April 2017

Busy Birding

What a busy month with so many new species arriving in the Central Oklahoma area, while resident birds are building nests and raising young. There are too many interesting sightings to include in the report. Payne, Oklahoma and Cleveland counties have reported 200+ species for the year.

On March 31 Zach Poland located a Clay-colored Sparrow at the Myriad Botanical Gardens in downtown OKC. On the 1st Scott Loss had an American Avocet at Boomer Lake Park in Stillwater; and along South Jenkins in Norman Joe Grzybowski saw Grasshopper Sparrow. In Seminole County James Dietrich spotted Blue-winged Teal and Harris’s Sparrow; and Jeff Tibbit detected White-eyed Vireo in Logan County. On the 2nd in McClain County at the Goldsby Sod Farm T K had Semipalmated Sandpiper; at Ten Mile Flats near Norman Joe Grzybowski identified Solitary Sandpiper; in downtown OKC Bill Diffin verified Virginia Rail; and in Stillwater Deb Hirt recorded Chimney Swift at Boomer Lake Park and John Polo found Sedge Wren at Teal Ridge Wetland.

On the 3rd Larry Mays counted Northern Parula in McClain County, and Rachel Wrenn noticed Nashville Warbler at Little River State Park. On the 5th Cameron Carver located Swainson’s Hawk near Guthrie; Bill Diffin documented Little Gull at Lake Hefner; and Jimmy Woodward turned up Rubythroated Hummingbird in Midwest City. On the 6th Zach Poland added House Wren at the Myriad Botanical Gardens. On the 7th in Stillwater Deb Hirt recognized Peregrine Falcon at Boomer Lake Park; and Kent Andersson encountered Summer Tanager at OSU. In Grady County Caleb McKinney checked American Pipit in Ninnekah and on the 8th at Lake Louis Burtschi Tree Swallow. Also on the 8th at Zach Poland’s home the Black-chinned Hummingbird arrived; Allison Lang got Green Heron at Sanborn Lake; and Steve Davis tallied Solitary Sandpiper at Fort Reno.

On the 9th T K discovered Broad-winged Hawk and Western Kingbird at Goldsby Sod Farm; and Paul Cook added Eastern Kingbird at Little River State Park. On the 10th John Hurd uncovered White-faced Ibis at Rose Lake; and Corey Riding heard Warbling Vireo at Boomer Lake Park. On the 11th Emily Hjalmarson had American Bittern along South Jenkins. On the 12th at Chickasha Luke Campbell recorded Swainson’s Hawk; along South Jenkins Caleb Frome tallied House Wren; at the Teal Ridge Wetland Scott Loss counted Sora Rail and at the Myriad Botanical Gardens Zach Poland encountered Swainson’s Thrush.

On the 13th Jerid Patterson got American Avocet at Taylor Lake in Grady County. In Lincoln County Michelle Townsley spotted a Chimney Swift in Tilghman Park in Chandler. At Lake Thunderbird Scott White found Prothonotary Warbler; while at Teal Ridge Wetland Corey Riding spotted American Bittern. On the 14th in Norman Mitchell Jarrett heard Chuckwill’s-widow; and at Little River State Park John Tharp noticed Orchard Oriole. On the 15th Zach Poland added Swainson’s Hawk in Kingfisher County; and T K identified Great Crested Flycatcher at Lexington WMA.

On the 16th Andrew Schofield had Chuckwill’s Widow in Logan County; Rachel Wrenn discovered Lazuli Bunting at Little River State Park; Mike Yough documented Marbled Godwit at Lake Carl Blackwell; and Scott Loss located Willet at Boomer Lake Park. Jimmy Woodard reported Red-eyed Vireo and Louisiana Waterthrush at Soldier Creek Industrial Park Recreational Trail in Oklahoma County and Indigo Bunting at his Midwest City home. On the 17th Brian Stufflebeam uncovered Semipalmated Plover at Arcadia Lake; and Adrienne Horner realized Caspian Tern in Stillwater.

On the 18th Kyle Horton recognized Yellow Warbler and Warbling Vireo at Lexington; and John Polo discovered a Kentucky Warbler in Payne County. On the 19th Zachary Hemans noticed Cattle Egret near Guthrie. On the 20th Jeremy Ross got Baltimore Oriole at the Oklahoma Biological Survey, Corey Riding had Yellow Warbler at Boomer Lake Park; and Scott Loss recorded Dickcissel at Whittenberg Park.

On the 21st at Mineral Wells Park in Guthrie Zach Poland tallied Solitary Sandpiper, Northern Parula and Yellow-throated Warbler; at the John Marshal School Pond Jamal Mack identified Wilson’s Phalarope; at Boomer Lake Park Bank Swallows were seen by Scott Loss; and at Wellston High School Austin Jones encountered White-winged Dove. On the 22nd at Lake Thunderbird Nathan Kuhnert added Wilson’s Warbler; Joe Grzybowski located Blue Grosbeak; while in Stillwater Scott Loss found Gray Catbird.

On the 23rd at the 63rd and Kilpatrick Turnpike area Western Sandpiper was verified; at the Mustang Playa Bob Ellis documented Dickcissel; at Riley Park John Tharp realized Blue-headed Vireo; and at Lake Thunderbird Lindell Dillon spotted Painted Bunting.

On the 24th in Stillwater Tanner Swank recorded Mississippi Kite; and in Garvin County Zach DuFran detected Warbling Vireo at Wacker City Park in Paul’s Valley and Ruddy Duck at Paul’s Valley Lake. On the 26th in Tecumseh Dala Grissom recognized American Avocet and Yellow-headed Blackbird. In Kingfisher County Joe Grzybowski reported Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Dickcissel and Swainson’s Hawk; and at his home Zach Poland found Common Nighthawk.

On the 28th Zach Poland birded Wes Watkins Lake and saw White-rumped Sandpiper, Eastern Wood-Pewee and Least Flycatcher. In Norman Mitchell Jarrett discovered Least Flycatcher plus Bell’s Vireo along South Jenkins and Lindell Dillon found Tennessee Warbler and Rose-breasted Grosbeak at Lake Thunderbird State Park.

In the Central Oklahoma area during April 203 species were reported with 55 new species added to the 2017 year making the total to date of 234. 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.