by Bill Diffin
Note: the land described here is private property. Please abide by all restrictions, signs and notices.
The “Purina Field” is south of W. 33rd St. (aka 150th St in OKC) between Kelly Av. and Lincoln Blvd. in Edmond, OK. (Edmond is just north of Oklahoma City.) This field is actually on the south boundary of Edmond and north boundary of OKC. It is north of the Nestle Purina facility.
You take Broadway north from OKC to 33rd and turn west to Kelly. I recommend that you park in the Arctic Edge ice skating rink parking lot off of Kelly, but you can also park in one of the places along Lincoln. From 33rd St., turn south on Kelly and go 100 yards or so to Arctic Edge on the right, turn in and go all the way to the west end of the parking lot at the back of the facility. Park there and do some observing before you even get out of the car. There are usually sparrows right there west of the parking lot and building. I have seen Savannah, Lincoln, Song, Vesper, Field, White-crowned and Harris’s as well as Dark-eyed Junco all in that one spot. There is a mixture of grass and weeds there.
Eventually you will walk west from the parking lot toward Lincoln which is a half mile away. You will walk through the weedy area until you come to an area dominated by short prairie grasses. During the winter, there are Smith’s Longspurs in that field and usually LeConte’s Sparrows. Lots of Savannah Sparrows also. You just walk around until you kick them up.
Across 33rd St to the north, there is an undeveloped lot on the corner with Kelly. On the west side is broken down barbed wire fence and then an overgrown field with a marsh which has recently been dammed to form a little lake. I have seen LeConte’s Sparrows there and a Swamp Sparrow along the cattails during winter months.