Summer Additions
You never know what you will find when you go out birding. Who would have thought on June 25th a Wood Stork would be discovered by Steve Booker near Lake Ellsworth in Comanche County just 13 miles west of Grady County. And in August Roseata Spoonbills were reported in Kansas. Will they come through central Oklahoma when they head south? Will someone find them if they do? Meanwhile, during the summer in central Oklahoma, more new species were seen in several counties bringing their totals for the year above 100. Now only Seminole and Garvin County are below 100 and three other counties are above 200 species for the year.
MAY
On the 19th John Tharp identified a Cave Swallow at Lake Thunderbird Alameda Drive area in Cleveland County. On the 28th Eric Duell birded Lightle Farms pasture SE of Hennessey and added the following birds to the Kingfisher County list Cattle Egret, Black-necked Stilt, Black-bellied Plover, Baird’s Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, White-rumped Sandpiper, Black Tern, Forster’s Tern, Blue Grosbeak, and Common Grackle.
JUNE
On the 1st Larry Mays detected a Yellow-billed Cuckoo at his home in McClain County. Marky M saw a Black Vulture along I-35 near Edmond. On the 2nd Kevin Dailey had a Northern Rough-winged Swallow on the Turner Turnpike in Lincoln County. In Logan County Zach Poland encountered a Blue Grosbeak at his home and Brian Marra noticed a Prothonotary Warbler at Liberty Lake. On the 3rd Brian Marra added a Great-tailed Grackle in Garvin County at Lindsay; in Grady County at Lake Louis Burtschi he found Summer Tanager, Black-and-white Warbler, Warbling Vireo, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Great Horned Owl, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, near Wyantt Road a Loggerhead Shrike; and in McClain County at Purcell Lake Brian recorded Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Bell’s Vireo, and Warbling Vireo.
On the 6th Steve Davis spotted a Yellow-crowned Night-Heron in Yukon. On the 9th Joe Grzybowski verified a Broad-winged Hawk along I-35 near Paul’s Valley. On the 12th Liz Brewer reported a Great-tailed Grackle in Chandler. On the 17th Joe Buck heard a Yellow-billed Cuckoo near Luther. On the 20th Joe Grzybowski identified a Yellow-billed Cuckoo and Yellow-throated Vireo in Pottawatomie County. On the 24th in Seminole County birds seen were Warbling Vireo, Western Kingbird, Fish Crow and Summer Tanager, and Brian Marra located a Black-crowned Night-Heron at the West Stinchcomb Wildlife Refuge.
On the 25th Zack Poland counted Common Nighthawk near Hennessey in Kingfisher County, and on the 26th he saw a Yellow-throated Warbler at the Myriad Botanical Gardens. On the 28th Jason Shaw got a Yellow-crowned Night-Heron at USAO Habitat Area in Grady County. On the 29th Caleb McKinney tallied a Greater Roadrunner at Ninnekah in Grady County. On the 30th Esther Key recognized a Western Kingbird at Bell Cow Lake in Lincoln County and a Yellow-billed Cuckoo at Foster in Garvin County.
JULY
On the 2nd Esther Key discovered a Purple Martin at Wes Watkins Lake Campground in Pottawatomie County. On the 4th Robert Biller came across a Summer Tanager at the NW 63rd and Kilpatrick Turnpike. On the 8th Jason Shaw turned up a Black-crowned Night-Heron at the USAO Habitat Area. On the 9th Belinda Bridwell documented an Indigo Bunting in Seminole County; Caleb McKinney uncovered a Northern Rough-winged Swallow at Ninnekah in Grady County, and Bill Diffin detected a Bell’s Vireo at the NW 63rd and Kilpatrick Turnpike in Canadian County. On the 27th Caleb McKinney verified a Black-chinned Hummingbird in Ninnekah. On the 30th Brian Marra reported a Painted Bunting and a Grasshopper Sparrow in Kingfisher County.
AUGUST
On the 1st Esther Key spotted a flock of Cattle Egrets that apparently settled down near a pond just before the storm arrived in Garvin County. On the 2nd Larry Mays located an Inca Dove on County Line Road near Newcastle. On the 4th Elizabeth Pratt found a Western Kingbird at Lindsay in Garvin County. On the 6th a Solitary Sandpiper was seen near Goldsby. On the 8th Bill Diffin documented a Neotropic Cormorant and an Alder/Willow Flycatcher (Traill’s Flycatcher) at the West Stinchcomb Wildlife Refuge. On the 13th a Little Blue Heron was noticed on Ladd Road near Goldsby. On the 16th Bill Diffin recorded a Laughing Gull at the John Marshall School Pond. He also reported Least Terns were nesting here during the summer. On the 18th John Tharp discovered a Caspian Tern at the Lake Thunderbird North Sentinel Campground. On the 20th Zach Poland added Stilt Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Pectoral Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper and Lesser Yellowlegs near Marshall in Logan County. On the 22nd Bill Diffin encountered a Chuck’s-will’s-widow at the Bluff Creek Trails; and on the 23rd he saw an Alder Flycatcher at Prairie Dog Point. On the 27th Nathan Kuhnert found an Ovenbird at the Myriad Botanical Gardens. Many of our summer nesting birds are leaving for their wintering grounds. Soon the winter birds will be arriving.
During the Summer of 2017 in the Central Oklahoma area, 160 species were reported with 3 new species which increased the year’s total to 266. I appreciate those who help provide the history of central Oklahoma birds by making reports at http://ebird.org and can also be contacted by e-mail at emkok@earthlink.net . Esther M. Key, Editor.