062523 SNP Edition, Life at Boomer Lake

https://www.stwnewspress.com/news/lifestyles/life-at-boomer-lake-when-nature-bounces-back-so-do-birds/article_c904377c-111e-11ee-9d01-67e351b6de07.html 

Nature, Birds, and Mammals of Payne County and Boomer Lake in July 2019

                                                                    Webworms

                                                                  American Lotus

                                                           Scissor-tailed Flycatcher



071319
0700-0744/79-81 degrees/partly cloudy/E-5/76-75% RH/29.99 Hg and steady

Webworm shot was taken in Perkins across the street from an old sandpit where were found a family of Killdeer and heard an American Bittern.  We went to several locations to find a part of a heron colony, a Yellow-billed Cuckoo (rain crow or storm crow as it is called in the South) trying to hide, and a wonderful pond in Perkins that may get a Wood Duck pair in the winter that only stay a day or two.  This pond had several songbirds, including an Eastern Phoebe.  We also discovered a portion of a Great Blue Heron and Egret Colony with several adult birds.  A visit was also paid to Ghost Hollow for Indigo and Painted Buntings that were everywhere on our journey, as well as the Blue Grosbeak.  What a day!

                                                       Green Heron and New Nestlings

072119
0716-0848/79-83 degrees (feels like 86)/partly cloudy/S-12/71-69% RH/29.91 Hg and rising

This was the first day that I noticed that the eggs had finally hatched and clutch 3 had tiny nestlings.  At the time, it was unknown how many there were.

                                                            Green Heron (Below)
                                                         Nestlings in Nest (Above)



072219
0706-0840/77-78 degrees/variable clouds/N-12/77% RH/30.05-30.07 Hg and steady

This was the day that three Green Heron nestlings were observed at Boomer Lake's Heron Cove.

                                                            Green Heron Adult (Right)
                                                                 with Nestlings (Left)

072319
0718-0809/69-72 degrees/clear/NNE-9/67-65% RH/30.24-30.21 H and rising

The following day, we observed the back of the adult and the pile of young behind.

                                                                 Eastern Phoebe



072519
0719-0825/70-75 degrees/partly cloudy/S-6/65-63% RH/30.14 Hg and steady to 30.17 Hg and rising

Today we had both the adult and a juvenile Eastern Phoebe learning the ways of the world.

                                                               Baby Opossum #1

                                                                Baby Opossum #2

                                                          Three Green Heron Nestlings
                                                                         Clutch 3



072619
0709-0807/72-74 degrees/partly cloudy/S-8/59-58% RH/30.13 Hg and rising to 30.12 Hg and steady

Melissa and her dog found three young opossums that she couldn't wait to show me.  Upon our return, we found Tracy, who was standing guard with them, as she feared that they would wander in the road.  Tracy brought them to the Perkins Road Veterinary Clinic at request of our local animal rehabilitator.  It was thought that something happened to their mother, and they wandered from the nest due to hunger.  The third little one appeared to be sick and hid by a telephone pole, but the others seemed quite healthy.

Two of the nestling Green Herons were standing on the nest with an adult not far away.

Green Herons Pump Up the Volume On Exercise

             
                                                                 Green Heron Adult

                                                                Green Heron Nestlings

                                                        Green Heron Nestlings, View 2

                                                         Green Heron Nestlings, View 3

                                                             Adult Green Heron, View 2


060319

0728-0830/74-76 F/mostly cloudy/SSE-6/76-77% RH/30.02-30.03 Hg and steady

Green Heron adult has been showing the nestlings how to get around the nest tree, which is a prelude to flight.  This causes them to strengthen muscles, especially the legs and feet, which will be used for grasping branches and holding on while moving through the tree.

                                                            Green Heron Nestlings


060419

0730-0825/71 F/mostly to partly cloudy/S-9/83-84% RH/30.01-30.00 Hg and steady

Very little action to report today.  Writer was out at Boomer Lake shortly after the early morning rain ended.  The only notable event was hearing the Yellow-billed Cuckoo (known as the rain crow or storm crow in the South.)

                                                     One Nestling Becomes a Brancher

                                                         Green Heron Nestling, View 2

                                             One Brown Thrasher Nesting On Heron Cove

                                                   Eldest Green Heron Branches Furthest

                                                 Three Branchers--Look For Two on Left

                                                       Close Up of a Brancher On Left

                                                         Youngest Green Heron in Nest


060519

0705-0816/74-78 F/partly cloudy/SW-6/83-80% RH/29.93-29.95 H and steady

The adult Green Heron gave another lesson to the young in navigating the tree, and they used the time to go further.  This will also teach them how to find an egress to snags in the water when the time is right.

A Brown Thrasher nest has been finished and it appears that the female is now incubating eggs.  It also seems like there are three nesting pairs of thrashers on Heron Cove.

Oklahoma Breeding Bird Species Profile: Yellow-billed Cuckoo

More often heard than seen, the Yellow-billed Cuckoo has a call that will not be confused with another bird.  Its loud and harsh kuk-kuk-kuk-kukk-kowp-kowp in staccato, lends the sound of a much larger bird than it is.

In a good year for webworms, this cuckoo is found everywhere in deciduous trees, waiting for the webbed nests of the fall webworm.  Uncommon in wooded areas near water, in second-growth forest along riparian corridors, and in willow or cottonwood groves, the good sized, thin bird often sits upon a limb in silence.

The yellow orbital ring and the yellow bill with the white throat, breast, and belly with the large white tips on the black feathers easily give its identity away.  From the top of its head to the end of its tail, it measures a good foot.

An Oklahoma summer resident, it relishes in caterpillars, which it finds on twigs and within leaves.

During nesting time, both members of the pair incubate and brood the young.  Second clutches are not out of the ordinary, and the young will wander around the branches before they become flighted.

Surprisingly, rain crows or storm crows as they are known in the South, are rather gregarious, sometimes in the area of other birds, such as the American Robin, out in the open and foraging on the ground in shaded areas.  Many of my sightings have been with this bird out in the open.

The cuckoo had been in a steep decline until the past few years when its loss of habitat by farmland and development caused much consternation.  It was hardest hit in the extreme western regions causing near extirpation.  These long distance migrants are also very susceptible to collision with manmade structures.  It has proven to be an excellent candidate for habitat restoration, which only takes a few years.

Mississippi Kites Come to Boomer Lake!

                                                                  Adult Green Heron

                                                                 Yellow-billed Cuckoo
                                                              (rain crow or storm crow)

                                                             Juvenile Mississippi Kite

                                                                         Ditto

                                                             Adult Mississippi Kite

                                                                     Ditto, a Day Later



080717 through 081917

Photos were few and far between due to high heat indices.  Quite simply, neither the birds nor I were out for any more than necessary.

As tropical as our state bird, the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher is, it has taken refuge elsewhere, as have the kingbirds.  These things happen.

But, by the same token, Mississippi Kites have come out of the neighborhoods and others are beginning to head south.  As a matter of fact, on Friday, we had nine of them at Boomer Lake, the greatest number that I have ever seen.  They were perching between a large oak and an even larger bald cypress tree on the southeast corner of the lake.

I had three juveniles in a tree with an adult.  As you can see, one of the juveniles was looking right at me.  Originally, I only saw the adult, and a passerby happened to see one of the juveniles perched over the adult's head.  I then scanned the tree and located the other two.  The youngster facing me was quite vocal, so that bird was easy to find.

I saw a juvenile Mississippi Kite in the air last year, but was unable to obtain a good photo due to the deflection of the sunlight.  This year's shots were so much better, including a shot of my juvenile calling the familiar, "PEE-teeeerrrrr!"  Notice the first shot of the juvenile with its beak open.

Other shots include the Yellow-billed Cuckoo from Boomer Creek on Aug. 11.  I saw my first juvenile Red-headed Woodpecker out there, too, but the photo is poor.  I believe that bird was hatched here, as it was still in the company of a parent.

There Is Plenty of Light on Boomer Lakefront

                                                               Yellow-billed Cuckoo

                                                                   Green Heron Pair

                                                                       Green Heron

                                                               Female Orchard Oriole

                                                                   Canada Gosling

                                                                     Least Flycatcher

                                                                Female Orchard Oriole

                                                                        Ditto

                                                                  Great-tailed Grackle                                                              
                                                   
       

                                                          Female Red-winged Blackbird

                                                                    Great Blue Heron

                                                             Prothonotary Warbler

                                                           Scissor-tailed Flycatchers

                                                                Green Heron on Nest

                                                                 Male Orchard Oriole

                                                                    Least Flycatcher

                                                                     Great Blue Heron


05-22 through 05-26-17

This was an impressive workweek, as far as I am concerned.  The trumpet vine bush on Boomer
Lake's east side is nearly in full bloom, which invited the Orchard Orioles that nest nearby to partake.
They have nested in the area for years, most likely because this bush exists there, as well as the fact that their site is in the willows by the water, which really attracts a number of good birds to its habitat.

Another wonderful piece of habitat is Heron Cove and the surrounding area, which has native trees, mulberries, and plenty of wetland habitat, which attracts my beautiful Heron colony.  Right now, there are two pairs of Green Herons there, which perturbs my Great Blue Heron.  He just doesn't have the freedom to come and go as he pleases, but he really does accommodate his Green Heron cousins quite well.

Our usual suspects also enjoy the area, which includes the grackles, blackbirds, warblers, flycatchers, warblers, and when in the area, the catbirds.

Boomer Creek also has dense habitat for those birds that prefer those kinds of areas, like the breeding birds, the shy Yellow-billed Cuckoo, this year's first Least Bittern, and a good group of migratories when they come through.

There are still a few more photos in the camera, which I will save until a later date.  These include a few that are a bit on the unusual side, but I'm sure that you'll be pleased.

Until then, enjoy your own private birding areas, and as always, let me know what you are observing.

Waiting and Watching For Clutch 4

                                                               Green Heron 1st Summer

                                                           Green Heron Chick, Clutch 3

                                                       Green Heron Juvenile, Clutch 2

                                                Followed By Green Heron Chick, Clutch 3

                                                  Another Green Heron Chick, Clutch 2

                                                            Green Heron Chick, Clutch 3

                                                        1st Summer Green Heron Feeding
                                                         Green Heron Juvenile, Clutch 2

                                                                       Second in Series

                                                                         Third in Series

                                                                         Fourth in Series

                                                                      Fifth in Series

                                                                      Sixth in Series
                                                                 "Escape Successful"

                                     

                                                         Green Heron Chicks, Clutch 3

                                                              1st Summer Green Heron

                                                                            Ditto

                                                                Yellow-billed Cuckoo
                                                              (rain crow or storm crow)

                                                            Green Heron Chick, Clutch 2

                                                     Green Heron Chick, Clutch 2 Bird 2


07-15-16
0742-0910 hrs./71-75 degrees F/partly cloudy/light NE winds/81% RH

It appears that we MIGHT just have two 1st summer birds helping the adults with their
first two clutches this season.  There's a good chance that I have been seeing two birds and
assuming that it is one, but I have a slight clue with photos that I am observing more than one.  I have put two photos side-by-side and there is what appears to be a slight difference in ages.  Naturally, I will be watching more, but there is a high probability that this is a correct assumption, which would explain how two birds could handle all those feedings.  Doing feedings is very strenuous work, as I indicated in the previous post.

The weather has cooled down a bit in the morning, so clutch 3 has been more active.  The fact that their feathers are growing rapidly and filling in also protects them from the suns rays, and they have been interacting more with clutch 2.  They are also noticing more, and the eldest has been getting around to nearby trees, as well as obtaining his/her own food.  The other two have been relying on being fed, but feedings are slowing down in view of the fact that more young birds are on the way.

Clutch 2 birds have also been exploring the immediate area, as well as going fishing with older
birds and adults, so they are progressing as they should.  It also appears that they are trying to learn and help out with soon-to-fledge youngsters, which will help them next year with their own babies.

The last two photos are of two of the clutch 2 birds in the rear of their birth location.  The Yellow-billed Cuckoo was also seen and heard in this area, along with the Red-bellied Woodpecker and
several yellow-shafted Northern Flickers.  A couple of Warbling Vireos have been heard and occasionally seen out here, too, in this wonderfully rich deciduous tree locale.