Road Trip Reports

Mesa in May
By Jimmy Woodard

June Ketchum, Max Fuller and I left on Friday morning (May 26) to join the Tulsa Audubon Society in Black Mesa for the weekend.

We stopped at Fort Supply Lake.  Ruddy Duck, Gadwall and Wigeon were on the water.  A small flock of Black Terns flew over the lake.  A pair of Bald Eagles rested in trees on the south end of the lake.

In the campgrounds we found Eastern Bluebird, Bewick’s Wren, Warbling Vireo, Indigo Bunting, Bullock’s Oriole, Red-headed Woodpecker and House Finch.

Our next stop was Optima Lake.  The weather was warm and windy but we still saw several birds.  We found Eared Grebe, Pintail, Redhead, White-faced Ibis, Black-necked Stilt, Avocet, Willet, Marbled Godwit, Snowy Plover, Wilson’s Phalarope, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Scissortail, Brown Thrasher and Lark Sparrow.

Next it was on to Keyes in Cimarron County for the requisite stop at Esther Israel’s house and at the sewage ponds.  Fourteen Long-billed Curlews lined the banks of the ponds.  Also here were Blue-winged Teal, Scaled Quail, Horned Lark, lark Bunting and Yellow-headed Blackbird.  At Esther’s house we found Curve-billed Thrasher, Lazuli Bunting, Mississippi Kite and American Redstart.

We checked the Boise City sewage ponds before we stopped at our motel.  Over 150 Black Terns swarmed over the one pond with water.  At the state park we ran across Vermilion Flycatcher, Canyon Towhee, Cassin’s Kingbird and Yellow Warbler.  We also ran into Kurt Meisenzahl, Berlin Heck, Jeri McMahon and Jim Deming.  We also found three beautiful bobcats:  one tawny and spotted, one tawny and unspotted and one with tawny hindquarters and unspotted.

Tracy Wohl, a birding friend from New Mexico, joined us as we checked Boise City ponds again on Saturday morning.  We added Black-crowned Night Heron and Franklin’s Gull before heading toward the state park.

We had a nice find of a pair of Ferruginous Hawks hanging around a possible nest site.  There was a dark morph smaller male with a light phase larger female.  Berlin’s group later confirmed the pair was attending a nest.

At the park we joined Berlin and Jeri’s bunch.  We tallied Western Pewee, Rock and Canyon Wren, MacGillivray’s Warbler, Chat, Wilson’s Warbler, Summer Tanager, Cassin’s Sparrow and Rose-breasted Grosbeak.

We met with a large group of birders from Tulsa before they headed out.  We went to Kenton and the Black Mesa area, but birding slowed as the heat of the day took hold.  We did find Cassin’s Kingbird, Black-chinned Hummer, Common Raven, Hairy Woodpecker, Bobwhite, Scaled Quail and Ruby-crowned Kinglet.

We lunched in the park and then watched as Berlin photographed the Vermilion Flycatcher nest being built near the Petrified Forest Trail.

We ended the day with dinner at La Mesa Mexican restaurant and went to bed with lightning and storm clouds on the horizon.

Sunday morning found us back in the Kenton area, enjoying a cool early morning.  We were able to locate White-winged Dove, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Swainson’s Thrush, Black-throated Sparrow and Lark Bunting.  A group of four Pinon Jays flew over, but I think I was the only one to see them, though.

We said goodbye to Tracy, and then June, Max and I birded our way back home.  We finished our Mesa weekend with 129 species and enjoyed seeing a lot of good birding friends..