We made another trip to visit Jean's father, now age 95, in Carlsbad, New Mexico. We like driving now and stopping in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to visit with Dick's brother, Jim. We birded all or part of four days in northeast Oklahoma, covering lakes and prairie in particular. We recorded 98 species, including three new for Oklahoma for Jean. The most notable sighting was probably the immature Swainson's Hawk we found on the rather late date of Nov. 1.
In west Texas we only made observations while driving between Tulsa and Carlsbad, about 674 miles and a long day's drive. Going out on Oct. 25, we did see about 100 Black-necked Stilts in the various ponds along the Loop 335 road outside Amarillo, but most were gone when we returned on Oct. 31. That day we saw perhaps 2,000 Sandhill Cranes coming down just north of IH 40 about milepost 90, east of Amarillo. That was very impressive, even at freeway speeds!
In southeast New Mexico we covered our favorite hotspot, Rattlesnake Springs, plus lakes and irrigated fields southeast of Carlsbad on three mornings. We enjoyed the birds coming to seed in the yard (especially White-winged and Inca Doves) and whatever we saw along the roads. We had 90 species in that brief birding, three new for New Mexico for Jean were all eastern species, but also special were three Prairie Falcons one day.
Oklahoma: Oct. 22 - 24 and Nov. 1.
Keystone Lake, prairies of Osage County, Lake Oolagah and Sooner Lake..
We birded all or part of Oct. 22, 23, 24 and Nov. 1 in northeast Oklahoma, covering lakes and prairie in particular. On the map, the lake NE of Tulsa is Oolagah, the one just west is Keystone on the Arkansas River. Further west, near Stillwater and Ponca City, is Sooner Lake and north toward Kansas is The Tallgrass Prairie Preserve in Osage County.
 Finding orchids, these Slender Ladies'-tresses, blooming in the prairies in October was a real pleasure. |
On Oct. 22, after a morning at Tulsa's Gilcrease Museum, we spent the afternoon checking the birds at various locations around Keystone Lake. Of special interest were Red-breasted Nuthatch which have also made a big showing in Ohio. We tallied 60 Turkey Vultures, the last good numbers we would see, two Common Snipe and 50 Yellow-rumped Warblers. Later in the afternoon we saw two Scissor-tailed Flycatchers, probably migrants stopping for the day and the only ones we encountered.
Oct. 23 we checked some areas on the north side of Keystone then covered various parts of the prairies to the north. A Yellow-bellied Sapsucker at Keystone was of interest as they are much easier to find around Tulsa than ten or 20 years ago. Eastern Bluebirds were plentiful, not only at Keystone. One field was checked for Smith's Longspurs, but it was still too early, but we did flush two Sprague's Pipits. Most numerous along the roads were Savannah Sparrows. The prairie preserve was a disappointment. Driving among the bison was exciting and seems to be the draw for visitors, but the prairie itself looks much worse than in neighboring properties. |
From a picnic lunch to sunset at the Will Rogers homestead on Oct. 24, we enjoyed the birds on and around Lake Oolagah, a reservoir on the Verdigris River. There were more Red-breasted Nuthatch, another Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and in some pines we or others saw a Barn Owl, Hermit Thrush, Brown Creeper and Golden-crowned Kinglets. We found one Common Loon and were surprised to see a Short-eared Owl come down the lake and land along the causeway. But the real show here was the thousands of Franklin's Gulls streaming in and roiling around on the lake, filling bays and inlets with their flocks.
Nov. 1 at Sooner Lake,
Jim was able to get away from work this day so that we could go to Sooner Lake which we had never visited. The combination of large and small lakes, prairie and scrub produced a very rewarding group of birds, especially lots of hawks. Among the 50 Red-tailed Hawks was an adult dark Harlan's Hawk and generally more variety in their plumage than we normally see in Ohio. The ducks included about 20 Greater Scaup which Jean had not seen there, another bird more common now in Oklahoma.
| Late in the afternoon we found a pale-headed Buteo walking in a mown field, near the road. It puzzled us for a while, but the streaking on its pale underparts was the final clue that this was an immature Swainson's Hawk. It walked around the field, probably catching grasshoppers, preened, drank from a puddle of rainwater and finally flew up into some trees, showing its underwing pattern as a bonus, plus extensive white at the base of the tail. The face was washed with buff, the thighs feathered in reddish-buff, the nape finely streaked, a dark post-ocular stripe, dark moustache, dark back and wings, secondaries patterned with white, dark, banded tail. In all it was not a plumage we (in Ohio) are used to, but both plumage and behavior indicated a Swainson's Hawk, though a little late in the season. We took two photos but only got this soft focus shot. Later we watched a couple hundred American Robins flocking along our route, probably heading to a roost. |
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As we were leaving on Nov. 2, we saw a flock of about 25 Sandhill Cranes flying away from the turnpike, possibly toward the Lake Oolagah area, an uncommon sight in the northeast part of the state.
New Mexico: Oct. 25 - 31.
Casual birding, Six Mile Dam, Lakes Avalon and Brantley and Rattlesnake Springs..
In New Mexico we covered our favorite hotspot, Rattlesnake Springs, plus Six Mile Dam, Lake Avalon, Brantley Lake, irrigated fields southeast of Carlsbad and the salt lake area out NM 128 on the mornings of Oct. 27, 28 and 29. We enjoyed the birds coming to seed in the yard (especially Blue Jay, White-winged and Inca Doves) and whatever we saw along the roads. Coming in on the Hobbs Highway Oct. 25, even though it was getting late, we saw Scaled Quail, Northern Harrier, American Kestrel and Harris's Hawk. The only warbler other than Yellow-rumped of the whole trip was in the yard on Oct. 26, an Orange-crowned Warbler.
A number of interesting eastern species had been reported by Jerry Oldenettel on Oct. 24 at Rattlesnake Springs and we found several of them there on the morning of Oct. 27. Sparrows were very thick and we had at least six Swamp Sparrows, but new for us was one Field Sparrow. We also heard both Sora and Virginia Rail. A Sharp-shinned Hawk was patrolling the area. The other special birds were a Carolina Wren that made quite a racket over an interloping cat and a Blue-headed Vireo in the pecans by the residence. We also had a Brown Thrasher and about 10 Hermit Thrush. A female Indigo Bunting was reported, but the one we found had enough blue in the tail that it was probably a male. Six Mile Dam was pretty quiet, but did have 3 Harris's Hawks, a Great Egret and two Black-crowned Night-Heron. Nearby one Long-billed Curlew flew over the road.
| While at Rattlesnake Springs, we saw an attractive, purplish-red damselfly. We only got this rather blurred photo, but would appreciate any help with its identification. We think it is probably Hetaerina americana, American Rubyspot, but are no experts with the Odonata. |
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The morning of Oct. 28, the wind was so strong at Lake Avalon that it was difficult to identify birds on the water between vibration of our scope and the chop on the lake, but by noon it was calm. We also visited Brantley Lake where most of the ducks were quite distant, but we saw one Eared Grebe, 4 Western Grebe, 1 Turkey Vulture (the only one we saw in NM), 1 Snow Goose, 1 Rough-legged Hawk and 8 Sandhill Cranes that flew over, calling. In alfalfa fields between the lakes we saw over 100 Horned Larks and about 20 American Pipits. At twilight, about 6:30 MDT, in Carlsbad at W. Pierce & Canal, we saw two nighthawks flying overhead, probably Common Nighthawks with very pointed wings.
We tried Lake Avalon at 7:45 am on Oct. 29 when there was no wind, though it picked up a lot later. We didn't find anything unusual among the ducks, but did have groups of 9 and 4 Sandhill Cranes. Then we went southeast of town to look through the irrigated fields with various stages of alfalfa. One group of fields was recently flooded bare dirt where there were Killdeer and a few Least Sandpipers and we found a flooded field with tall alfalfa in which at least 12 Long-billed Curlew landed only to disappear in the vegetation meaning more could have been there. There were more larks and pipits and many Chihuahuan Ravens. We also checked the salt lake along NM 128, but found no birds along it.
Heading back into town, we took Grandi Road to get back to Six Mile Dam, but had to stop to watch ravens, a group of at least 100 which we first spotted high in the sky, which came down, many landing briefly, before continuing on to the southwest. By this time there were rather strong southwest winds. A Prairie Falcon came across the road there too. Again there was little activity at Six Mile Dam, though a Sharp-shinned Hawk came low over the dam. Following the Pecos back toward town, we found another Prairie Falcon and two Osprey. Other hawks for the day were 4 Northern Harrier, 2 Harris's Hawk, 1 Red-tailed Hawk and 5 American Kestrel. We looked for hawk movement from the house, but saw nothing, but in the afternoon when we visited Carlsbad Cemetery, a third Prairie Falcon for the day was flying along the perimeter carrying prey.
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