Showing posts with label Migration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Migration. Show all posts
Saturday, October 21, 2023
Saturday, October 14, 2023
Saturday, September 23, 2023
Saturday, September 16, 2023
Sunday, March 28, 2021
Sunday, March 8, 2020
Sunday, October 20, 2019
Monday, October 8, 2018
Sunday, September 30, 2018
Sunday, September 23, 2018
Monday, September 17, 2018
Friday, September 14, 2018
End of Summer Birding Fun in Central Oklahoma
Bald Eagle
Neotropic Cormorant
One of this year's young Green Herons
Juvenile Belted Kingfisher
Hovering Belted Kingfisher
Same Belted Kingfisher
Molting Mallard Drakes
August 31 - September 14, 2018
It was a cooler, cloudier, and wetter month, mostly due to Atlantic hurricanes and tropical storms, namely Gordon, which caused a lot of damage on the east coast. Sadly, Florence reared her ugly head and caused some deaths before she turned into a tropical storm. May the people there recover from that devastating event.
Let this bring you all joy from the people of Oklahoma. There is a lot of beauty that we have to offer, and our birds are some of the birds that you also see during this time of year.
Migration is still happening, though slowly in these parts. It is suspected that some birds are taking a slightly different flight pattern, and there are some still raising young, as can be evidenced here at Boomer Lake Park with eggshells on the ground.
One of our Green Herons that was hatched this year is pictured above. It has grown into a good, healthy bird from what can be observed. There should still be another one or two around somewhere, unless they have already gone elsewhere. Since they are nomadic birds, it is possible that they have already headed south.
In the meanwhile, keep your feeders filled, as birds are moving south, including warblers and water and shorebirds. There is still much to be seen if you're in the right place at the right time.
It is true that much of the wild fruit on trees and shrubs has already been consumed. There are plenty of insects for food sources, as well as some wonderful fishing opportunities for birds that require sustenance.
Happy birding!
Tuesday, September 11, 2018
Birds of the Sea: Magnificent Frigatebird
Recently a visitor in Oklahoma over the past of couple of days, the Magnificent Frigatebird is a seabird that can stray or be a part of skip or possibly drift migration. Drift occurs due to storms which just occurred over the past week or thereabouts due to hurricanes and other tropical storms, however, that usually involves several birds, not singles, such as this sighting.
Another related factor regarding migratory events is called reverse migration, which usually happens with young birds. This occurs with individuals in isolated sightings, such as the frigatebird, which had seen twice and could very remotely be the same individual that was at Lake Carl Blackwell in June. Since so much time had elapsed between the sightings, the probability that this was the same bird is doubtful.
Obviously, these are remarkable observations when it comes to seabirds, yet they would be most common, even though a rare occurrence. Not only have we seen Magnificent Frigatebirds twice over tropical weather systems, there has also been a Brown Booby that ventured here right around the same period of another weather event.
The Magnificent Frigatebird will occur between northern Mexico and Ecuador on the Pacific coast, as well as between Florida and southern Brazil on Atlantic coastal waters.
Being the species that it is, the Magnificent Frigatebird usually takes flying fish which are easy to obtain when in flight, and indulges in kleptoparasitism with other birds. It will force other species to physically regurgitate a meal by throwing them off balance with a spinning motion or pecking at their heads, and thus forcing them to throw up the contents of their stomach through gravity. They will them grab the meal before it hits water.
Magnificent Frigatebird Juvenile
copyright, Cody L. Barnes
Breeding colonially in mangroves in both the Caribbean and Florida, as well as on the Pacific coast side of the Americas between Mexico and Ecuador, these seabirds have also been noted as vagrants in British Columbia and Europe.
As some seabirds do, the frigatebird will rely on updrafts to migrate, spending day and night on the wing, and it is silent while in flight.
When it is time for Pacific Ocean weather systems, it will be the best to also watch those events. Since we are in the central part of the country, there's no telling what else could turn up in Oklahoma, like perhaps, the Laysan Albatross.
Also See Story On Brown Booby Seen Recently in Oklahoma:
https://debhirt.blogspot.com/2018/09/birds-of-sea-brown-booby.html
Wednesday, September 5, 2018
Oklahoma Breeding Bird Species Profile: Louisiana Waterthrush
Having a sweet, clear and musical song, this uncommon bird seeks standing water undergrowth in wood swamps where bald cypress, cottonwood, tupelo, weeping willow, etc. are found. The migrants of spring will be within dense brush adjacent to water. These are one of the early birds in spring to arrive, and they look for bubbling springs in the remotest of habitat to perch to sing their lovely, lilting song.
This thrush-like new world warbler breeds in the eastern part of Oklahoma, enjoying many wet areas. It it has a plain brown back with a white belly and a streaked breast with buff flanks. The bright white eyebrow will separate this bird from the almost identical Northern Waterthrush, which also is seen in the area in summer. It bobs while it walks, like the Spotted Sandpiper.
https://debhirt.blogspot.com/2018/08/oklahoma-breeding-bird-species-profile_15.html
Louisiana Waterthrush
High Island Texas, 2015
When establishing territory, the male will sing nonstop, but when he finds a mate, his singing is then restricted to the morning. Breeding habitat is near running water and dense vegetation to build a nest in a mud bank, in a rock crevice or within roots of trees. This behavior is very similar to the American Dipper. https://debhirt.blogspot.com/2018/07/species-profile-american-dipper.html
The warbler forages in leaf litter seeking ground insects, or salamander and small fish if the insects are rare. They also depend upon flies, aquatic insects, and mollusks.
They are a declining species due to loss of habitat, channelization of rivers, impounding streams to create reservoirs, and pollution. It is also threatened by logging, excessive irrigation, urbanization, and gas drilling.
Monday, September 3, 2018
Sunday, September 2, 2018
Sunday, August 19, 2018
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