Mohawk Park / Oxley Nature Center - Tulsa, OK (May 17, 2009)

Map:

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&ll=36.229164,-95.891247&spn=0.008464,0.013733&t=h&z=16&msid=103228297516276567813.00046a708c7dc634016e1

May 17th Adventure:

My car was being repaired during the past week so I opted to ride my bike to Mohawk Park to bird watch on Sunday. I was able to navigate the neighborhoods to Virgin & Sheridan, where I was forced to ride on the side of Sheridan for roughly a mile. Fortunately, it was early on Sunday morning so there wasn't too much traffic to contend with.

I rode northeast through Mohawk Park to an area which is closed to auto traffic but not bicycle or foot traffic. I chained my bike to a large picnic table on the lower level of the pavilion overlooking the Mohawk Livestock Corral. On the posts of the corral several Eastern Kingbirds sat attentively waiting to spot insects to eat.

I spent 20 minutes of so watching for birds from the upper part of the pavilion. I saw a small flash of yellow darting among the leaves of a nearby tree. It took several minutes to get a clear look at the flash, but when I did I quickly identified it as a Yellow Warbler, the breast streaks being a good identifier. An Eastern Phoebe was spotted on the railing, it's call attracted my attention.

I proceeded north along the road to an area dominated by unmaintained fields, a perfect habitat for sparrows and buntings in spring. Here I spotted several male Indigo Buntings as well as a pair of male Painted Buntings. A troop of 4 American Goldfinches could be observed frolicking in a tree along the road, unfortunately I could not determine their gender. From the road I could see a group of 9-12 Barn Swallows sitting on an old telephone wire. Periodically, one or two would abandon their perches and glide about the surface of Lake Sherry in pursuit of insects.

I followed the path that runs along the north bank of Lake Sherry, stopping to count Canada Geese that floated on the lake. Usually, I see several types of waterfowl in the lake, but on Sunday I only saw Canada Geese. Last summer it was not unusual to see 4 types of wading birds along the edge of water (Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Little Blue Heron, and the Snowy Egret were the most common, though the Green Heron and American Bittern were often present). Maybe some other visitors spooked them before I arrived.

I followed the small trail known as "DC's Trail" north across a small bridge to another road and headed back east. I saw a small group (15-20) of Chipping Sparrows foraging for seeds and the like on the pavement. A pair of Eastern Bluebirds were seen waiting on a perch for passing insects.

I returned the my bike at around 10:40 am and headed home via my earlier route.

Bird Count:

Location: Mohawk Park--Oxley Nature Center

Observation date: 5/17/09 Number of species: 16

Canada Goose - Branta canadensis 10

Red-shouldered Hawk - Buteo lineatus 1

Red-bellied Woodpecker - Melanerpes carolinus 2

Eastern Wood-Pewee - Contopus virens 2

Eastern Phoebe - Sayornis phoebe 1

Eastern Kingbird - tyrannus Tyrannus 3

Blue Jay - Cyanocitta cristata 1

Barn Swallow - Hirundo rustica 250

Eastern Bluebird - Sialia sialis 2

Yellow Warbler - Dendroica petechia 1

Chipping Sparrow - Spizella passerina 18

Northern Cardinal - Cardinalis cardinalis 3

Indigo Bunting - Passerina cyanea 6

Painted Bunting - Passerina ciris 2

Red-winged Blackbird - Agelaius phoeniceus 2

American Goldfinch - Carduelis tristis 4

Photos: (Numbered from Top to Bottom)

1) A top-down shot of a Prairie Larkspur.

2) A colorful series of leaves of an (as-of-yet) unidentified plant.

3) A purple wildflower known as "Red Clover".

4-6) Several photos of unidentified wildflowers growing around the livestock corral.

7) An unidentified cluster of white and yellow wildflowers.

8) A yellow wildflower known as "Goat's Beard" or "Western salsify". The head in fruit looks very similar to a dandelion (wispy, cotton-like seeds).

9) A photo of the small stream over which one crosses when hiking on "DC's Trail".

10) The early morning dew on the slender leaf of a plant.

11) An unidentified flower that I noticed growing in my front yard following the MHP-ONC outing.

-SPQ 5/21/2009