2015 CBC

Our total number of species for our 2015 Oklahoma City Christmas Bird Count is 116. Anything over 110 is outstanding so we did great.

This year, we had two particularly remarkable bird records on our count—the Pine Warbler and the Osprey. The Pine Warbler was found, and beautifully photographed, by Brian Marra, in Martin Nature Park, a moderate-sized preserve in the north-central part of our CBC circle. The Osprey was seen by Steve Davis and Mary Lane on the Fountains at Canterbury property, also in the north-central part of our count circle.

The Pine Warbler is an especially rewarding find: they have been seen on the Norman and Lake Arcadia Counts in the past, but we have never had a definite record on the Oklahoma City Count, although I know of 2 instances where we might have had them, but neither time it was counted because of some problems.

The Osprey was seen at a medium-sized pond near NW 122nd St. We would normally see them at our big lakes, but Steve and Mary found this one well north of our 2 large reservoirs.

What strikes me as a most interesting point about these 2 records is that neither one was seen at Lake Overholser or Lake Hefner, where we have come to expect our rarities. This shows that hard looking in areas where we do not usually expect rarities does sometimes pay off with a rarity. There is also something of a correlation between the many hours spent looking and the number of unusual birds. So to all you people who may feel that your areas are a little “ho-hum” for rarities, take heart—you never know where and when to expect the unexpected. Thanks for the hard work by everyone!

Oklahoma City
2015 Christmas Bird Count

Species

Greater White-fronted Goose 40
Cackling Goose 28
Canada Goose 2964
Wood Duck 19
Gadwall 158
American Wigeon 81
Mallard 693
Northern Shoveler 184
Northern Pintail 21
Green-winged Teal 1
Canvasback 17
Redhead 51
Ring-necked Duck 37
Greater Scaup 2
Lesser Scaup 69
Bufflehead 83
Common Goldeneye 110
Hooded Merganser 110
Common Merganser 20
Red-breasted Merganser 547
Ruddy Duck 58
Duck (sp.) 14
Common Loon 11
Pied-billed Grebe 129
Horned Grebe 57
Eared Grebe 3
American White Pelican 253
Double-crested Cormorant 856
Black-crowned Night-Heron 3
Great Blue Heron 107
Great Egret 5
Bald Eagle 1
Northern Harrier 3
Sharp-shinned Hawk 6
Cooper’s Hawk 8
Osprey 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 14
Red-tailed Hawk 70
Ferruginous Hawk 2
Hawk sp. 2
American Kestrel 23
Prairie Falcon 1
Virginia Rail 3
American Coot 64
Killdeer 84
Greater Yellowlegs 16
Least Sandpiper 81
Wilson’s Snipe 3
Franklin’s Gull 3
Bonaparte’s Gull 268
Ring-billed Gull 1060
Herring Gull 12
Gull (sp.) 80
Forster’s Tern 18
Rock Pigeon 663
Eurasian Collared-Dove 259
White-winged Dove 4
Mourning Dove 57
Greater Roadrunner 1
Eastern Screech-Owl 2
Great Horned Owl 7
Barred Owl 5
Belted Kingfisher 11
Red-bellied Woodpecker 45
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 10
Downy Woodpecker 57
Hairy Woodpecker 4
Northern Flicker 90
(Yellow-shafted Flicker) 10
Eastern Phoebe 6
 

  Blue Jay 146
American Crow 174
Horned Lark 26
Carolina Chickadee 144
Tufted Titmouse 23
White-breasted Nuthatch 4
Brown Creeper 12
Carolina Wren 66
House Wren 1
Bewick’s Wren 2
Winter Wren 11
Marsh Wren 2
Golden-crowned Kinglet 6
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 77
Eastern Bluebird 69
American Robin 1809
Hermit Thrush 2
Northern Mockingbird 75
Brown Thrasher 5
European Starling 1696
American Pipit 16
Cedar Waxwing 272
Orange-crowned Warbler 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler 154
Pine Warbler 1
Spotted Towhee 18
Chipping Sparrow 3
Savannah Sparrow 60
Le Conte’s Sparrow 1
Fox Sparrow 16
Song Sparrow 74
Lincoln’s Sparrow 9
Swamp Sparrow 10
White-throated Sparrow 43
Harris’s Sparrow 192
White-crowned Sparrow 26
Dark-eyed Junco 312
Lapland Longspur 2
Smith’s Longspur 28
Northern Cardinal 191
Red-winged Blackbird 382
Meadowlark (sp) 253
Eastern Meadowlark 34
Western Meadowlark 3
Common Grackle 10
Great-tailed Grackle 278
Brown-headed Cowbird 2
House Finch 158
Pine Siskin 3
American Goldfinch 217
House Sparrow 346

Total Species 116
Additional species count week
Additional subsp. Or forms

Total Party Hours 94.5
–Party Hours (Foot) 54.5
–Party Hours (Car) 40

Total Party Hours 508.5
–Party Miles (Foot) 44
–Party Miles (Car) 464.5

Total (Party) Owling Hours 3.5
–Owling Hours (Foot) 1.5
–Owling Hours (Car) 2

Total (Party) Owling Miles 19.5
–Owling Miles (Foot) 0
–Owling Miles (car) 19.5

Total (Party) Feeder Hours 7.5
Total Observers (Feeder Only) 2

Total Parties 18
Total Observers 34