Group of American White Pelicans
Location: Keystone WMA - Cimarron (Cottonwood Creek N.) - Mannford, OK
Map: http://www.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=103228297516276567813.000492827e71997dff159&ll=36.111911,-96.430821&spn=0.017682,0.027509&t=h&z=15
Observation date: 10/8/10
Number of species: 20
Northern Shoveler - Anas clypeata 6
American White Pelican - Pelecanus erythrorhynchos 1200
Double-crested Cormorant - Phalacrocorax auritus 45
Great Blue Heron - Ardea herodias 3
Red-shouldered Hawk - Buteo lineatus 2
American Kestrel - Falco sparverius 1
Killdeer - Charadrius vociferus 55
Wilson's Snipe - Gallinago delicata 2
Red-headed Woodpecker - Melanerpes erythrocephalus 2
Northern Flicker - Colaptes auratus 10
Pileated Woodpecker - Dryocopus pileatus 1
Blue Jay - Cyanocitta cristata 5
American Crow - Corvus brachyrhynchos 14
Barn Swallow - Hirundo rustica 75
Carolina Chickadee - Poecile carolinensis 5
Tufted Titmouse - Baeolophus bicolor 4
Carolina Wren - Thryothorus ludovicianus 1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - Polioptila caerulea 1
Song Sparrow - Melospiza melodia 10
Red-winged Blackbird - Agelaius phoeniceus 10
While driving south on Highway 48, on my way to the Keystone WMA, I could see several large flocks of birds flying over Lake Keystone to the east of the highway. I could not make out exactly what the birds were, but I could tell they were large. I suspected they could be either pelicans, cormorants, or maybe some type of geese (Snow or Canada).
At the WMA I followed Cottonwood Creek north toward the shallow lake that has formed near the Cimmaron River. I noticed a large amount of Northern Flickers in the area. A Red-shouldered Hawk passed by my position by the creek and took up a post atop a large snag (a common perch for hawks, I have noticed). I could hear a group of sparrows calling to one another from the tallgrasses and plants to the side of the creek - eventually one could be seen - a Song Sparrow.
As I approached the mouth of the creek, where it meets the lakebed, I could see several large "clouds" of birds approaching from the east. I quickly moved closer to the lakebed and setup my scope to see what was incoming. Very quickly I could see that the incoming horde of birds were American White Pelicans - a amazingly large bird. As I swept my scope across the lake I could see that several hundred were already gathered along the lake's edge. Some of this group took wing and flew to the west, while simultaneously hundreds of others flocked into the southeast corner of the lake.
I made sure to keep absolutely still so as not to scare off any of the approaching birds. Hundreds of the peilcans landed to the east of me, often circling above me in search of a good spot to land. It was amazing to see so many birds of that size all fly in to one area at the same time - almost like watching squadrons of bombers approaching an airfield.
I sat and watched the group preen themselves for over 30 minutes - it was truly incredible to watch such a large amount of large birds commune together. Over the course of the half-hour several "sets" of the pelicans would fly to the west. I counted about 600 before I lost count, so I estimated the total number to be around 1200 (a low estimate, I believe).
I have seen groups of pelicans on Lake Keystone before, but never anywhere close to 1200. I am very much looking forward to my next oppurtunity to visit the Keystone WMA along Cottonwood Creek.
-Photo courtesy of Jimfbleak, via wikipedia.org
-SPQ 10/13/2010
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