041720 Fallout Hits Boomer Lake

041420                                              Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

This beauty is the Oklahoma state bird.  It is a neotropical migrant that spends our winters in balmy Central and South America.  When it is time to return the the US and builds its nests, it surprises us with some of the things that it builds with--cigarette filter papers, soft plastic sheathing, paper, cloth, and carpet fibers.  One can even observe this bird speeding by in a car with those bright colors and long tail.

041720                                                         Bald Eagle

There were two eagles at the lake this morning, a cold, windy and heavily cloudy day.  When the barometer was heading up since last night, it made sense that birds were going to be on visiting today.  That was an understatement.  The lake was filled with hundreds of birds, including Ruddy Ducks, rafts of Pied-billed Grebes, American Avocets,  Blue-winged Teal, and American Coots, just to name a handful.

                                                                American Avocets

When I began scanning the lake with binoculars, there was a lot there.  At first, it appeared that there were sixty of these birds, with a Bald Eagle sitting on Shorebird Jetty.  It surprised me that it was not a mobil raptor.  Perhaps it was awed by the sheer numbers of birds that it had a choice to dine upon.  A second eagle was over my head fifteen minutes later, the previous photo.  By the time the avocets were flushed (the eagles never even got near them), the counter in my head went off to show 85 birds, a definite species record at this lake.

                                                        American Avocets, View 2

This view of the avocets shows them right in front of me as they're winging their way across the lake, which was their sixth pass.  It was impossible to get all birds in one frame.

                                                                 Spotted Sandpiper

There were two Spotted Sandpipers that have been in the area since late March, unusual for that early in the season.  Once they have arrived, they'll not turn around to head south again, so they're making the best of it, even though they are not happy with the weather.  These sandpipers are easy to identify, as they bob when they walk, no matter what plumage they are wearing.

                                                                 Baird's Sandpiper

A lone Baird's Sandpiper was here several days ago, two of them near one another.

                                                             Baird's Sandpiper both ends,
                                                        Semipalmated Sandpaper in center

As I headed west on Shorebird Jetty, I counted seven, two of them here with a Semipalmated Sandpiper sandwiched in the center.  All of them were moving and will not all look at the camera.

There was also a Lesser Yellowlegs, another having been here last week.  A Willet had been in the area earlier, but I stationed myself at Heron Cove where I managed thirty species alone.

The Hudsonian and Marbled Godwits were found elsewhere this morning in Payne County.  We also entertain the Buff-breasted Sandpiper in the area, too.