Dec 18, 2021 OKC Audubon CBC Summary
A cold front swept through the metro area prior to sunrise on Dec 18 and quickly dropped unseasonably warm temps back down into the low 30s, coupled with a northly wind gusting up to 25 mph. Temps did creep back up into the low 40s by early afternoon but by then, several count teams had packed it in for the day. Central Oklahoma is also in the middle of a moderate La Nina cycle which had produced relatively dry and above-average temperatures leading up to the count.
Before going further, want to first pay a huge tribute to a loyal CBC participant, Miss Feodora DeGrasse Steward, who passed away back on October 18 at the age of 93! Kudos to Carla Brueggen who usually took Feodora out with her. Feodora was dearly missed for this year’s count!
Even with the cold and wind, coupled with drier conditions, 21 count parties comprised of 44 counters that walked an amazing 66 miles still managed to log 108 species and 16,925 birds!
The most amazing bird(s) seen on count day were by Warren Harden’s team – four White-tailed Hawks! Warren provided a very thorough documentation but unfortunately the birds moved on the very next day. The next best bird was actually a count week bird which was a Northern Shrike, discovered by Brian Marra out at Crystal Lake.
We seemed to have a good distribution of both species of kinglets as well as American Goldfinches. Getting spoiled with multiple Lesser Black-backed Gulls (6).
Eastern Phoebe numbers were down as were wrens but a big factor likely was the uncomfortable birding conditions for the morning. American White Pelicans (171) were also significantly lower this year.
The Crissup team found two Smith’s Longspurs and a Ross’s Goose. The Mays team found a White-winged Scoter for the second year in a row and the Garrison team managed to get two uncommon American Tree Sparrows.
Additional count week birds include American Pipit, Orange-crowned Warbler and a Lapland Longspur.
As always, please check our Club’s webpage at https://okc-audubon.org for any updates to the CBC list. Thank you for everyone that braved the inclement weather this year!
Participants include John Cleal, Marion Homier; Steve Davis, Mary Lane, Terri Underhill; Bill Diffin; Neil Garrison; Mark Howery, Sharon Henthorn; Patti Muzny, Nancy Brian Munzy, Esther Key; Hal Yocum; Cheryl Allen; Brian Marra, Grace Huffman, Steve Stone; Betz Hacker, Robert Holbrook; John Sterling; Larry Mays, Aaron Mechem; Morton Payne, Matthew Payne, Johnson Hightower, Steve Parker; Warren Harden, Nancy Vicars; Jimmy Woodard, Mark Delgrosso, Emily Muns; Patricia Velte; Nathan Kuhnert, Susan Prescott, Allison Jones, Allison Jones, Nathan Jones, Kaye Jones; Kathleen Tucker; Jacob Crissup, Katie Crissup; and Jerry and Marilyn Taylor.
—Nathan Kuhnert, Compiler
| 2021 Species | Number | Cooper’s Hawk | 5 | Golden-crowned Kinglet | 7 | ||
| Cackling Goose | 33 | Red-shouldered Hawk | 6 | Ruby-crowned Kinglet | 17 | ||
| Canada Goose | 808 | Red-tailed Hawk | 27 | Eastern Bluebird | 24 | ||
| Ross’s Goose | 1 | White-tailed Hawk | 4 | Mountain Bluebird | 15 | ||
| Wood Duck | 10 | American Kestrel | 10 | Hermit Thrush | 1 | ||
| Gadwall | 173 | American Coot | 307 | American Robin | 971 | ||
| American Wigeon | 197 | Killdeer | 10 | Northern Mockingbird | 29 | ||
| Mallard | 647 | Least Sandpiper | 7 | Brown Thrasher | 2 | ||
| Blue-winged Teal | 1 | Wilson’s Snipe | 6 | European Starling | 2547 | ||
| Northern Shoveler | 240 | Bonaparte’s Gull | 171 | American Pipit | CW | ||
| Northern Pintail | 2 | Franklin’s Gull | 1 | Cedar Waxwing | 33 | ||
| American Green-winged Teal | 24 | Ring-billed Gull | 2994 | Orange-crowned Warbler | CW | ||
| duck sp. | 2 | Herring Gull | 29 | Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) | 33 | ||
| Canvasback | 23 | Lesser Black-backed Gull | 6 | Spotted Towhee | 3 | ||
| Redhead | 41 | Forster’s Tern | 6 | American Tree Sparrow | 2 | ||
| Ring-necked Duck | 44 | Rock Pigeon | 323 | Field Sparrow | 3 | ||
| Greater Scaup | 26 | Eurasian Collared-Dove | 69 | Savannah Sparrow | 10 | ||
| Lesser Scaup | 399 | White-winged Dove | 10 | Fox Sparrow | 11 | ||
| Bufflehead | 96 | Mourning Dove | 123 | Song Sparrow | 40 | ||
| Common Goldeneye | 225 | Great Horned Owl | 1 | Lincoln Sparrow | 1 | ||
| Hooded Merganser | 208 | Belted Kingfisher | 6 | Swamp Sparrow | 4 | ||
| Common Merganser | 17 | Red-bellied Woodpecker | 29 | White-throated Sparrow | 40 | ||
| Red-breasted Merganser | 535 | Yellow-bellied Sapsucker | 2 | Harris’s Sparrow | 204 | ||
| Ruddy Duck | 49 | Downy Woodpecker | 32 | White-crowned Sparrow | 25 | ||
| White-winged Scoter | 1 | Hairy Woodpecker | 3 | Dark-eyed Junco | 310 | ||
| Wild Turkey | 9 | Northern Flicker | 26 | Lapland Longspur | CW | ||
| Common Loon | 12 | Eastern Phoebe | 1 | Smith’s Longspur | 2 | ||
| Pied-billed Grebe | 78 | Northern Shrike | CW | Northern Cardinal | 156 | ||
| Horned Grebe | 37 | Blue Jay | 69 | Red-winged Blackbird | 2309 | ||
| American White Pelican | 171 | American Crow | 207 | Eastern Meadowlark | 15 | ||
| Double-crested Cormorant | 700 | Horned Lark | 28 | Western Meadowlark | 12 | ||
| Great Blue Heron (blue form) | 61 | Carolina Chickadee | 105 | Common Grackle | 183 | ||
| Great Egret | 3 | Tufted Titmouse | 19 | Great-tailed Grackle | 81 | ||
| Black-crowned Night-Heron | 1 | White-breasted Nuthatch | 3 | Brown-headed Cowbird | 59 | ||
| Turkey Vulture | 1 | Brown Creeper | 1 | House Finch | 42 | ||
| Bald Eagle | 1 | Carolina Wren | 27 | American Goldfinch | 97 | ||
| Northern Harrier | 2 | Bewick’s Wren | 3 | House Sparrow | 71 | ||
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 4 | Winter Wren | 2 |