About Cottonwood Creek
http://www.wildlifedepartment.com/cottonwood.htm
(Photos for April 8th Coming Soon)
April 8th Excursion
The morning of April 8th was overcast and windy, yet not as cold as recent weather, so I was pleased to be able to bird. I arrived at the parking area for the North section of Cottonwood Creek WDU at around 9:00 am.
I walked north from the parking area, the songs of a Carolina Wren, several Carolina Chickadees, and a male Northern Cardinal easily distinguish among the noises present. I spotted a new spring arrival, two male Brown-headed Cowbirds, perched atop a nearby tree. Several Mourning Doves flushed from the undergrowth as I passed and relocated to a grove of trees.
I spotted a single White-throated Sparrow feasting on the buds of a tree, but my attention was drawn to a strange call, similar to a Northern Mockingbird. Fortunately, the suspect, a Brown Thrasher revealed himself by finding an exposed perch atop a tree. Both Mockingbirds and Brown Thrashers are in the Mimidae family (as is the Gray Catbird, also found in North America) and have similar vocalizations, hence why the Mockingbird came to mind when hearing the song.
As I reached the edge of the wooded section and proceeded into the central field I could hear the all-to-familiar ruckus of a pair of American Crows. Above the treeline, most likely over the river, a Great Blue Heron could be observed slowly flying east. As I trudged through the red mud, I heard the cry of a Red-tailed Hawk and quickly located his perch among the wooded section near the Cimarron River. I watched him with my scope for 5 minutes or so, then observed his flight to another perch, a large , solitary snag in the middle of the muddy field. On the snag he sat crying out periodically, scanning for prey among the emerging vegetation. Eventually, the hawk flew further east, and out of the range of my optics.
I pushed through the forested band that lies between the muddy field and the Cimarron River.
I observed the hyperactive singing and foraging of a pair of Yellow-Rumped Warblers. Among the branches of the river trees (I will identify them soon) hopped a single Tufted Titmouse, my presence arousing his alarm call. Overhead one watch several Turkey Vultures lazily circling about, slowly zeroing in on a meal.
Upon exiting the forest onto the banks of the Cimarron I spotted a single adult Bald Eagle flying above the river, most likely looking for a fish to feast upon. Unfortunately, my actions caught his attention and he quickly flew upstream. I walked 40 yards or so along the river then stopped to observe a suspected Cormorant with my spotting scope. I confirmed the Double-Crested Cormorant, then panned to the left and was shocked to count 94 other DCCs amassed in a flock on the river!
I walked back into the woods and stopped in a small clearing to watch a Red-shouldered Hawk as he flew above the trees. Small groups of sparrows flitted away from my path, yet I was able to identify several of them after they found new perches. 5 Songs Sparrows, 2 Lincoln's Sparrows, and a single Swamp Sparrow were identified among the many sparrows.
My course lead me to cross the muddy field, toward the northern-most series of dikes found at CC WDU. I spotted a pair of Great Egrets foraging along one of the large puddles that had formed due to recent rain. 5 Wilson's Snipes flushed from nearby vegetation upon my approach. I scanned the area and focused my scope on a V-shaped pair of snags rising from the muddy field. A male American Kestrel was perched on the highest branch and his mate was situated on the top of the other branch, both bracing against the strong gusts of wind.
As I made the arduous trek back across the muddy field, the overcast sky quickly cleared and the sun came out. I was 50 yards from the trail leading to the parking area when I heard a cacophony of squeaks and garbled calls coming from a grove of trees to the south. I made my way within scope-range of the grove and focused on the group of blackish birds. I counted over 60 Red-winged Blackbirds, among which I counted a single Yellow-headed Blackbird, a new edition to my lifelist, as well as a good note to end the outing.
Location: Keystone WMA - Cimarron (Cottonwood Creek N.) - Mannford, OK
Observation date: 4/9/09 Number of species: 27
Double-crested Cormorant - Phalacrocorax auritus 95
Great Blue Heron - Ardea herodias 1
Great Egret - Ardea alba 2
Turkey Vulture - Cathartes aura 4
Bald Eagle - Haliaeetus leucocephalus 1
Red-shouldered Hawk - Buteo lineatus 1
Red-tailed Hawk - Buteo jamaicensis 1
American Kestrel - Falco sparverius 2
Wilson's Snipe - Gallinago delicata 5
Mourning Dove - Zenaida macroura 3
Downy Woodpecker - Picoides pubescens 1
American Crow - Corvus brachyrhynchos 2
Carolina Chickadee - Poecile carolinensis 1
Tufted Titmouse - Baeolophus bicolor 1
Carolina Wren - Thryothorus ludovicianus 1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - Polioptila caerulea 2
Eastern Bluebird - Sialia sialis 2
Brown Thrasher - Toxostoma rufum 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler - Dendroica coronata 2
Song Sparrow - Melospiza melodia 5
Lincoln's Sparrow - Melospiza lincolnii 2
Swamp Sparrow - Melospiza georgiana 1
White-throated Sparrow - Zonotrichia albicollis 1
Northern Cardinal - Cardinalis cardinalis 3
Red-winged Blackbird - Agelaius phoeniceus 60
Yellow-headed Blackbird - Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus 1
Brown-headed Cowbird - Molothrus ater 2
New Edition to SPQ's lifelist:
146) Yellow-headed Cowbird
-SPQ 4/13/2009
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