081918 Muskogee Edition, Birding Today

http://www.muskogeephoenix.com/news/lifestyles/birding-today-bird-migration-begins/article_78d125d4-2292-5507-b016-17e82aef1023.html

072218 SNP Edition, Life at Boomer Lake

http://www.stwnewspress.com/news/lifestyles/life-at-boomer-lake-searching-for-the-nesting-birds/article_2d171da9-9161-5321-8e60-ea8c6cc96d18.html

Not Often Seen Older Fledgling Barn Swallows

<script async src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script>

<script>

     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({

          google_ad_client: "ca-pub-7892160097444964",

          enable_page_level_ads: true

     });

</script>

                                                 Three of Four Barn Swallow Fledglings

                                                   Four of Four Barn Swallow Fledglings


06-22-18

0700-0841/73-78 F/partly to mostly cloudy/W-8/65-61% RH/29.94-29.95 Hg and rising

Not seen too often, these birds have been out of their mud nest under the Lakeview Rd. bridge
for a few days now.  These fledgling Barn Swallows can be identified by the white downy feathers
still on their bodies.  As they reach adulthood, they will have the long forked tail.  Notice the small tan forehead stripe, as opposed to an adult's dark forehead.

They had been perched on a snag near land off the sidewalk near the intersection of Lakeview Rd. and Husband St.

The high point of numbers for both Cliff and Barn Swallows are greatly lessening in numbers.  Both species only have one clutch per year.  These will be my only photos of juvenile Barn Swallows this year.

062418 SNP Edition, Life at Boomer Lake

http://www.stwnewspress.com/news/life-at-boomer-lake-avians-getting-lay-of-the-land/article_d3a2fc70-7715-11e8-a1a2-1f4083253fba.html

Green Herons Have Returned and Are Now Nest Building

                                                                   Green Heron

                                                             Yellow-rumped Warbler

                                                                 American Robin

                                                                        Mallard

                                                                  Blue-winged Teal
                                                                   Female in Front

                                                                Neotropic Cormorant

                                                                  Barn Swallow

                                                                   Northern Cardinal

                                                                      Barn Swallow

                                                                     Barn Swallows


04-16 to 04-22-17

This was a good week, too.  Perhaps it wasn't as much as last week for migratory action, but photo ops were still excellent, even though we did have rain and a couple of cloudy days.  It is to be expected.

The biggest news is that our Green Herons have moved back in at Heron Cove AND I noticed today that nest building is going on.  I actually photographed the nest this morning, as it can be seen being
built.  It is right over the water and high, which makes it perfect from where I stand to observe it on the berm.  The birds that returned are the elder birds, and there is at least one more in residence, but in another tree.  Isn't that exciting?  We could well have an early crop of Green Herons if conditions are right, so keep your fingers crossed!

Three Spotted Sandpipers were seen on Tuesday, once the fog cleared, of course.

A Sedge Wren has made an appearance at the lake, which only happened once before, but this year I heard the bird for two days now and actually got a glimpse of it this morning.  Perhaps it will stay long enough for me to have a photo.

Also today, there were four Clay-colored Sparrows at our beloved Boomer, three of whom are in the same area.  They breed in the northern states above us, as well as in the southern part of the Canadian provinces.  They are all recognized by their buzzing trills, which sound more insect-like, but they are heard easily enough, if not seen.  They don't try to stay concealed like our Sedge Wren, though.

My good fortune was also in the cards yesterday, when a couple of the Barn Swallows stopped to land.  They don't do this too often, which is why I was able to get some photos of them to show you what they look like standing still.  There were Cliff Swallows in the mix, but they were not as accommodating.  There was also a Tree Swallow, but that picture didn't turn out well with the cloud cover that kept interrupting.

There are still plenty of Yellow-rumped Warblers coming in from the south, and before we know it, our group will be leaving here for all points north in order to breed.   I think the best photo that I have of a male Yellow-rumped Warbler is in the above posting, so luckily I was able to do that this spring. When the warblers return in the fall, they are much duller looking, which is one of the hazards of the fall.

Looks like good weather is ahead, so hopefully there will be a few more things for me to show you in the near future.