Recorders Report – Summer 2006

While many humans plan summer vacations, lounging by the pool and other summer recreational activities, birds are busy building homes, fending off predators, feeding babies, teaching fledglings how to fend for themselves, and preparing for winter. By mid- to- late-summer, many bird species will migrate south. Some migrate merely to Texas and Florida, while the neotropical migratory birds (NTMB) will continue further south, with some even going to South America.

 JUNE 2006

On Saturday the 10th Max Fuller, Jerry Vanbebber and Jimmy Woodard birded Fort Reno. There was a small group of at least 8 different Cassin’s Sparrows calling and displaying on the extreme western edge of the property in some grassy, sedge, vetch type fields. To Jimmy it looked like marginal habitat type, but the Cassin’s Sparrow were certainly using it. A pair of nesting Barn Owls was on the property, as well as, Bell’s Vireo, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Indigo Bunting, Grasshopper Sparrow, Red-headed Woodpecker and more Painted Bunting than you could “shake a stick at.” On the property’s east end sewage ponds there was a flightless male Lesser Scaup.

Joe Grzybowski reports in his experience there is an inverse relationship in abundance between Cassin’s Sparrows and Dickcissels with higher numbers of Cassin’s in dry years and a lower number in wet years. Cassin’s Sparrows are normally a silent bird and hard to detect.

On the 19th Donald Winslow and Richard Snow finished their point counts at Fort Reno and added American Coot, Rock Pigeon, Bewick’s Wren and Orchard Oriole to their list. They also had good photos of a baby Loggerhead Shrike perched on a fence with a male Northern Bobwhite crowing beneath it.

During June in their Logan County backyard, Garey and Linda Harritt report American Robin fledged in their yard. Other species in the area are Common Grackles, Northern Cardinals, Western Kingbirds and Carolina Wrens. Eastern Bluebirds are starting a nest in a box Nealand Hill donated. They also hear Bobwhite Quail and saw a Lark Sparrow gathering nesting material.

On the 8th in southeast corner of Logan County, they found Great Crested Flycatcher and Carolina Chickadee that flew away when a Barred Owl appeared. On the 12th they went to northeast Logan County and stopped at their old farm to find Grasshopper Sparrows. Continuing on, they found Dicksissel, Baltimore Oriole, Western Meadowlark a Common Nighthawk, Wild Turkey, Eastern Bluebird, Eastern Phoebe, Mourning Dove, Swainson’s Hawk, Painting Bunting, American Kestrel, Eastern Kingbird, and Scissortail Flycatcher.

Lyn found his first White-winged Doves at his feeder this past winter at his home in the Village, a suburb of northern Oklahoma City. By June 15th he had 9 adults and 4 juveniles along with Mourning Dove and Eurasian Collared Doves. Terri Bradbury also has these species in Yukon.

On the 25th Jimmy rode his bike around Lake Overholser. The water level is low and there are extensive flats on the north end near coffer dam. He found 2 American White Pelicans hanging out in the shallows. There were lots of both kinds of kingbirds, Indigo and Painted Buntings, Mississippi Kites and Northern Orioles, several swallow species, Warbling Vireo, lots of grackles and European Starlings. He found a male Lesser Scaup paddling in the largest pond at the new Route 66 park on the west side of the lake. He saw two male Great-tailed Grackles fighting. One was lying on its back and the other was on top with their feet and legs locked up, while a Scissortail Flycatcher was attacking them from above. He heard a Northern Mockingbird doing a Say’s Phoebe song. Where did it learn that song?

JULY 2006

On the 6th during her walk in Choctaw Park in Choctaw, OK, Gayl Wells saw her first Painted Bunting. She also saw a Great Blue Heron, several king birds, 3 Red-headed Woodpeckers, lots of swallows, several Northern Mockingbirds. On July 7 Matt and Jenny Foster report seeing a Yellow-crowned Heron foraging in a small pool of standing water along U.S. 62 west of Blanchard a couple of times in the last week. Cynthia Whittier reports a Yellow-crowned Night Heron as a frequent visitor to a ditch near the Sam Noble Museum. On the 19th a Green Heron was seen near Lake Hefner, and on the 20th a Great Horned Owl was seen near Piedmont Creek.

On the 9th at Lake Stanley Draper Nancy Vicars and Max did not find any nestlings for the zoo exhibit. They did find 2 Summer Tanagers, 4 Red-eyed Vireo, 7 White-eyed Vireos, lots of Painted Buntings, several Indigo Buntings and Blue Grosbeak, 2 Broad-winged Hawk, 5 Black & White Warblers, a Kentucky Warbler and a Yellow-billed Cuckoo plus a female American Goldfinch putting the finishing touches on her nest.

On the 23rd Jennifer Kidney reports a male Black-chinned Hummingbird perched in her big hackberry tree eyeing the hummingbird feeder. He finally made a dive for it only to be intercepted by a male Ruby-throated Hummingbird. It was her 121st backyard bird species.

Monica found an albino Eurasian Collard Dove in the Norman Hall Park addition.

Jimmy Woodard went to the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife’s Bat Watch and recommends it to all. The bats began leaving the cave around 8:22 and quickly became a whirling black stream with a soft whispering flutter of the wings. After about 15 minutes the juveniles came streaming out in a less organized mass. Both groups were descended on by hungry American Kestrels and Mississippi Kites. Other birds in the area were Chuck-will’s-Widows, Turkey Vultures, Mourning Doves, Northern Mockingbirds, Rock Wren, Red-winged Blackbirds, and Field Sparrows.

AUGUST 2006

On August 2nd in 104*F Pat Velte walked to the end of Prairie Dog Point to find a Long-billed Curlew. Also, on the point were Forester’s, Least and Black Terns, several Wilson’s Phalaropes, a few Ring-billed Gulls, several unknown sandpipers and at Stars and Stripes Park an American Avocet. Pat reports it is hard to identify the shorebirds even with a scope because of the distance from the road to the shoreline and the heat coming off the ground..

On the 13th Joe Grzybowski stopped at Prairie Dog Point on the west side of Lake Hefner and found an assortment of interesting shorebirds. Some of them are a pale juvenile piping plover in pleasant plumage, 1 Willet, 1 Ruddy Turnstone, a California Gull, an American Avocet, 5 Lesser Yellowlegs, Spotted Sandpiper, all 4 peeps, a Long-billed Dowitcher, a Wilson’s Phalarope, 40 Ring-billed Gulls, and the three tern species.

On the 16th Richard Gunn reports several interesting new birds around on the river and South Jenkins which includes Summer Tanager, White-eyed Vireo, Western Sandpiper, an Empidonax Species, and a good possibility of a Mourning Warbler which wouldn’t sit still in the greenery. On the 20th he had a Tricolored Heron on the South Canadian River just at the end of Jenkins, the first one he has seen in Cleveland County.

On the 19th Jim Bates found a Tricolored Heron at Lake Hefner feeding near the canal at the SW corner of the lake. He also found 2 Ruddy Turnstones, 1 Willet, 4 American Avocets, 12 White-rumped Sandpipers, 10 Baird’s Sandpipers, Black Tern and Forster’s Terns.

On the 22nd Pat found four species of terns on Prairie Dog Point- 1 Caspian Tern, 40 Forster’s Tern, 20 Black Terns, and 2 Least Terns. She also photographed the California Gull below, along with a group of Ring-billed Gulls and 1 juvenile Franklin’s Gull. There was a Semipalmated Plover on the point yesterday, but not then. The Tricolored Heron was still very active around the inlet canal. On the 23rd she found an Osprey as well as the four tern species, 1 Willet, a Piping Plover and the California Gull. Gull numbers are increasing.

On the 26th Joe checked out a pond on what used to be Pelham Ranch in McClain County which had some shallow water and birds. It had 35 Blue-winged Teal, 15 White-faced Ibis, 2 Upland Sandpiper, 50 Pectoral Sandpipers, 10 Stilt Sandpipers, 10 Wilson’s Phalarope, 10 Lesser Yellowlegs, 20 Black Terns along with an assortment of other shoreline species. The brush line along the edges had some land birds including Bell’s Vireo, Great Crested Flycatcher, Blue-grey Gnatcatcher, Indigo Bunting, Baltimore Oriole, American Goldfinch, Common Yellowthroat and a few Least Flycatchers. He found four different types of dragonflies.

On the 26th Jimmy and Jerry found a brightly colored juvenile Red-necked Phalarope on the northeast side of Lake Overholser. Also there were 5 Semipalmated Plover, 12 Stilt Sandpipers, 3 Least Terns, 6 Forester’s Terns, and 20 Black Terns. At Lake Hefner they found a Piping Plover, a Long-billed Curlew, a Caspian Tern, 25 Black Terns, a Semipalmated Plover and at the inlet canal an immature Tricolored Heron. Overall there were several times greater number of shorebirds and wet mudflats at Overholser than at Hefner. The mud flats around Lake Hefner are now filled with plants.

On the 27th Jimmy and Max Fuller reported the Red-necked Phalarope has moved to the west side of the mudflats. The number of shorebirds has increased and now includes 2 unbanded winter plumaged Piping Plovers with several Semipalmated Plovers. On Lake Hefner there were 2 Piping Plovers, 1 Black-bellied Plover which flew away as they watched. The Tricolored Heron was not detected. Donald Winslow and Karen Bays did find the Tricolored Heron that evening, as well as, Yellow-crowned Heron, Common Nighthawks, Spotted Sandpiper and other species.

On August 29th Nancy Vicars found a Mourning Warbler feasting on the ants in her okra patch. On the 30th Jimmy reports many of the shorebirds have left Lake Overholser. The Red-necked Phalarope was not found.

The summer of 2006 proved to be hot with over 36 days above 100*F and dry with both the top soil and subsoil moisture content up to 98% short to very short. Oklahoma commercial crops are reporting 45% or higher percentages of poor to very poor productions. Late August is producing scattered rains, which may help the fall sunflower crop to bloom as the Monarch butterflies arrive in migration followed by the winter bird seed eaters. Will this be enough seed and fruit production for the birds residing and migrating to Oklahoma for the winter? 

I appreciate those who help provide the history of central Oklahoma birds by turning in their reports of bird species seen at home and in the field and I can be contacted by email at  emkok@earthlink.net, leave a message at 405-373-2738 or mail to PO Box 291, Piedmont, OK 73078. Monthly backyard reports are welcome. Esther M. Key