Spring 2011 Kansas-Oklahoma-Missouri Birding Trip Summary

My 2011 birding vacation was a 7-day trip on May 3^rd through the 10^th through southeastern and central Kansas, northeastern and north-central Oklahoma, and southwestern Missouri.  The trip was timed to try to maximize landbird and water bird migrants, and included stops in the eastern edges of KS and OK to search for eastern landbirds in these central US states, and visits to some of the best shorebirding spots in the central US.  The objective of the trip was to work on my statelists, and by all accounts the trip was most successful with 128 new statebirds –

·         65 in KS, now barely over the ABA reporting threshold – my 37^th reportable state;

·         57 in OK, just 10 shy of reportable; and

·         6 in MO which puts me 15 over threshold and hopefully safely reportable for some time.

That gives me more than 12,000 total ticks (sum of my US state lists and Canada province lists).

Through birding a diverse mix of habitats including woodlands, wetlands, and prairies, I was able to tally 223 species.  Some species totals -

·         Waders – 12

·         Waterfowl – 19

·         Shorebirds – 27

·         Flycatchers – 13

·         Warblers – 27

·         Sparrows – 12

Landbird migrants were quite scarce on almost every day.  Exceptions were significant flocks of Baltimore Orioles found every day, numerous flocks of mixed sparrows some as large as 50 birds (principally Clay-colored, Chipping, Lark, Vesper), a scattering of warblers (the majority being Tennessee, Nashville, and “Myrtles”), and a small number of Swainson’s Thrushes at most every stop.

Over the 7-day period I found or refound 3 rarities –

·         Neotropical Cormorant – Salt Plains NWR in OK – reported there rather regularly (phonescoped)

·         California Gull – Cheyenne Bottoms in KS – one was reported there the previous week (phonescoped)

·         A silent Empidonax that I tentatively identified as a Dusky Flycatcher in Pittsburg, KS (see below)

Brief highlights of each day follow.

May 3^rd – Tuesday – Tulsa, OK

After arriving at the airport in the early afternoon, I birded nearby Oxley Nature Center, Mohawk Park, and Lake Yahola until 6 PM.  The birding was rather slow in general, though a few migrants were scattered through the park, principally Indigo Buntings everywhere, and several Swainson’s Thrushes and Lincoln’s Sparrows.  Highlights were a singing Cerulean Warbler, a singing Mourning Warbler, and 3 not-so-solitary Solitary Sandpipers (only ones in OK).  Added 11 statebirds.

Since birding was kind of slow I left early and headed over to Schermerhorn Park in Galena, KS for evening nightjars, but without success.

May 4^th – Wednesday – Southeast KS

Spent a full day birding in southeast Kansas with local birder Bob Mangile.  This corner of the state is well-known as the spot in Kansas for “southeastern” specialties like Pileated Woodpecker, Yellow-throated Warbler, Acadian Flycatcher, Kentucky Warbler, Prothonotary Warbler, Louisiana Waterthrush, etc.  Started before dawn at Schermerhorn Park (the best southeast KS landbird spot), with other stops at Baxter Springs and Riverton.  Got most all the local specialties and a handful of migrants at Schermerhorn including 2 Northern Waterthrushes, Fish Crow at every stop, and the only American Bittern of the trip at a small marsh at Baxter Springs.  Ended the day with 20 new KS statebirds. 

En route to Tahlequah, OK I added several Caspian Terns flying over a large reservoir and a Broad-winged Hawk for my OK list.  Also saw a flyover vulture that had the shape and size of a Turkey Vulture, but the last 1/3 of each wing was white.  I’m guessing a leucistic Turkey Vulture is more likely than a Turkey x Black hybrid.

May 5th – Thursday – Nickels Preserve and Spavinaw Lake Area, Northeastern Oklahoma

Nickels Preserve is a great Nature Conservancy property northeast of Tahlequah featuring extensive hardwood and mixed woodlands.  The site is well-known as one of the western-most locations for eastern woodland nesters like Wood Thrush, Scarlet Tanager, Acadian Flycatcher, Worm-eating Warbler, Pine Warbler, Yellow-throated Warbler, Louisiana Waterthrush, etc.  A second spot in the preserve has nesting Blue-winged and Prairie Warblers.  I birded Nickels in the morning with Mia Revels who knows the area like the back of her hand, and we were able to get nearly all the local targets, and a few migrants as well such as Least Flycatcher and Wilson’s Warbler.  Also had the first Chuck-Will’s-Widows of the trip.  Added 14 new statebirds.

Then spent the afternoon at the upper reaches of Spavinaw Lake adding several Redstarts and a Hooded Warbler (that sang just once in over an hour in the area).  Also finally added my first Eurasian Collared Dove for OK – my 31^st state for ECDO.  And had the only rain and in fact the only clouds during my entire trip.

A late evening stop back at Schermerhorn in KS (I said it was a great spot) had my only Gray-cheeked Thrush of the trip and my first Olive-sided Flycatcher.

May 6^th AM – Friday – Joplin, MO

Spent much of the morning around Joplin with local birder Dave Henness trying to fill a few gaps in my MO statelist.  Added 6 new birds – Bewick’s Wren, Yellow-crowned Night Heron (3 flyovers after missing them at numerous places in the river), Henslow’s Sparrow, Broad-winged Hawk, Worm-eating Warbler (a long shot following up on a sighting last May), and a singing Lincoln’s Sparrow.  Unfortunately I dipped on the stakeout Barn Owl.

Also had the only Ovenbird and Chestnut-sided Warblers for the trip.  Unfortunately I didn’t need either one for MO and needed both for OK and KS, though I was just a couple miles from the stateline!  Even worse, while driving back into Kansas I found a singing Bewick’s Wren less than ½ mile from KS – I never did get one in KS.

May 6^th PM – Friday – Pittsburg, KS

Spent much of the afternoon with Bob Mangile birding various Minded Land and other nearby locations.  Birding was quite slow, adding just 5 statebirds, including the first Bell’s Vireo of the trip (I love their song!).  The highlight was a silent Empidonax that gave us both excellent and long views, which I’m tentatively calling a Dusky Flycatcher (though I know how rare that one would be if it’s correct!).  Here’s the description – larger than Least, larger headed than Least, grayish chest, paler throat, yellowish-wash to the breast to the vent, greenish cast to the gray back, short wings ending near the base of the tail, bill was pale at base and dark otherwise, significant white eye ring which was a bit larger behind the eye, bold whitish wingbars, no tail or wing flicking.  Eliminated Least by being too large and too patterned below; eliminated Willow/Alder by being too patterned below and significant eye ring; eliminated Acadian by back not being greenish enough and again too patterned below; eliminated Yellow-bellied by not being yellow enough below.  The bird was in a narrow treeline along a roadside, and it stayed about 5-8 feet above the ground the entire time.  Sort of Dusky habitat, though of course a long way from its normal range.

Ended the evening with a 2^nd unsuccessful attempt at nightjars– they will have to wait for a future trip.

May 7^th – Saturday – Neosho WMA and Quivira NWR, KS

A tremendous day of landbirding and shorebirding, with 152 species, one of my highest single day counts!  Birded Neosho WMA near St. Paul, KS from dawn till 9:30 again with Bob Mangile, and in just 3 hours we compiled 100 species.  This site had a broad diversity of landbirds plus a few waterbirds mixed in.  A small fallout of migrants was evident at dawn, though most were unidentified flyovers.  A flyover Swainson’s Hawk was a bit east of its normal range.  Added 8 statebirds - Yellow-throated Vireo (finally in KS after many in MO and OK), Alder Flycatcher, the only American Pipit of the trip, Redstart, Black-billed Cuckoo, Lesser Yellowlegs, Least Flycatcher, and Clay-colored Sparrow. 

Then spent 2 to 8 PM at Quivira NWR, a great site for shorebirds and marshbirds which definitely lived up to its reputation.  The highlight was the rails – a Black Rail which called spontaneously (without taping), a King Rail that called for >5 minutes after I played just ½ of one call, and numerous Soras and Virginias calling on their own.  A total of 21 shorebird species featured more than 20 Snowy Plovers and 3 Piping Plovers (only ones of the trip), and a sole Black-bellied Plover (only one for the trip).  Near the end of the day I finally ran into a close and cooperative flock of dark ibises which included at least one Glossy.  Numerous Eared Grebes were new, and had 5 other species of divers.  Surprisingly I saw no terns, though Forster’s, Common and Least were to be expected.  And the key field for nesting Bobolinks had recently been burned so another miss.  A couple quick stops in some isolated pockets of trees added “Audubon’s” Warbler, Spotted Towhee, and Vesper Sparrow.  All told, added 19 new statebirds plus the Audubon’s, though it was pretty hot (the temperature peaked at 88 on a cloudless day).

May 8^th – Sunday – Cheyenne Bottoms, KS and Barber County

Another excellent day of shorebirding, at Cheyenne Bottoms which is truly one of the premier midwestern wetlands.  The day started slowly with a failed attempt for Greater Prairie Chickens at dawn and very few migrants at the local migrant hotspot/campground (though a Yellow-throated Warbler was definitely out of place).  My first view of Cheyenne Bottoms was of Pool 2 which covers about 4 square miles.  More than a quarter of this pool was in mudflats that was teaming with shorebirds, featuring maybe 10,000-20,0000 Long-billed Dowitchers, 5,000 Stilt Sandpipers, and 5,000 smaller peeps (though all estimates could be really low).  The objective here was not to identify each shorebird but instead to find the odd ones that would stand out among the sea of common ones.  And to spice things up a bit there was the Peregrine that kept coming through to rearrange the flocks.  The less common shorebirds included at least 3 Sanderlings, a Willet, 20 Hudsonian Godwits and 2 Marbled Godwits.  The previous weekend an Iceland and a California Gull were observed at Cheyenne, so I spent quite a bit of time looking through the gulls.  I couldn’t find the Iceland but did find a 2^nd year California sharing a dead fish with a Herring (phonescoped both together).  While watching them an immature Bonaparte’s flew through the scope field – 3 new statebirds in one scope field.  Along with Franklins, that gave me a 5-gull day.  Also had my only Cinnamon Teal of the trip.  Still very few terns, though I had 1 Common in with 7 Forster’s.  I ended up with 9 new statebirds at Cheyenne and a 10^th (Burrowing Owl) a short distance to the south.  Left the site at 3 PM with the car thermometer reading 98 degrees, on another cloudless day, next to no shade, and strong south winds.

Then on to stops in Barber County en route to OK.  This area is known as the eastern edge of the ranges of a number of western species.  Spent 5-8 PM in the county, and saw very little, principally because the temperature peaked at 106, with the wind blowing 20+ mph.  By 8 PM the temperature had only dropped to 98 degrees!  I struck out on Painted Buntings, but found Blue Grosbeaks at virtually every stop.  My only statebird was a good one – a Cassin’s Sparrow that responded instantly to a taped call.

May 9^th – Monday – Salt Plains State Park and NWR, Tallgrass Prairie, OK

An early morning stop at Great Salt Plains State Park did not yield the hoped-for Roadrunner, but I did get a Vesper Sparrow.  And Painted Buntings were everywhere in seemingly the same habitat I tried unsuccessfully in Barber County the previous day.  A surprise was a female Common Merganser in the spillway below the Great Salt Plains Lake dam, and 3 flyover Mississippi Kites rounded out the stop.

Salt Plains NWR was my key spot for shorebirds in OK, but this site was rather disappointing.  The best birding was from the Nature Trail which featured one overlook onto the water, and about 400 shorebirds.  I found only about 40 more shorebirds at the north end of the refuge including several Snowy Plovers and the only Least Tern for the trip.  By far the shorebirding highlight was a small group of larger shorebirds in a pasture which turned out to be 2 Upland Sandpipers and 5 Whimbrels – the latter being quite rare.  That gave me 19 shorebird species for the day.  The Nature Trail featured several Blackpoll Warblers and an Orange-crowned.  There were many waders in the area (11 species) as there is a large rookery on an island in the lake.  Other highlights were a Peregrine, a most cooperative immature Yellow-crowned Night Heron (mixed in with 5 Black-crowns so it needed to be cooperative for ID purposes), and 2 Glossy Ibis.  My last stop was for a stakeout Barn Owl but to no avail. 

Two last stops in the Great Salt Plains State Park were quite fruitful – a Neotropical Cormorant was sitting among Double-cresteds in the spillway (got a phonescoped photo).  Then a hot stroll through the campground revealed numerous Baltimore-type orioles, though about half the males I saw had additional yellow or white in the wingbars suggesting mixed genes with Bullock’s.  I was able to find one female that at least looked like a pure Bullock’s.  The last stop was a scan over the lake revealing one lone Eared Grebe with a scattering of Ruddys.  When I left at 3 PM it was 100 degrees and the wind was still howling from the south.  Another cloudless day with limited cover from the sun!  Though it was all worth it with 20 new statebirds. 

I then drove east to Tallgrass Prairie Preserve near Pawhuska, OK, and en route I had a Yellow-headed Blackbird fly out from a feed lot (my only one for OK though they were breeding in KS).  The preserve is a huge native grass prairie complete with a herd of bison – must be the way it was before the white man arrived.  The prairie is full of Grasshopper, Lark, Vesper, and Savannah Sparrows, both meadowlarks, and Dickcissels.  My target was Henslow’s Sparrows which I found at most stops with tall grass (though they were being drowned out by all the Dickcissels).  At one location I saw a loose flock of birds up ahead perched on a barbed wire fence, which I initially thought were sparrows.  But when I got closer I could see that they were Eastern Kingbirds – 110 of them all within in a 50 foot stretch of fence!  At dusk I was successful in hearing both Whip-Poor-Wills and Chuck-Will’s-Widows based on excellent directions.

May 10^th – Tuesday – Tallgrass Prairie and Tulsa, OK

Arrived at the prairie an hour before dawn to head up to a Greater Prairie Chicken lek.  En route I passed through the same spot I had the nightjars the night before and saw both Whips and Chucks flying over the road.  I arrived at the location to look for the chickens 30 minutes before dawn, and began to strain my ears to listen for them.  Although the wind had lessened, it was still too loud for me to hear the chickens.  I was told to scope the ridgeline to the east and sure enough there they were dancing and strutting maybe ¾ a mile away.  Thanks to excellent directions from Melinda Droege!  I was then able to drive quite close to them though the birds were over a small rise and not visible.  I walked to within about 100 yards of the spot, and still could only barely hear them – my low frequency hearing is not the best though my hearing is great for higher-pitched calls.  Rounding out the experience was a number of calling Upland Sandpipers in the prairie below.  On the drive out I noticed two birds on a fence – a pair of Lazuli Buntings which were a bit east of their normal range.

Then back to Tulsa for two quick stops prior to the flight out.  First en route to Mohawk Park I saw a flyover alternate plumaged Common Loon – not a statebird but a still a good bird for OK in May.  Then at Mohawk Park I added a singing Alder Flycatcher.  The last stop was at a nearby sewage lagoon to try in vain yet again for Virginia Rail for OK, though had a flyover Black-Billed Cuckoo.  Nice to have the last bird of the trip be a new statebird.