Dover
???
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From the 1986 edition of A Guide to Birding in
Oklahoma published by the Tulsa Audubon Society. This account has
only been partially reviewed to ensure accuracy.
From: JOS GRZYBOWSKI
To: OKBIRDS AT LISTS.OU.EDU
Sent: Wed, 23 Jul 2008 9:02 am
Subject: Re: Kingfisher-Major County wetlands
Dover Marsh is 1 mi N and 1 mi E of Dover, OK.�
Dover is north of Kingfisher on hiway 81.
Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2005 19:53:06 -0500 (EST) From: Larry Mays
<Retrixno1@AOL.COM> Subject: El Reno and beyond Sender: okbirds <OKBIRDS@lists.ou.edu>
To: OKBIRDS@lists.ou.edu Reply-to: okbirds <OKBIRDS@lists.ou.edu>
X-Mailer: 9.0 for Windows sub 5038
Greetings, all;
Great birding day today. Cold, but not miserably so. Started at El
Reno lake at daybreak. Lots of Canada Geese at the lake, but not much
else. Three Common Mergansers, a few American Coot and a couple of
Mallards were all that were on the lake. A Northern Harrier flushed four
Smith's Longspurs from a field of aristida just south of the lake. That
was nice of her.
From the lake I headed toward Ft Reno. On the way I found a big flock
of Snow Geese with about four Ross's Geese thrown in. A couple of the
snows were of the blue persuasion. At Ft Reno I had several Brewer's
Balckbirds mixed in with about an equal amount of Brown-headed Cowbirds
and later, a Loggerhead Shrike. Not much else of note there.
Left Ft Reno and headed for Roman Nose State Park. I really wanted to
find some Mountain Bluebirds today, but they just weren't available. At
Roman Nose I found a Greater Roadrunner, tons of Dark-eyed Juncos and
most of the to-be-expected small folk. I combed through a goodly number
of Cedar Waxwings hoping for the magic, but no bohemians, beatniks or
hippies. I did find three Ring-necked Ducks on the lagoon near the golf
course.
Undaunted, I headed for Canton Lake where the action warmed a bit
along with the temperature. At the boat ramp near Canadian Campground I
found hordes of Common Mergansers and Common Goldeneyes. The prize there
was an immature Long-tailed Duck among the goldeneyes. Not a lot of
gulls around, but a high percentage were Herring Gulls with a lot of
immature birds to comb through. No surprises from a rather cursory
scanning. Two Bald Eagles, one adult and one immature, were near the
dam.
I took the road which drops off the dam to the spillway next. Found a
Wilson's snipe right away. Followed the nature trail some distance to
the east. Had five Purple Finches; two females and three males. Also
found about a dozen Pine Siskins feeding on the abundant juniper berries
there. Another roadrunner. This area was really "birdy", and I want to
recommend it highly. I think there might be some real goodies there for
anyone willing to spend some time.
Across the dam to the first campground. Parked outside the locked
gate and walked in. Among the flocks of foraging juncos I found two
Chipping Sparrows. Really a lot of birds there, too. Good place to walk
and bird. Easy to see what's around.
Thence to Dover to try for the Green-tailed Towhee. A little poking
and a little patience paid off. Check off the bird and hit the road.
Stopped by Dover marsh where I found numerous Canvasbacks, a couple of
Lesser Scaup and some more Ring-necked Ducks.
Stopped at the lakes just north of the Canadian River south of Dover
and found a Greater Yellowlegs.
Came through El Reno and made a quick stop at the sewage ponds
northeast of town. Tacked on Bonaparte's Gulls, Shoveler and Ruddy Duck.
Home. Next time I think I'll make it a two day trip! Maybe three! So
many inviting places and so little time.
Larry Mays Newcastle
From: okbirds [OKBIRDS AT LISTS.OU.EDU] On Behalf Of JOS GRZYBOWSKI�
> [j_grzybowski AT SBCGLOBAL.NET]
> Sent: Tuesday, July 22, 2008 10:05 PM
> To: OKBIRDS AT LISTS.OU.EDU
> Subject: Kingfisher-Major County wetlands
>
> Jim Arterburn, Vic Fazio and I went out to nw Kingfisher and se�
> Major counties today.� We met at Dover Marsh at about 7:00AM, and�
> split in Hennessey about 6:30PM.� We visited wetlands (someone�
> called them swales) se of Hennessey, out some 6-8 miles wsw of�
> Hennessey, then in the Ames area (Major County). There was a lot of�
> water, some of it overgrown with algae and weeds.� Not much for�
> shorebirds, but nice for other marsh and water-birds.� The weather�
> was wonderful--stayed under 100 at least 3 hours.
>
> Some of our more interesting finds:
> Pied-billed Grebes- a number with young, some young already�
> separated, and one still on a nest near Dover Marsh.
> Neotropic Cormorant - 5 se of Hennessey --looked like young of year�
> (also had a small number of Double-cresteds here and there)
> There were a lot of Cattle Egrets everywhere; one area north of�
> hiway 51 and 132 intersection also had a big group of Snowy Egrets.
> White-faced Ibis--we did this last year about this time and had�
> one; today we located over 130, most identified to species.
> Glossy Ibis- 3 total, all se of Hennessey
> Glossy/White-faced Ibis hybrids- 2 in the area wsw of Hennessey�
> about 6-8 miles
> Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks -- total of 14; 2 wsw of Hennesey,�
> the rest in the Ames area, including a
>� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � female with 7�
> small chicks about 1/2 mile east of Ames
> Wood Duck -- female with 11 small chicks at same location as�
> whistling-duck female with brood
> Northern Pintail - 1 se of Hennessey
> Blue-winged Teal--at least some pretty much everywhere.
> American Wigeon - at least one n. of Ames
> Redhead - female at wetland about 6+ miles w of Hennessey (near�
> hiway intersection)
> Greater Scaup - female at wetland with Redhead.� This was=2 0a bird�
> recognized as the same one noted there, but unidentified,
>� � � � � � � � � � � � � � in early June-an exceptional summer�
> record for Oklahoma.
> Hooded Merganser - 1 juvenile wsw of Hennessey
> Ruddy Ducks--mostly at wetlands about 6+ mi. w of Hennessey
> Virginia Rail - 1 in cattail marsh wsw of Hennessey
> Sora - 1 each at two locations se of Hennessey
> Common Moorhen - 1 at Dover Marsh
> Black-necked Stilts -- quite a scatter of birds in all areas.
>
> Didn't do that well on shorebirds, but did muster the following 12�
> species:
> Killdeer, Black-necked Stilt (see above), American Avocet, Greater�
> Yellowlegs, Lesser Yellowlegs, Solitary Sandpipers (one to a few�
> most places), Spotted Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, Baird's Sandpiper�
> (only a few), Pectoral Sandpiper (~6-8), and Stilt Sandpipers (a�
> few places, including one group of about 22 wsw of Hennessey).
> We all enjoyed seeing a Wilson's Phalarope in its brown-tinted�
> juvenile plumage--it was the first time Jim had noted one in�
> juvenile plumage in Oklahoma, and it is likely my first as well for�
> Oklahoma.
>
> Prothonotary Warbler (out at its w limits in the state sw of Ames)
> And Jim got some great shots of juv Grasshopper Sparrows wsw of�
> Hennessey.
>
> Vic also did pretty well with20odonates; located Great Blue Skimmers�
> in both Kingfisher and Major cos among other species.
>
> CHEERS,� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � JOE Grzybowski
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photo by John Kennington |
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