Showing posts with label Franklin's Gulls. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Franklin's Gulls. Show all posts
Sunday, November 27, 2022
Sunday, October 28, 2018
Sunday, April 15, 2018
Monday, April 9, 2018
Boomer Lake's Year of the Bird
Common Loon
Franklin's Gulls Amid Ring-billed Gulls
Purple Martin
Double-crested Cormorant
Adult in Breeding Plumage (head tufts)
Eastern Bluebird
Brown Thrasher (FOY)
Northern Mockingbird
Greater White-fronted Geese
Close Up Greater White-fronted Goose
04-07 - 04-08-18
This was the weekend that is proving that winter birds meet spring birds, and it was amazing.
The main winter birds were both the Common Loon and The Greater White-fronted Goose, neither of which are here the entire winter. Both usually pop on by either in the midst of the coldest part of the winter, or while in transit to their northern breeding grounds, and none of the pictures show the birds well due to the distance. Both species tend to be in the middle of the lake, but not this year. As you can see, both of them were fairly close. This was the first time that the Greater White-fronted Goose has come onto land, and it is about two weeks late on its breeding territory. I assume that the adult male waited for the juvenile female to grow in most of her adult plumage and they will be northbound shortly. This now makes her a second year bird.
The Franklin's Gulls are migratory birds, breeding on either side of the US/Canadian border.
The Purple Martins began trying to settle in last weekend.
If you look closely on the head of the Double-crested Cormorant, you'll note its namesake crests, which denotes a breeding age bird.
The Eastern Bluebird breeds in Oklahoma and stays with us year round, just like the Northern Mockingbird.
This Brown Thrasher showed up on Saturday, as did the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and the Scissor-tailed Flycatchers.
There will be many more birds to see as time progresses.
Sunday, March 25, 2018
Put Hackberry Flats in Tillman County, OK On Your Birding List
03-24-18 Hackberry Flats WMA/Tillman County, OK
1037-1600 hrs./69-82 F/partly cloudy
Male Cinnamon Teal
Eared Grebe Approaching Breeding Plumage
Eared Grebe (Front) Showing Size
Difference in Comparison to Ruddy Duck
Cinnamon Teal Showing Characteristic
Speculum Coloring
Juvenile White-crowned Sparrow
(Last Year's Late Hatch)
Golden Eagle (Larger Bird)
03-25-18 Boomer Lake Park, Stillwater, OK
1127-1239/53-29 F/partly to mostly cloudy/E-13/75-72% RH/29.87-29.91 Hg and steady
Franklin's Gulls Highlighted Among
Ring-billed Gulls
Franklin's Gull (Second Plumage View)
Five Franklin's Gulls Showing Plumage Attributes
Hackberry Flats is the first set of photos, followed by three photos of Franklin's Gulls the following day.
Hackberry is about four hours from Stillwater, unless one chooses Rte. 44, which we did not do on the way. Consequently, we got there on the late side, but that could well have worked in our favor.
We had an exemplary day, as we observed several things of interest, but we were unable to locate a Snowy Plover which had been reported for a couple of days.
Not only did we see a Great Horned Owl at 1500 hrs. on an electrical pole, we managed a Golden Eagle, also observed on an electrical pole. We both got shows of its underside, which proved beyond a shadow of a doubt what we had. As a matter of fact, this is such a rare record, because the only other sightings listed on eBird were two others in February 2017.
It was an outstanding day, as many shore/water/wading birds tend to change as often as teens change their clothing. For that reason we visited the waterways a few times in order to maximize what we could list on eBird.
Leaving the Stillwater residence, I was not expecting such a spectacular day, since barometric pressure was flat, but all in all, the four hour drive was well worth it.
It was my first time at Hackberry, as it was another birder's, but the third person had been there before.
Do I recommend this location? Absolutely! It is hard to plan great birding, especially if one has never been to a location, but it was encouraging due to the fact that this is a wetland. It is in
pristine condition, which makes it a good spot for wildlife, knowing that it remains unspoiled by humanity.
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