Shorebird Weekend

I birded some on Saturday and on Monday at Lake Wichita. On Saturday I was conducting a Nature Trackers Mussel Watch and doing some invasives monitoring--I probably spent as much time birding as doing those projects. I started at the boat ramp off Kemp Blvd and walked down to the spillway, where there were several migrating shorebirds.

My species list for Saturday morning at Lake Wichita: Canada goose, American coot, mallard, great egret, cattle egret, Forster's tern, spotted sandpiper, white-rumped sandpiper, Baird's sandpiper, killdeer, Wilson's phalarope, black-necked stilt, double-crested cormorant, turkey vulture, rock pigeon, mourning dove, northern mockingbird, cardinal, yellow warbler, barn swallow, cliff swallow, red-winged blackbird, great-tailed grackle, common grackle, European starling, and house sparrow.

I then drove over to Crestview Cemetery, which has two small ponds. There I added lark sparrow, bobwhite, upland sandpiper, and scissor-tailed flycatcher.

On Monday I birded for about an hour, starting behind Wild Bird Rescue and then walking down the chat trail to the barrow pit. Behind Wild Bird Rescue I saw my first orchard oriole of the year, scissor-tailed flycatcher, white-rumped sandpiper, great-tailed grackle, white-winged dove, purple martin, great blue heron, red-winged blackbird and European starling. In Lake Wichita Park along the chat trail and barrow pit, I added mallard, canvasback, American coot, ruddy duck, black-necked stilt, great egret, Mississippi kite, Eurasian collared dove, American robin, northern mockingbird, yellow warbler, eastern phoebe, Carolina chickadee, northern cardinal, barn swallow, my first of season yellow-billed cuckoo, and chipping sparrow.

I was also lucky on the chat trail seeing a large red-eared slider and a rough green snake.

This morning while visiting the bank, I saw a green heron behind American National Bank on Midwestern/Maplewood.

Overall, a very good weekend. The only thing that could have made it even better would have been a lifer.

I got some email that there has been a brown pelican over between Seymour and Munday and a curve-billed thrasher on the north side of Lake Arrowhead State Park. It is a little far to drive for the brown pelican, unless I make a birding day of it. Haven't had any luck with the curve-billed thrasher.

Good birding!