Mississippi Kite
Forster's Tern
Mallard Pair, Male on Right
"The Guardian"
Mississippi Kite in a Stoop
First Year Great Blue Heron
Ditto
Ditto
August 2018
This is material from the first half of the month. As you can see, the stars of the show are the Mississippi Kites, some of whom in Oklahoma lost fledglings out of various nests due to several violent storms over the past few weeks. It is also believed that excessive heat was also a factor, perhaps causing some of the birds to vacate the nests whether or not they were ready. A number of Blue Darters have been in the care of our local rehabilitator in Perkins. To learn more about the Mississippi Kite, read the species profile here:
https://debhirt.blogspot.com/2018/07/oklahoma-breeding-bird-species-profile_21.html
A few days ago, after another round of storms, one also with sixty mph wind gusts, brought us seven
Forster's Terns. The one above is a breeding adult. Granted the photo is not the best, but you should note the trailing edges on the wings. Not only is this beautiful, you can distinguish breeding terns by this characteristic.
The Mallard pair also struck me as a beautiful scene, so I also bring you that photo. I shall later refer to it as The Guardian. I believe it appears that the male is guarding the female.
The Great Blue Heron is a first year bird, hatched at our local rookery. One can observe the dark blue coloring coming in, as well as dappled tan and white shoulder patches, or epaulets. The chest and belly are also lightly streaked, and the legs are gray and green, also a juvenile characteristic.
Migration is upon us, so dust off those binoculars and share your migrants through eBird.
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