Some birds of Oklahoma

Here’s a Tufted Titmouse waiting for its turn at the blackoil sunflower seeds. In the winter they form a feeding group with the nuthatch, and chickadees. They will hunt for nuts and fruit together, which is pretty cool to watch.The Belted Kingfishers are everywhere lately. Every time we visit the lake we see at least one. A lot of the time I hear them first, although they have a very distinct shape.  The Yellow-rumped Warbler is one of our winter guests. Some people call them butter butts because of the yellow feathers on its rump. In this photo, you can see the yellow on its rump as well as on its side. They flit around the trees looking for insects and any remaining fruit. At Lake Thunderbird, here in Norman OK, there are wild persimmon trees. Not only do the Warblers like them the Cedar Waxwings and Robins find them easy eats in the winter. My sister-in-law is going to try to grow a persimmons tree. I’ll keep you updated on this adventure.

Woodpeckers at the Cross Timbers

So I have a new term for where I’ve been going birding for years. A  local photographer called it the “Cross Timbers”, hell, I was calling it Lake Thunderbird. Cross Timbers sounds so mysterious…So I did a little research. The Cross Timbers stretch from Southeast Kansas through Oklahoma and into North Texas. Washington Irving and other early travelers through this area are credited with giving this area its name. Alrighty then….Here is a Red-headed Woodpecker, it is an immature one. It’s just starting to get its red head. I think it has a piece of wood in its mouth.We’ve been seeing a lot of Northern Flickers (Red-shafted) lately. Here in Oklahoma we get both the red and yellow shafted flickers.This is where we see most of the flickers, on the ground, hunting for treats. They are very photogenic. These are the Yellow-shafted Northern Flickers.

Today I saw a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker for the first time this season. A few years ago we were seeing tons of them on our bird walks. It was actually pretty thrilling.

More from the Cross Timbers soon….

Dark-eyed Junco

We get to enjoy the Dark-eyed Junco during the winter months. In fact, they’re usually the first bird of winter that we see. Out of all the Sparrows I like the Junco the best… with a close second being the Lark Sparrow.

The photo above was taken yesterday at our local lake. There were a dozen, or so, Juncos in a tree. The birds were gathering to roost for the night. They all took off ( like they do) with their high-pitched call and this is the image I caught. We have such great birds here and are on the pathway of fall and spring migration.

More photos to come….

Roadrunner in Oklahoma

I love our Roadrunners. When I first see them running around they always remind me of dinosaurs. They’re here in Oklahoma year round. When I take groups out birding it is always thrilling to point them out.

 This little guy was busy drinking and hunting for lunch.

There was also a couple of Killdeer hanging around the edge of the lake. This is Lake Thunderbird. It is the closest lake to where I live and I enjoy going birding there. Living in central Oklahoma we get a lot of migrating birds.

I love this lake….And Oklahoma!

Painting Buntings, snakes, and Cardinals

Here is a Painted Bunting I saw while watching a snake in a Cardinal nest.

The Bunting came in, as well as a Mockingbird and an Oriole…As if they wanted to help. The poor Cardinal pair we really going crazy. I felt really bad for the Cardinals.

Here is the snake. The upper 1/4th of the snake was in the nest. The snake was a bit lumpy so I am assuming it was full of chicks.

Poor Cardinals.

Scissor-tailed Flycatchers

The Scissor-tailed Flycatchers are everywhere here in Oklahoma. This Flycatcher is our state bird…And is an amazing bird!

I see a little silhouette of a bird…

During the last ice storm I caught this little guy having just visited the feeder. Here he is eating a seed.

Reflections of….

This cute Killdeer was on the hunt for treats and eats. It was at the archery range at the lake (Lake Thunderbird). Often times I will see butterflies at the puddles taking in the sodium and minerals that the male will then pass to the females…
I was hoping to see a Bunting today…but alas, it was not in the cards.

Indigo Bunting…oh yeah!

This is not the best shot…..But it is an Indigo Bunting! There

are a lot of sightings of the buntings around town. I was lucky

to see this one at the lake.

First visitor to the grape jelly

I put out grape jelly in anticipation of the Orioles.

Check out who decided to give the jelly a try!

It is always exciting to see other birds eating the grape jelly.

I have yet to see an Oriole, but I am sure they are on their way.