Zach Poland is a top Oklahoma birder who was referred to me by recent guest Pete Janzen. In preparing to talk with Zach I read a blog post by another guest Blair Bernson about their day of birding on Blair’s quest to see 50 species of birds in a day in every state with a local birder.
Zach is a relatively young birder who manages to bird daily with a full time day job as a geologist and a young family. I have the greatest respect for birders who manage to balance these aspects of live well, and it looks like we could take counsel from Zach on this challenge.
Zach talks about several top Oklahoma birding sites. Here is a screen shot of a spread sheet Zach sent to me after we talked with tips on finding the 4 Longspur species in Oklahoma in winter.
Oklahoma Longspur Tips
It’s a bit small on the screen but I think might be useful.
He mentioned several eBird Hotspots. Here are some eBird links to these: Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge Sooner Lake (note there are several Sooner Lake hotspots in Oklahoma. Tallgrass Prairie Preserve Great Salt Plains State Park
I mention my Colombia birding in the intro. If you want to read more about that trip check out the Ed’s Birding Notes tab on this web site.
I also put out a request for suggestions for guests you’d like to hear from on the podcast. Suggestions with an introduction of some sort are optimal. I’m looking especially for guests from Montana, the Dakotas and Carolinas, and lots of other places. If you have ideas send me message.
Thanks for your support. Good birding and good day!
What a wonderful break from hunkering down close to home. Bruce LaBar, Ken Brown, Will Brooks and I birded the north central WA areas that in the past has been one of the favorite ABC Birding Club trips. We lucked out in facing no fog, no snow until flurries on the third day, and had terrific days on both the Waterville Plateau Friday and in the Okanogan Highlands on Saturday. It was cold (8-25 much of the time) but not windy, sunny and overall very comfortable.
We started by birding the Confluence State Park in Wenachee briefly. On the drive in Will spotted a Say’s Phoebe foraging by the restroom. This was somewhat unexpectedly early for the phoebe to return north. A several Snow Geese and a Greater White-fronted Goose were a mixed flock of Canada and Cackling Geese on the lawns. A fair mix of ducks on the river provided nothing special, but we checked it quickly and headed for Waterville. Our first east-side specialties were 5 Gray Partridge that flushed from the side of the road outside Waterville. Usual common winter specialties like Horned Lark and Rough-legged Hawk were seen before our first major stop at the Lamoine Windbreak. We walked along the right side of the windbreak hoping for a Long-eared Owl. Ken and I saw a largish bird flush shortly after starting the walk, but it took a while before (I’ll cut and paste this phrase for frequent use) Will spotted a roosting LEOW fairly high in a pine tree, visible only silhouetted against a tiny gap of visible sky, and we all got to see it well. Long-eared Own at the Lamoine Windbreak
We birded our way to Withrow, found nothing special there and then stopped by the area on D Rd NW where I had found American Tree Sparrows in December. Again Will found these first, and we all managed looks at these handsome sparrows. We picked up a Prairie Falcon on a pole at Road 14 NE. On Road F we drove up on a huge flock of Snow Buntings, with modest numbers of Horned Larks, and at least 4 Gray-crowned Rosy Finches. A small part of the flock of Snow Buntings, Horned Larks, Gray-crowned Rosy Finches and American Goldfinches
Shortly after leaving the flock, still high from the excitement a Snowy Owl flushed just in front of Ken and Bruce in the lead car. We all got great looks at the big white owl in the bright sun as it flew away over the snowy wheat fields and disappeared over a low hill.
Since we had seen almost all of the hoped for Waterville Plateau specialties except Gyrfalcon, and these had not been reported in the area recently, we headed for the Bridgeport State Park to look for Northern Saw-whet Owls and Canyon Wren.
The owls were in the exact two trees as usual, and the wren responded to a recording with calls and showed on the cliffside just past the main park.
Northern Saw Whet Owl at Bridgeport State Park in the usual small tree.
We called it a day and headed for the Omak Inn for the night. I ended the day with 16 FOW (first of the year) species for WA, and we all enjoyed homemade spaghetti and salad prepared by Marian, along with apple pie.
Will tucking into Marian B’s home cooking.
Saturday was another sunny perfect weather day. We managed calling but not seen Chukar at the Fancher Flats, missed Sharp-tailed Grouse on Siwash Creek Rd, but managed a spot with all three species of nuthatches along with lots of Mountain Chickadees. At the Highlands Sno Park a flock of about 35 White-winged Crossbills flew right overhead in the parking lot, calling loudly, as Will and Bruce shouted out the ID. I got decent but a quick look, but unfortunately Ken was in the outhouse and missed them altogether. No woodpeckers showed or were heard, and we headed off toward the higher elevations. Prairie Falcon
In the Highland Meadows area Ken and Bruce stopped us when they located a nice flock of 49 Snow Buntings perched up in a tree giving us a nice show. Will spotted a Northern Pygmy Owl perched on Nealey Road, and we added the first of a few Clark’s Nutcrackers.
Mary Ann Creek Road came through as is usual. Will spotted a distant flock of tiny finches out across the large cattail marsh, and I managed nice looks at a pair of perched Common Redpolls before a Northern Shrike terrorized the flock and they took flight. This did give great flight looks and a chance to estimate over 150 birds in the flock. We came across two more flocks of redpolls and conservatively entered an eBird count of 210 for the area. We stopped near Teal Lake for a look and listen, and Will heard a finch-like sound. On looking around he located a single Pine Grosbeak high in a tree, and we got scopes set up just as the other west-side group of Shep Thorpe, Scott Ramos and Jon Anderson coming from the opposite end of the road came by and we got them on the bird too. Throughout the trip our two groups shared sightings, helping each other get onto the great birds in the area. A treat to see Snow Buntings perched in a tree at close range.
The Chesaw area added little except a chance for Bruce to buy a 6-pack of beer we could enjoy back at the Omak Inn later. No Great-gray Owls or woodpeckers showed at the Sno Park as we watched darkness come, but we did hear distant Great-horned Owls hooting.
Dinner was vegan meatloaf, potato salad and peas again by Marian Burns, and we all sent thanks to her for the home cooking. A northern Pygmy Owl posing nicely.
Sunday we had two really hoped for species, Sharp-tailed Grouse, and Bohemian Waxwing. We worked hard for them, but luck was not with us the last day. We managed Wild Turkey, Townsend’s Solitaire, and Ruffed Grouse at Conconully, and later great looks at a Harlan’s Red-tailed Hawk, FOY Cedar Waxwings that had us hoping for a Bohemian, and lots more great scenery. I did add two Okanogan lifers on the river in Greater Scaup and Tundra Swan.
On the way home we stopped at Cashmere to pick up county lifer Lesser Goldfinch at a known feeder before breaking up for the trek home.
A good time had by all, and I added another 9 FOY bird Saturday and 4 FOY on Sunday. I ended the trip with a 2021 list of 171 species, really good for me for the date, and Will remained in 1st place for 2021 on eBird at 185 species. Getting home safely was of course good, and we all had a great time.
Until next time. Good birding and good day!
The Lamoine Windbreak that often yields Long-eared Owls, none today.
Today Marian and I spent most of the day birding the Waterville Plateau in Douglas County, WA. This is a great winter birding place in eastern WA, known for its raptors, flocks of winter birds-of-open-country and, when it’s not foggy or snowing, beautiful days. Today met the latter criteria nicely. We are staying in Marian’s time share condo in Manson near Chelan, and so it a 35-40 minute drive up McNeil Canyon to the plateau. Most of the time when I get to bird this area it is after a drive from Pierce County, usually with our ABCbirding group, so getting their bu 8:30 AM and not getting up early was a treat. The morning was clear and overcast, really perfect visibility conditions. On the drive up onto the plateau we had a great look at a juvenile Golden Eagle who flew right overhead, at lots of Rough-legged Hawks, and got excited about a clear fog-free day ahead. Mansfield Grain Silo loading a truck
We did a more-or-less loop around much of the plateau, starting with a drive south to Mansfield, with stops at the Lamoine Windbreak for a walk all the way around the line of trees. ALmost no birds were found there, no owls, no raptors, and no sparrows so a nice walk and stretch to start the day, but fun to show Marian the area, and the snow levels were perfect. Deep enough to cover the ground, but not to make walking difficult. American Tree Sparrow
Mansfield yielded little, with no partridge or falcons at the grain elevators, and I decided to explore some new roads. I drive up onto Rd. D NW northwest of Mansfield, yielded our only American Tree Sparrows of the day near a farmhouse there. I dropped the eBird pin at the spot for relocation purposes. A really dark Rough-legged Hawk.
The rest of the day was really driving around looking for birds. We came across many 20-600 bird flocks of Horned Larks with a good mix of Snow Buntings in most of them. My guess was 3-5% of all the birds overall in these flocks were SNBU. It was fun to refamiliarize myself with their calls, and know the buntings were there before starting to look.
The Heritage Road area for LEOW was burned badly from last summer’s fires, and it does not look like a great stop going forward. We ended the day as fog rolled in near Atkin’s Lake where we found one of the two Snowy Owls Shep Thorpe had found last week. It was Marian’s first SNOW in what she thought was the wild, the Seattle bird last week seeming like a city bird to her.
We quit about 3 PM as fog started to roll in which along with loss of light made viewing really poor. Rough-legged Hawk
A really pretty day, with a few winter specialties but overall slow birding.
