032226 SNP Edition, Life at Boomer Lake

 https://stwnewspress-cnhi.newsmemory.com/?publink=0cfb7e6c6_1352005&fbclid=IwY2xjawQsmJFleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEe6vtwXNZeQEb4_9S75iajlBx69E4mZb-yBrSYuzS63IAUbrqBa1toEh2hAE8_aem_33HRZHTKW9aq8-XgS0rYVw

011726 SNP Edition, Life at Boomer Lake

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011026 SNP Edition, Life at Boomer Lake

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110225 SNP Edition, Life at Boomer Lake

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122124 SNP Edition, Life at Boomer Lake

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113024 SNP Edition, Life at Boomer Lake

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011324 SNP Edition, Life at Boomer Lake

https://stwnewspress-cnhi.newsmemory.com?selDate=20240113&goTo=C002&artid=0&editionStart=The%20Stillwater NewsPress 

040823 SNP Edition, Life At Boomer Lake

https://www.stwnewspress.com/news/lifestyles/life-at-boomer-lake-when-birds-have-to-get-down-to-business/article_45b059f8-d3ef-11ed-b4cd-f3ea020e2470.html 

012923 SNP Edition, Life At Boomer Lake

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122719 Claremore Edition, Birding Today

https://www.claremoreprogress.com/news/lifestyles/birding-today-winter-birds-make-appearances/article_614795d8-28ed-11ea-9b20-37c4723e126d.html

Oklahoma Winter Bird Profile: Golden-crowned Kinglet

see-see-see-see-chit-chit

Even tinier than the Ruby-crowned Kinglet with a bold eye stripe and more gray-green, the Golden-crowned Kinglet is a bird of the conifers.  They tend to be in small groups in the company of Brown Creepers, chickadees and other woodland birds.

They have dark wings with two black patches beneath the second wingbar.  The only real difference between the male and the female is the color of the crown, should it be flared.  The female will show a yellow crown and the male sports red-orange in the center of his crown.

               

They can be found is a wide array of habitats, with the favorite being in the evergreens.  However, other possibilities are along tree-lined streams, in orchards, parks, lowland deciduous woodlands, as well as within the Ponderosa pine forest.

Their food includes tiny insects, spiders, sap, eggs under leaves, and they will take fruit occasionally.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Golden-crowned Kinglet

                                                                                              audubon.org

Another very energetic songbird like the Ruby-crowned Kinglet, this diminutive sprite is a Boreal Forest breeder, which usually manages two large broods (lays 8-9 eggs, sometimes as many as 11) per season, and has expanded its range to spruce-fir forests of the northern US.  Another bird expected to change its breeding habitat, to more northern regions due to climate change, this Boreal breeder usually stays high in the canopy, even in winter.  The species can handle -40 degree temperatures.

Each of the kinglet's nostrils are covered by a single feather.  Know the song, as it is difficult to observe with its constant movement, but it will respond to a pish.  However, never pish in the dead of winter, as this can cause a bird's well-being to suffer with the cold.

Kinglet is synonymous with crest.  The Golden- and Ruby-crowned Kinglets will sometimes hybridize.

A Portion of Christmas Bird Count, Northwest Payne County

                                                             Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

                                                                     Barred Owl

                                                                    Hermit Thrush

                                                             Golden-crowned Kinglet


12-30-17

1050-1610/19 F (wind chill 11F)/mostly cloudy with very light snow/NNE-8

This was a most fortuitous day, even though it was extremely cold and very cloudy.  When one is a
serious birder, the only thing that matters for Christmas Bird Count is that the barometric pressure be rising.  Today, it was.

With this being my first cold day out and about since hand surgery, I was slightly apprehensive, but we were car birding and that literally took the chill out of my apprehension.

When we got to our destination, we encountered a very light snow, which lasted the better part of this trip, which for all intents and purposes, I considered icing on the cake.  Serious birders know that certain things are a plus for birding and I knew this was going to be an incredible day.  Even though we were the last to sign up for the Audubon Christmas Bird Count, our area was not terribly desirable due to lack of bodies of water, weather conditions improved it.  When the barometer rises like it did, things rapidly change for the better.

Our day was excellent, not only for what we saw, but for what happened to make itself visible.  These
photos happen to show what I considered good birds for me, because the better part of these, I had been unable to photograph until today.  The shot of the Golden-crowned Kinglet isn't the usual quality that I hope for, but this shot took YEARS.  The Hermit Thrush doesn't usually make itself visible, so this was the first photo op that it ever gave me.  I had only heard it in the past.  This adult Yellow-bellied Sapsucker was the first adult that I have been privy to in such prime conditions.

My companions were equally as happy.  So when you have something to do when it comes to birding and the weather is not quite to your liking, you'd best get out there, because you could have missed those pictures that you have been trying to obtain for quite some time.  I'm glad that I did it.

By the way, my hand did quite well.