Oxley Nature Center, North Woods & Lake Yahola Reservoir (East/South Sections) - February 13, 2011 - Tulsa, OK

Common Merganser, Male

Location: Oxley Nature Center (North Woods) - Tulsa, OK


Map: http://www.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&ll=36.219089,-95.92721&spn=0.008413,0.021887&t=h&z=16&msid=211656245233415273419.00049c579af0dba3a0a90
Observation date: 2/13/11

Number of species: 22



Canada Goose - Branta canadensis    22

Mallard - Anas platyrhynchos    10

Northern Shoveler - Anas clypeata    25

Bufflehead - Bucephala albeola    15

Common Goldeneye - Bucephala clangula    20

Hooded Merganser - Lophodytes cucullatus    30

Common Merganser - Mergus merganser    40

Pied-billed Grebe - Podilymbus podiceps    8

American White Pelican - Pelecanus erythrorhynchos    18

Great Blue Heron - Ardea herodias    11

Bald Eagle - Haliaeetus leucocephalus    1

American Coot - Fulica americana    8

Ring-billed Gull - Larus delawarensis    900

Northern Flicker - Colaptes auratus    1

American Crow - Corvus brachyrhynchos    3

Carolina Chickadee - Poecile carolinensis    1

Northern Mockingbird - Mimus polyglottos    2

Brown Thrasher - Toxostoma rufum    2

Yellow-rumped Warbler - Dendroica coronata    1

Eastern Towhee - Pipilo erythrophthalmus    1

White-throated Sparrow - Zonotrichia albicollis    2

Northern Cardinal - Cardinalis cardinalis    3
 
    I visited Oxley Nature Center on Sunday, February 13th in hopes of seeing some waterfowl. During the past two the region received around 20-25 inches of snow from two large snow storms (one was deemed a blizzard). I was curious to see how Oxley fared and if the recent warmer weather had melted much of the snow.
 
    All of the smaller ponds were completely frozen, hence there were no waterfowl on these bodies of water. When I walked up to the reservoir from the North Woods section I could see that even the reservoir was still iced over ( I broke the ice and estimated is was still about 1.5 inches thick). A pair of Northern Shovelers were picking at the edges of the ice, looking for a spot that wasn't frozen. I could hear an amazing din of sound coming from the southern section of the reservoir - it almost sounded like a crowd of people. I setup my scope on the side of the reservoir and peered to the south, I could see hundreds of gulls on the ice and in the few melted sections of the water. I decided to drive down to the parking areas south of the North Woods.
 
    From the parking area due just south of the North Woods I could see some Pied-billed Grebes, American Coot, and plenty of Ring-billed Gulls. The sun was in the western part of the sky, so many of the birds were "silhouetted", making it difficult to identify them. I decided to head to the parking lots to located along the south shore of the reservoir (an area where I generally see fishers).
 
    From the south shore I could clearly see all of the birds on the reservoir. There were several groups of Common Goldeneye ( a new species for me as of last month), Hooded Mergansers (a neat-looking diving duck), Common Mergansers (previously, I had only seen a pair of females, so the bright red-orange bill of the male was neat to see), and American White Pelicans. Only a few Mallards were to be found and most of the Northern Shovelers I saw were all group[ed together on the concrete divider in the center of the reservoir.
 
    The most interesting sight were the huge groups of Ring-billed Gulls gathered both on and off the ice - the din from them was most impressive. I estimated that the toal number was around 900, though I almost positive it was more.
 
    It was very exciting to see so many different ducks on Lake Yahola. Several of the species I have never seen there before (Common Merganser, American White Pelican), so it was a satisfying trip to Oxley.
 
Photo of Common Merganser courtesy of Mdf, via Wikipedia.org
 
-SPQ 2/16/2011