November 2017
Fall Rarities
As the weather cooled down, several interesting species appeared in the area. Scoters were discovered in various locations for a total of all three species. At one time all five grebe species were seen at the Lake Thunderbird Dam area and individually in other locations. In eBird two species seen earlier in the year were discovered, and the invasion of Red Crossbills continues.
On May 9th Joe Grzybowski identified Philadelphia Vireo in Norman. On September 28th Chad Ellis encountered Black-billed Cuckoo at Martin Park Nature Center. On October 30th Bill Diffin detected American Bittern at the Stinchcomb WMA East.
On November 1st Bill Diffin documented Ross’s Goose, Surf Scoter and Black Scoter at Lake Hefner. On the 2nd Deb Hirt saw Merlin at Boomer Lake Park. On the 3rd Timothy Cloninger located Wood Duck and Spotted Towhee south of Mulhall in Logan County. On the 4th Emily Hjalmarson discovered a Sedge Wren at Lake Hefner West Shoreline Drive. On the 5th Zach Poland noticed Red Crossbill at his home in Logan County; Phillip Crawford recorded Bald Eagle in Garvin County; and Jeremy Ross tallied Red-breasted Nuthatch in Cleveland County.
On the 6th Scott Loss verified White-winged Scoter at Meridian Technology Center; Brian Stufflebeam spotted American Pipit along Lake Hefner west shoreline drive; Caleb Frome observed at Purcell Lake Hairy Woodpecker, Swamp Sparrow and White-throated Sparrow and at Wiley Post Memorial Lake Loggerhead Shrike, Ruddy Duck and Common Loon. On the 7th Ben Sandstrom had Lesser Scaup at the Dolese Sand Pit. On the 8th Jason Lewis recognized Prairie Falcon at the Will Rogers World Airport, and Carole Rose counted Yellow-bellied Sapsucker at the Oklahoma City Zoo.
On the 9th Caleb Frome birded several locations in Pottawatomie County and increased the number of species seen in that county by 23. He encountered at Shawnee Reservoir—Upper Section, American Pipit and Pine Siskin; at Tecumseh Lake, Redhead Duck and Brown Creeper; at Wes Watkins—Campgrounds, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Fox Sparrow, and Ruddy Duck. In Logan County Carole Rose reported Hooded Merganser along Coltrane Road, Orlando. On the 10th Caleb McKinney spotted Brewer’s Blackbird in Grady County; Jack Olson discovered a Western Grebe at Lake Hefner; Dala Grissom located White-fronted Goose at Lake Hefner Prairie Dog Point; and Bridger Arrington found Greater Roadrunner in South Muhall.
On the 11th Emily Hjalmarson got a Merlin at the Shawnee Reservoir; Jason Shaw noticed a Belted Kingfisher at Shannon Springs Park in Chickasaw; Bill Diffin documented Black Scoter and Common Loon at Lake Overholser on the Canadian County side; Joe Grzybowski viewed Greater Scaup at Lake Thunderbird—South Dam; and Deanne McKinney recorded Western Meadowlark and Loggerhead Shrike near El Reno. On the 12th Dala Grissom added Brown Thrasher in Bethel Acres in Pottawattamie County, and in Lincoln County at Meeker Lake Canvasback, Gadwall and Ring-necked Duck; while Roy Morris spotted Rough-legged Hawk in Seminole County along I-40. On the 13th Scott Loss tallied Western Grebe at Lake Carl Blackwell Dam.
On the 14th Cameron Carver documented Pacific Loon at Lake Hefner; at Lake Overholser west side Bill Diffin observed Forester’s Tern; and Steve Davis identified Snow Goose and Greater White-fronted Goose. On the 15th Zach Poland had Dunlin at Lake Hefner.
On the 16th Joe Grzybowski verified Red-throated Loon and Rusty Blackbird at Lake Hefner. On the 18th Zach Poland counted Sandhill Crane at his home.
On the 19th Rachel Wren and John Tharp reported Red-necked Grebe at Lake Thunderbird Dam; Caitlin Laughlin found Sandhill Crane, Smith’s Longspur and Lapland Longspur at Lake Carl Blackwell; Matthew Patrick discovered Wood Duck at Isola Bella Lake in Oklahoma City; and Chris Butler tallied Swamp Sparrow at the Embassy Suite Field. On the 22nd Scott Loss recorded Red-necked Grebe at Lake Carl Blackwell; Heidi Hellstern got Pied-billed Grebe and Pileated Woodpecker in Chandler; Joe Grzybowski recognized Western Grebe at Lake Thunderbird State Park; and for a brief time all 5 grebes were reported near the dam. On the 23rd Jill Wilson had Horned Lark and Pine Siskin at Davenport in Lincoln County.
On the 24th John Polo encountered Hermit Thrush and Swamp Sparrow at Sanborn Lake; and Joe Grzybowski detected American Pipit at the Goldsby Sod Farm. On the 25th Joe Buck noticed American Wigeon and Smith’s Longspur at Buck Lake in Lincoln County. On the 26th Caleb McKinney located Hermit Thrush, Fox Sparrow, Wild Turkey and Northern Bobwhite in Grady County; and Brian Marra saw a Hermit Thrush at Stinchcomb WMA. On the 27th Zach Poland had Greater Yellowlegs at his home; Roy McGraw viewed a Lesser Black-backed Gull at Lake Hefner Marina; and David Drake spotted Eastern Phoebe and American White Pelican at Lake Thunderbird.
On the 28th Caleb Frome found White-breasted Nuthatch and Golden-crowned Kinglet at Lake Thunderbird Dam. On the 29th Ben Sandstrom detected Rusty Blackbird at Mineral Wells Park; and Zach Poland identified Winter Wren at Myriad Botanical Gardens. A Newcastle resident reported strange birds at their feeder so Larry Mays and Jimmy Woodward confirmed they were Red Crossbill. What interesting new species will be discovered in December and on Christmas Bird Counts?
During November of 2017 in the Central Oklahoma area 147 species were reported with 10 new species which increased the year’s total to 278. I appreciate those who help provide the history of central Oklahoma birds by making reports at http://ebird.org and I can also be contacted by e-mail at emkok@earthlink.net .