110825 SNP Edition, Life at Boomer Lake

https://stwnewspress-cnhi.newsmemory.com/?publink=0d2210d86_134fc08&fbclid=IwY2xjawN8yx9leHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeOuF0zc7T2DYbXLtvOUOsdlG5oCntbS2UBigaGNICIh8s2pb5IKSJyI4YDbk_aem_uS66HUhh11D1zdZC64FCUg 

123121. SNP Edition, Life At Boomer Lake

https://www.stwnewspress.com/news/lifestyles/life-at-boomer-lake-where-are-all-the-songbirds/article_7d010a18-68fe-11ec-a58f-433ea5b732dd.html 

072520 Muskogee Edition, Birding Today

https://www.muskogeephoenix.com/news/birding-today-take-care-of-bird-feeders-for-healthy-birds/article_4808abec-d011-5734-97dd-071054097d54.html

072819 Muskogee Edition, Birding Today

https://www.muskogeephoenix.com/news/lifestyles/birding-today-feeding-birds-doesn-t-hurt-them/article_443206b8-73f3-52af-8a3d-ab91daa185ae.html

Birding On a Shoestring: The Final Frontier On Southeast Arizona

                                                                       Cassin's Finch

                                                             Magnificent Hummingbird

                                                  Wild Turkey (Southwestern Subspecies)

  

                                         
                                                               Hammond's Flycatcher

                                                     Wild Turkey (Southwestern Subspecies)

                                                                                Lizard

                                                                         Elf Owl

                                                                      Ground Squirrel

                                                                        Gray Fox

                                                              Lucy's Warbler

This was the final several days of an exciting two weeks in southeastern Arizona.  If nothing else,
I learned that not all species that I wanted to see were available.  On other trips, I'm hoping for the
Elegant Trogon, more hawks and owls, woodpeckers, chickadees, jays, and pit vipers, as well as the gila monster.

I'm pleased with the number of hummingbirds that I was able to locate and photograph, getting about half of them on my first trip.

The climate was drier, not making it seem as hot, and I met some wonderful people along the way that I will retain contact with.

A large part of what I learned was about a non-profit greenhouse that also employs disabled people.
They have the largest number of native plants for Arizona and their honor is for the top spot in the country.  It gives me hope that Oklahoma will be able to support their own native plant community,
and perhaps have many more native birds as a result.

Even though this was a working vacation, it gave me many of the species that I came for, including
a few extra.  This is just the beginning of more trips to Arizona, to learn more about the varied
ecosystems and how they all work together in order to achieve a common goal.

There are many of you, but for now, I wish to thank Carol and Paul, Skye, Nate and Amanda, Janine, and many, many others that made this a trip to never forget.

Most Notable Highlights of Our Second Day of Christmas Bird Count

                                                                 Great Blue Heron

                                                      Two Tom Turkeys with Hen
                                     

                                                    Two Tom Turkeys with Another Hen

                                                               Greater Roadrunner

                                                                       Steer


36-46 degrees/partly cloudy/light and variable winds/0730-1430

This was our second day of the Christmas Bird Count, and here are some of the notable mentions
on this date.  My highlight was the Greater Roadrunner, which I had first seen last spring.  This
character was posing for me today instead of running.  There was a ground of sixty turkeys seen first thing in the morning, and the displays were impressive.  There were only these two males among
females.  Last but not least, here are a few steer that happened to be in the area.