It was 95-degrees yesterday — too hot to take a walk and I felt restless yesterday afternoon so I headed to Lake El Reno, about 30 miles west of Oklahoma City. I’ve photographed a Swainson’s Hawk at the lake during the past two summers and had hoped to keep the successful string of sightings going. No such luck. But I had a nice drive around the lake — seeing virtually nothing — before heading a little farther west, past Fort Reno in search of Common Nighthawks. The only nighthawk I’ve photographed (non-aerial) was in far western Oklahoma during a trip to Durham to photograph a Broad-billed Hummingbird. Now that I have a newer camera, better resolution, etc., I’ve been searching for a nighthawk to photograph. No luck with that bird during yesterday’s trip, also. But I did have a nice drive, and enjoyed getting away from my home-based business for awhile. And I ran across some shorebirds! I’m really challenged by shorebirds and struggle to correctly ID them. I’m not sure what all the peeps were on the mud flats around a farm pond but I did find two Upland Sandpipers. They were too far away to photograph but a welcome sign that fall shorebird migration is beginning.
I also found several Dickcissels, the colorful and noisy birds found in the scrub trees along country roads. I’ve added one of yesterday’s pictures to this posting. The male Dickcissel has a small grasshopper (early dinner!). I’m also adding a photo of a juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron that I photographed at Lake Hefner in Oklahoma City on my way home from El Reno. There were four adults and two juveniles along the inlet canal to the lake and it was fun to stay cool in the car and get some nice pictures of these birds.
Lake Hefner is my favorite local birding spot… if you stop by often, you’ll read a lot more about the birds I see during my daily trips around the lake!
Thanks for listening!!!
Pat
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