The Osprey's fall visit

I saw my first Osprey of the fall migration today at Rose Lake in Yukon! These beautiful birds of prey, sometimes called "fish eagles" are striking with their black and white plummage. They are also known for carrying their prey, a fish, facing forward. Legend has it that Ospreys do this so the fish can see where they are going. I don't have a clue if there's anything to this tale, but, indeed, one way to identify an Osprey in flight is by the way it carries the fish it has caught... and it's always face-forward! I have a photo of this on my Photo Gallery. I didn't get a very good photo of today's Osprey but will be watching for them!

I spent some time this afternoon birding with Terri Underhill and we also saw: Loggerhead Shrike, American Goldfinch, Yellow Warbler, Black and Forster's Terns, Red-tailed Hawk, Mississippi Kite and a few Turkey Vultures during our drive along dirt roads in Yukon in 100-degree heat. We stayed in the car... but we sure didn't get to stay cool.

And I saw the juvenile Laughing Gull again at Stars and Stripes Park, Lake Hefner. The bird is simply beautiful. But I'm glad to be home, out of the heat, and spending a lazy evening with my cats. Happy birding to everyone!

Pat

My first Laughing Gull

A new bird! I got to photograph a new (for me) bird today! During a quick trip to Lake Hefner today, I found the 1st year Laughing Gull that Terri Underhill and Bret Mayden discovered yesterday. I was very excited to see the bird hanging out in the same area of Stars & Stripes Park as they described. And this young gull was very docile and very comfortable having me pull alongside it and take photos.

Laughing Gulls are described as "rare" for central Oklahoma but Lake Hefner is a great magnet for unusual gulls. Last winter I photographed Lesser Black-backed, Thayer's, California and a hybrid Thayer's x Kumlien's Gull... all unusual birds for this area. So now I get to add Laughing Gull to my Photo Gallery list (I'll add the actual photo in a day or so)!!! Happiness is finding new birds :-)

After Hefner, I headed to Lake Overholser, again to follow in Terri and Bret's tracks from yesterday. And I found the Black and Forster's Terns in the new park at 23rd & W. Lake Overholser Drive. Fun to see these birds and fun to try to see how close they'd let me get so I could photograph them. Not close enough for my liking, it turns out, but I did get a few good pictures that I'll be adding to the Gallery also.

And for those who might be keeping up with my mystical Merlin... he was back in the Merlin tree on Monday evening at 8:00 p.m. I think this bird's going to stay around for a while... he caught a cicada while I was watching him and perhaps the bugs and small birds on Prairie Dog Point will be an ample food supply.

It was raining this morning so I didn't get to see the little hummer that's been visiting the feeder. I'll be out there in the morning though (as long as it's not raining) to see how he's doing. Oh, that's right... I've been seeing some white on the tip of the tail which means it's a female... so I'll watch her in the morning :-)

Happy birding,

Pat

Young hummers all look alike

How can anyone be expected to know the details of a bird that's only 3.75" long?! I'm struggling to identify the plummage of a Ruby-throated Hummingbird that's been visiting every morning. It seems to be a juvenile -- an adult male would have the signature red throat; an adult female would have white tips on the end of the tail. I don't get to see many hummingbirds so I'm at a loss whether this bird is a young male or female. What do you think?

Whatever he/she turns out to be, it's a very welcome guest. I've been sitting out front while I journal in the mornings and I've enjoyed watching this little bird at the feeder while the larger birds are having breakfast in the backyard. Even though I have a lot of trumpet vine, my yard just doesn't attract hummingbirds until August. I think that's when the juveniles are being forced to find their own territory as the hummingbirds significantly increase their nectar consumption in preparation for migration. So, for about three weeks every year, I'm privileged to have one visit my yard.

It's been hot, with temperatures nearing 100 and birding has been slow. I have the misters and drippers going in the backyard and the regular backyard birds enjoy flying through the mist and splashing in the birdbath (have you ever seen a starling that didn't play in water?!) on these hot days. A robin was in the yard this morning; don't know where he's been but definitely not around here lately. And several newly fledged Mourning and Eurasian Collared Doves were feeding beneath BirdCam#1 today.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Pat

Merlin returns to Lake Hefner

One of my favorite birds... one that I think is indeed surrounded in something quite mystical... made a wonderful appearance today at Lake Hefner. The Merlin returned!!! I literally jumped out of my car and quickly set up my spotting scope on a muddy road when I caught that first unexpected glimpse of him sitting in the same tree, in the same spot as last year. I spent so much time last winter watching this small falcon, a somewhat rare visitor to my birding route around Lake Hefner, that I he grew quite comfortable with me setting up my tripod very close to his perch. What a great bird!

Last year, the Merlin arrived -- or at least was first spotted -- on August 29. This year his arrival is two weeks ahead of schedule. Here's hoping he finds adequate prey and stays for another winter.

Today's brief birding trip to Hefner brought another fun surprise: a Yellow-crowned Night Heron within 10 feet of my truck as I drove along the golf course road. I've wanted to get better pictures of this interesting night heron and have been concerned that the summer would pass without a chance to photograph one. I wasn't finding them anywhere at Hefner and the ones I found at Rose Lake in Yukon were perched too far away to photograph. The bird I discovered today was very patient and posed quite gracefully for me. And he was so close that I had to zoom back to photograph his whole body. Some of the pictures turned out nice and I'll be posting them in the Photo Gallery later this week.

After a weekend of (much needed) rain, today's 80-degree temperature made for an unusually mild August day for Oklahoma. I'll take it!!!

Happy birding,

Pat

Purple Martins stage for massive migration

I stood in the parking lot and looked up to see tens of thousands of Purple Martins swarm through the evening sky with a singular destination... two Sycamore trees! By the time the sun had set, literally tens of thousands of these birds had navigated through continuous clouds of birds to settle into two trees. It was the most massive influx of birds I've ever seen! The picture I posted doesn't do justice to the number of birds. But I'll work on some other pictures and see if I got anything better.

The Purple Martins are staging, preparing for their migration to Brazil and during this preparation time develop huge roosts. One of the local birders and martin enthusiast had studied radar images (yes the bird swarms are so large that they show up on weather radar images!) and tracked the birds yesterday to a roost at the Oklahoma Allergy & Asthma Clinic near 13th & Lincoln. She said last night's roost included 100,000 - 300,000 birds! Tonight's probably came close to 70,000 - 80,000 an indication that the birds are already migrating.

The Purple Martin watch party turned out to be a lot of fun! I got to see several birders I hadn't seen this summer, met a few new ones, and we were also joined by staff from the Allergy Clinic (who were quite proud that these wonderful birds had chosen their trees) as well as a crew from Channel 4. And special thanks to my sister Ginny who spread the word through the Allergy Clinic about their special nighttime visitors -- the massive amount of droppings on the sidewalk under the trees was a definite sign that birds had been there, they just didn't know the scale of the bird invasion!

Work projects have been wonderful but very time consuming this week. I hope to find a little more time to chase birds this weekend and report back on any new or interesting findings.

All the best,

Pat

T-storms dampen river journey

Nothing like standing out in the open when lightning strikes to get the adrenalin going and the feet peddling across sand and water, ignoring any /all birds enroute to the safety of my SUV! A good old-fashioned summer downpour hit the South Canadian River this evening while I was standing on the river bottom, and put a quick end to my search for Western Sandpipers. Before the storm rolled in, however, I did get to see Least and Black Terns; and Least, Baird's and Pectoral Sandpipers (thanks, Nathan, for the company and ID help!). I didn't mind getting drenched and I even managed to keep my camera dry in spite of the downpour, but after 20 minutes of waiting in the car, we decided the smartest course of action was trying getting off the dirt road before the next storm hit. I just hope this cold front that's triggering these storms brings in some of those great migrant shorebirds!!!

Stay safe,

Pat

Gallery: new Mississippi Kite pics

I saw two things today that I hadn't seen in some time: clouds and rain! A front is coming in from the north and it kicked off a few scattered thunderstorms this afternoon. The temperature dropped from 99 to 77 and it was wonderful while it lasted! Temps are back up in the high 80s but at least the cloud cover remains!

I took a few new photos today of juvenile Black-Crowned Night-Herons. When I get a chance, I'll add them to the photo gallery. But I'm still working on a back-log of photos and finally got around to adding two new Mississippi Kite photos I took earlier this summer.

We're so fortunate to have these wonderful birds around all summer! They are superb bug hunters and I'd be interested to find out what kind of bug the kite caught just before I snapped this picture. (Any ideas?!)

You can also check out the other Mississippi Kite photos on my photo gallery.

Stay cool :-)

Pat

Photo Gallery updates: Vireo & Turkey

I found some time this evening to work on several photos I took in June and July of a Warbling Vireo on the nest. I've added them to the Backyard BirdCam Photo Gallery.

I found this vireo nest on June 18 while tracking the call of a Warbling Vireo at Lake Hefner (Oklahoma City). These vireos are common around the lake and they sing their hearts out even in hot weather. While the tree the bird is singing from is quite easy to determine, finding the bird as it hides behinds leaves so I can photograph it is quite a challenge for me. So I was very excited and surprised to find one sitting on the nest - singing! I had never seen one before on a nest -- the nest didn't seem much larger than a hummer nest -- and this gave me my first opportunity to watch their nesting process. I visited several times during the next month and on July 8 saw a nestling peeking out above the rim of the nest. The very next day, two young birds fledged! The Warbling Vireo - nest page on the photo gallery includes photos of these three stages.

I've also updated the Wild Turkey page on my photo gallery. I was pleased with a photo of a male turkey I took July 27 at the Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge in Lawton. The bird was one of several that were walking across a field -- uncharacteristically out in the open. I can't count the number of turkey photos I've taken of the birds' behinds heading into the woods!

It's always fun to update the Photo Gallery... it makes all the shooting, editing, cropping, and deleting all the throw-away shots, worthwhile. Nice to accomplish something!

Thanks for visiting. I hope you stop by again soon and stay in touch!

Pat