JUNE
On the 1st RJ Baltierra saw Mississippi Kite at Sasakwa in Seminole County. On the 4th Joe Grzybowski came across Summer Tanager, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, and Common Nighthawk in Pottawatomie County. On the 6th Tim O’Connell recognized Eastern Wood-Pewee on his BBA plot in Lincoln County. On the 11th Bill Diffin located Bell’s Vireo near Guthrie. On the 12th back on his BBA plot Tim O’Connell added Green Heron. On the 15th Bill Diffin encountered Snowy Egret at Guthrie Lake in Logan county. On the 17th Carol Manning noticed Northern Bobwhite taking a dust bath in Spencer. On the 18th Larry Mays confirmed Belted Kingfisher and Wood Duck in Blanchard in Grady County. On the 20th Braden Farris identified Chimney Swift at Prairie Prime Ranch in Lincoln County; and Mike Yough reported Red-eyed Vireo, Orchard Oriole, Bell’s Vireo, and White-eyed Vireo at Dover in Kingfisher County.
After the unseasonably strong cold front passed through northern Oklahoma on the 21st, Scott Loss spotted Willet at Lake Carl Blackwell; and Brent Barnes described Black-bellied Whistling-Duck on a pond in OKC. On the 22nd Caleb McKinney verified Snowy Egret at Taylor Lake in Grady County. On the 23rd Gaynell Perry tallied Lark Sparrow at Paoli in Garvin County. On the 26th Caleb McKinney found Black-crowned Night-Heron at Shannon Springs Park in Grady County; and Aaron Mechem turned up Great Crested Flycatcher in his Warr Acres yard.
Probably related to the abnormal midsummer cold front and heavy rains/flooding on the 27th, in Stillwater Scott Loss counted some interesting mid-summer/early fall migrant shorebirds of American Avocets at Boomer Lake, and at the Meridian Tech ponds Stilt Sandpiper and a rare-for-midsummer Yellow-headed Blackbird. Meanwhile, Jacob Crissup detected Eastern Wood-Pewee at Crow’s View Farm in Logan County; Brian Marra observed Common Nighthawk at Okarche and Mike Yough got Chimney Swift at Hennessey in Kingfisher County. On the 28th Devin Bosler spotted Common Loons on the northeast corner of Lake Hefner, and on the 30th he observed Caspian Tern foraging along the Lake Hefner dam. During June 141 species were reported in the 12 central Oklahoma counties.
JULY
On the 4th in Pawnee County Jerry Vanbebber photographed two Cave Swallow on a power line; but when Scott Loss went out to find them, he documented two Cave Swallows 1.5 miles west of where Jerry found them just inside the Payne County line. On the 6th RJ Baltierra detected Red-headed Woodpecker at Crescent in Kingfisher County; and on the 7th he photographed a Red-breasted Nuthatch at the Lexington Wildlife Management Area in Pottawatomie County. On the 11th Don Pearson got White-eyed Vireo near Elmore City in Garvin County. In Seminole County on the 10th Jerry Vanbebber spotted Dickcissel in Seminole; on the 12th Sharon Turk counted Red-headed Woodpecker at Wewoka Woods Adventist Center; and on the 14th Rondi Large added Greater Roadrunner at Sportsman Lake.
On the 16th Matthew Van Den Broeke observed Willow Flycatcher at Teal Ridge Wetland in Payne County; and at Lindsay in Garvin County Jackson Cox had Western Kingbird. On the 18th Grace Huffman and Brian Marra photographed and described Least Flycatcher at Lake Hefner – OKC docks; and Braden Farris identified Snowy Egret along the Turner Turnpike near Wellston. On the 20th Braden Farris located Chimney Swift at Prairie Prim Ranch. Meanwhile in Kingfisher County Luella Fickle found White-winged Dove and Green Heron at Bull Foot Park in Hennessey and Purple Martin in Dover; and Mike Yough confirmed White-eyed Vireo, Bell’s Vireo, and Painted Bunting around Dover and Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Orchard Oriole, and Blue Grosbeak around Hennessey.
On the 22nd Kimberly Harper spotted Red-eyed Vireo and Ruby-throated Hummingbird in Newcastle. On the 23rd Matt Jung discovered two Bald Eagles staking out Rose Lake; and Ethan Wells confirmed Northern Bobwhite at Lake Stanley Draper. On the 24th Braden Farris noticed Cattle Egret at Dover and Eastern Kingbird, and Baltimore Oriole at Lake Elmer near Kingfisher. On the 27th Adrianh Martinez Orozco tallied Summer Tanager near Okarche in Canadian County; and Mike Yough verified Chimney Swift in Hennessey and Common Nighthawk at Okarche. On the 28th Bill Diffin added Wood Duck and Great Horned Owl at Liberty Lake in Logan County. On the 29th Someone observed Black-bellied Plover at Lake Thunderbird SP. In July 135 species were reported in the 12 central Oklahoma counties.
AUGUST
On the 3rd Scott Loss documented an apparent first record for Payne County of Blue-winged Warbler at the OSU Botanical Garden; and Bill Diffin cane across Field Sparrow, Northern Bobwhite, Red-eyed Vireo and Dickcissel at Liberty Lake in Lincoln County. On the 4th Bill Diffin recognized Least Flycatcher and Solitary Sandpiper at the NW 63rd & Kilpatrick Turnpike area in Canadian County. On the 5th Scott Loss located Pine Warbler, Northern Parula, and Yellow-billed Cuckoo at The Botanic Garden at OSU; John Tharp and Rachel Wrenn found Marbled Godwit at Lake Thunderbird SP East Sentinel in Cleveland County. On the 6th D&D Norris had a visiting blue-gray Gnatcatcher at Kairworks Garden. On the 8th at John H Saxon Park in Cleveland County Rosario Douglas heard Northern Bobwhite singing and confirmed the ID with Bird Net.
On the 11th Joe Grzybowski encountered Western Sandpiper, Wilson’s Phalarope, Black Tern and Forster’s Tern at Lake Thunderbird – Twin Bridges. On the 13th just ahead of the cold front Caleb McKinney identify Common Nighthawk and two large migration flocks of Western Kingbird at Spencer’s Grocery Store in Chickasha; and Andrew Core noticed Blue Grosbeak at Tryon in Lincoln County. On the 14th Joe Grzybowski reported Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Upland Sandpiper and Broad-winged Hawk at the Bentley Turf Farms in McClain County; and Michael McCoy recorded Chuck-will’s-widow at Mitch Park in Edmond. On the 15th Robert Merideth spotted Forster’s Tern at Meeker Lake in Lincoln County; and Esther Key had Yellow-crowned Night-Heron at the Riverwind east parking lot wetland in McClain County. On the 16th Bill Diffin heard Sedge Wren and Fish Crow at Prairie Dog Point on Lake Hefner.
On the 18th Larry Mays described a Common Black Hawk four miles northwest of Hennessey in Garfield County just half a mile north of the Kingfisher County line. Later several other birders were able to view the bird. Surely it flew south a bit so it can be counted on the Central OK list. Dan Cowell discovered Common Yellowthroat and Spotted Sandpiper at Purcell Lake in McClain County; and Scott Loss verified an Alder Flycatcher at the Teal Ridge Wetland in Payne County. On the 21st in Kingfisher County Martinez Orozco observed Red-headed Woodpecker, Orchard Oriole, and Yellow Warbler in Ames; Jacob Crissup and Katie Morgan saw Eastern Wood-Pewee and Loggerhead Shrike while weaving roads near the Cimarron Bird Farm. Meanwhile, in Lincoln County Michael King turned up White-winged Dove at Guthrie; and at Rose Lake in Canadian County Deanne McKinney got Bald Eagle.
On the 25th Donna Yates detected Black-throated Green Warbler at Arcadia Lake – Edmond Park. Along South Jenkins in Norman on the 27th Dick Gunn spotted a fly-by Peregrine Falcon; and on the 29th Brian Marra counted Yellow-throated Warbler and Nashville Warbler. On the 30th Cody Delano recognized Semipalmated Plover and Semipalmated Sandpiper at Lake Thunderbird – East Sentinel; Abdul Dominguez located White-eyed Vireo and Carolina Wren at Pebblebrook Park in Cleveland County; Brian Marra found Willow Flycatcher, Black-throated Green Warbler and Mourning Warbler at Bluff Creek Trails in OKC; and at Martin Park Nature Center in OKC Brian McLaughlin confirmed Mississippi Kites and Chimney Swift and Bill Diffin identified Eastern Wood-Pewee and Orchard Oriole. In August a total of 147 species were seen in all 12 central Oklahoma Counties.
In the Central Oklahoma area during the Summer 165 species were reported with 3 new species which brings the year’s total to 300. I appreciate those who help provide the history of central Oklahoma birds. Information is accessed at: ebird. 2021 eBird: An online database of bird distribution and abundance [web application]. eBird Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Available: https://ebird.org/region/US-OK?yr=all. (Accessed June 29 & 30; July 30 & 31, and August 30 & 31, 2021); occasionally from Facebook, and the OKBIRDS List. I can be contacted at emkok@earthlink.net. Esther M. Key, Editor.
Sum May April Mar Feb Jan
Seminole 088 083 080 073 053 035
Garvin 091 085 079 066 062 054
Kingfisher 124 099 096 073 061 016
Pottawatomie 115 104 099 085 078 060
Grady 142 136 102 079 068 059
Logan 151 144 111 098 089 067
McClain 150 144 121 093 080 068
Lincoln 154 148 117 101 067 059
Canadian 220 219 189 147 127 116
Cleveland 245 242 204 151 128 119
Payne 254 252 214 159 138 124
Oklahoma 264 262 220 173 149 138
Number of bird species reported in 2021 according to eBird. www.ebird.org