morning, the crew met Brian and I at the home of Max Mery, whose hospitality we enjoyed during our weekend of stalking birds.  There we were joined by Bob and Jenelle Harris again. We drove out to Kizziar's feed lot, which is west of Altus .  Before we entered the feedlot property, we stopped at the trusty abandoned barn and Jimmy convinced a pair of Barn Owls to exit so we could see them.  They cooperated and we marked down another success.  

So far we were batting a thousand – sewer ponds and feed lots!  Well, for those who have not been with us on our birding escapades, you just really had to be there!  Phew-eeeeee!!  This morning the wind was very cold and we were out in the pasture and up on a hill, but downwind of the main feedlot.  So we had cold, stinky wind, but were not to be dissuaded from our mission!  

One of our mission targets was Curve-billed Thrasher and we succeeded at that.  We were entertained by a pair of them as they hopped around an old rusty hulk of a 30-something pickup out in the pasture.  At one point the thrasher was perched at the top of the steering wheel, as if letting the world know he was in the driver's seat.  

We were looking very hard for a Prairie Falcon, but instead poor Jerry had to settle for a substitute lifer – a Ferruginous Hawk.  Didn't hear him complain much.  We found no Yellow-headed Blackbirds, but got McCown's Longspur – just one more lifer for Jerry.  

After leaving the feedlot scene, we drove to El Dorado and around the town we heard a titmouse, but never could see it and the black crest it should have had.  We got a Ladder-backed Woodpecker.  

Between El Dorado and the feedlot, I radioed to Jerry that we really deserved to see a Roadrunner.  At that instant I saw brake lights and they were calling back that one was right beside their car!  Was that not "power- whining?"   

This Roadrunner  had the concept of catching hopping, flying insects down to a science.  As we parked beside it and watched, it launched into a dance rather like that of a Tricolored Heron doing it's hover dance in the water.  It leaped into the air, it hopped, it flapped, it danced and stomped and snapped. It went right, left, up and down, all in a wonderfully entertaining frenzy.  Finally we moved on, with everyone giggling at the treat we had just had the privilege of witnessing.  

A stop or two south of El Dorado added a White-breasted Nuthatch, Black-crested Titmouse and Chickadee to our growing list. We also had a singing Eastern Screech Owl.  

South of El Dorado , along the Red River , we parked our vehicles and took a hike down a lane toward the river, where we hoped to find Verdin.  A Great Horned Owl flushed from an abandoned house where we had parked our cars and we located a nest and the second owl about a hundred yards from the house in a tree.  

We played a tape and waited and waited, but no Verdin appeared.  Finally we had to head back to the cars.  Brian and I hiked the "low road" in a ravine that paralleled the lane and we heard a Verdin call.  I ran back to get the others, but by that time the Verdin had made only a brief appearance for Brian and then disappeared.  So we added Verdin, but only Brian got to see it.  

Later in the afternoon and somewhere southeast of Quannah, we added another lifer for Jerry – a Rough-legged Hawk. Now it was dark and we were quite some distance from Altus .  Food, bed and baths were sounding quite enticing at this point.  After a dinner of breakfast at Denny's, we called it a night.  

Early Sunday morning, we drove to Quartz Mt. S.P., and were rewarded with a beautiful day and the song of a Canyon Wren.  Below the spillway of the lake, we saw a Rock Wren on the rocks, where else?  Lesser Goldfinches rounded out our color for the morning and we found a Rufous-crowned Sparrow near the lodge.  

We drove from the park on back roads and into the Wichita Mts.  There we added Chestnut-collared Longspurs to our list after hiking out into a burned field.  Almost every year on this spring trip, we find our first Black and White Warblers and Blue-gray Gnatcatchers at the Sunset Campground.  History does have a way of repeating itself and we did it one more time.   

Another great three-day weekend of intensive birding had to come to an end, and we all enjoyed every minute of it.  My thanks to our dear friend, Max Mery, for providing bed and breakfast for Brian and me.  We tallied 122 species for the trip.