April 26th Excursion
I arrived at Heyburn WMA at around 8:30 am, hoping to get some quick birding in before the fore casted storm rolled in. It was overcast and incredibly windy during my outing, but their were dozens of bird vocalizations echoing about the area. I spent the entire time around the perimeter of a large field, occasionally dipping into the forested section to try and pinpoint a specific vocalization.
As I strolled into the field I could immediately recognize the calls of a Northern Cardinal and a pair of Brown-headed Cowbirds. Along the forested section I could hear two Blue Jays calling back and forth, each using multiple vocalizations(my favorite is the Red-shouldered Hawk mimicry) , an admirable ability among birds. I could hear the frantic calls of two Red-shouldered Hawks coming from some distance, most likely closer to the lake.
I reached the edge of the field and paused to deploy my tripod. I heard a loud series of varied calls, almost reminiscent of a Mockingbird or Brown Thrasher. I struggled to find the source but eventually noticed a large yellow object among some green leaves. I trained my scope on the yellow and watched an excited Yellow-breasted Chat belting out his eclectic vocalization. Even though I was only able to stay an hour and a half, I was thrilled to be able to add a new species to my Lifelist.
Location: Heyburn WMA (Park 02) - Kellyville, OK
Observation date: 4/26/09 Number of species: 10
Turkey Vulture - Cathartes aura 2
Red-shouldered Hawk - Buteo lineatus 2
Eastern Phoebe - Sayornis phoebe 2
Blue Jay - Cyanocitta cristata 2
American Crow - Corvus brachyrhynchos 2
Carolina Chickadee - Poecile carolinensis 1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - Polioptila caerulea 2
Yellow-breasted Chat - Icteria virens 1
Northern Cardinal - Cardinalis cardinalis 1
Brown-headed Cowbird - Molothrus ater 6
New Addition to SPQ's Lifelist:
157) Yellow-breasted Chat (http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Yellow-breasted_Chat/id)
Photo:
The field that I observed during my visit to Heyburn WMA.
-SPQ 4/27/2009
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