080623. SNP Edition, Life at Boomer Lake

https://www.stwnewspress.com/news/lifestyles/life-at-boomer-lake-looking-out-for-bugs-and-birds/article_c5dd3a44-3239-11ee-80db-ab1585e163f6.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.

071419 SNP Edition, Life at Boomer Lake

https://www.stwnewspress.com/news/life-at-boomer-lake-cicadas-cuckoos-making-their-presences-felt/article_59ceec1c-a444-11e9-894d-bbaedd090c73.html

Oklahoma Vagrants: Black-billed Cuckoo

More uncommon than local in woods with willows or alder and dense undergrowth, the Black-billed Cuckoo is believed to inhabit more of Oklahoma in the dense woods than originally thought.  While migrating in both spring and fall, the species can be found occasionally in the southern states.  Generally found east of the Rocky Mountains, they can also be observed in Canada.  Winter ranges are in the southwestern part of South America in humid tropical forests.

This is a slender cuckoo with a dark and decurved thin bill with small white spots on the gray-brown tail.  It is just as large as the Yellow-billed Cuckoo, and much shyer.

This elusive bird can be heard both day and night, skulking around concentrated forests and thickets.  They actually favor a wide range of habitat, most commonly located around edges of mixed or mature deciduous forests.  Abandoned farmland or parks can even be appealing to them as long as they can be well hidden and along the outskirts of these locations with a source of water.




            Black-billed Cuckoo
         High Island, Texas 2015

As many cuckoos are obligate brood parasites, this cuckoo incubates its own.  Chicks have sparse white down contrasting with dark skin.  They also have wart-like protuberances on the tongue and in the mouth, but that is normal for the species.

First seen at Rose Lake in 1976, the Black-billed Cuckoo made an appearance most recently at the Illinois River east of Tahlequah in May of 2018.  There have been several other sightings between the first and last notation.

During outbreaks of the gypsy moth, the Black-billed Cuckoo seems more abundant, as they tend to flock toward these areas, especially during breeding bird surveys.  They also show a predisposition for webworms, cicadas, and tent caterpillars.

During a tent caterpillar outbreak, they lay eggs earlier, could produce larger clutches, and may even behave more in an obligate parasite manner.  Not only will females lay eggs in the nests of other Black-billed Cuckoos, but they will also lay eggs as interspecific parasites, by choosing other species of songbirds.

092318 SNP Edition, Life at Boomer Lake

http://www.stwnewspress.com/news/lifestyles/life-at-boomer-lake-local-bird-roundup/article_a01990f8-120a-56f6-9b35-bd07e09d7420.html

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.