Oklahoma Birding Trip

Oklahoma Birding Trip - 2009

Lesser Prairie-Chicken Festival

This page contains information and photos from the seventh out-of-state birding trip for the "Wagtail Senior Birding Club". The trip took place April 17-23, 2009 to Woodward, Oklahoma for the "Lek Treks & More" Woodward Lesser Prairie-Chicken Festival. Our itinerary:

April 17 - "Yours Truly" & Dency Kahn drive from St. Louis, Missouri to Woodward, Oklahoma - Bird on the way to Woodward. Stay overnight in Woodward, Oklahoma;

April 18 - As part of the festival, bird on the Harper/Woodward County Birding Trek (birding at Boiling Springs State Park, Selman Guest Ranch, and Hal & Fern Cooper Wildlife Management Area) with guide Eric Beck and about 15 other festival attendees, stay overnight in Woodward;

April 19 - Bird in the blinds for Lesser Prairie-Chickens (we observed four Males and one Female at our location) with about 25 other festival attendees at Selman Guest Ranch, and at Shattuck, Oklahoma (festival dinner was held here) - stay overnight in Woodward;

April 20 - Bird on our own at Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge near Cherokee, Oklahoma, Great Salt Plains State Park near Jet, Oklahoma and at Selman Living Lab near Woodward (festival BBQ dinner was held here) - stay overnight in Woodward;

April 21 - Bird on drive to Oklahoma's Black Mesa area (in carpool with 18 other festival attendees and guide Jimmy Woodard) and at Keyes Sewage Pond in Keyes, OK; Boise City Sewage Pond in Boise City, OK; in the streets of Kenton, OK; dinosaur tracks area, Black Mesa State Park; and Hoot Owl Ranch in Kenton, OK - stay overnight in Kenton;

April 22 - Bird in the streets of Kenton, at Hoot Owl Ranch, Black Mesa State Park, Boise City Sewage Pond, Autograph Rock and Mountain Plover field near Boise City, and at Keyes Sewage Pond - stay overnight in Woodward;

April 23 - Bird at Oxley Nature Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma and on the drive back to St. Louis, Missouri.

"Wagtail Senior Birders" at Woodward, Oklahoma (Harper/Woodward County Birding Trek) - from Left to Right:

"Yours Truly", guide Eric Beck (tall guy in center back) Dency Kahn (third from right), and other festival attendees.

"Wagtail Senior Birders" at Woodward, Oklahoma (Lesser Prairie-Chicken viewing at Selman Guest Ranch) - from Left to Right:

Dency Kahn & "Yours Truly"

"Wagtail Senior Birders" at Kenton, Oklahoma (standing at 3-state marker) - from Left to Right:

Dency Kahn & "Yours Truly"

Jimmy Woodard (Black Mesa Trek guide) sitting on 3-state marker

Click Here to see favorite photos from this trip.

Birds seen (129 different Species over the 7 day period, including 2 North American life birds for me):

4/17/09	4/19/09	4/21/09 (cont.)
Olivette, Missouri	Selman Guest Ranch - Woodward, OK	Black Mesa State Park - Kenton, Oklahoma
Northern Cardinal	Lesser Prairie-Chicken	Curve-billed Thrasher
Cooper's Hawk	Harris's Sparrow	Bald Eagle
European Starling	White-crowned Sparrow	Downy Woodpecker
Rock Pigeon	Prairie Falcon	Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Northern Mockingbird		Northern Flicker
Creve Coeur, Missouri	4/20/09	Hairy Woodpecker
Canada Goose	Highway 412 toward Salt Plains NWR, OK	Bewick's Wren
American Crow	Cliff Swallow	Cassin's Kingbird
I270 - Kirkwood, Missouri	Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge, OK
Red-tailed Hawk	Blue-winged Teal	4/22/09
I44 - Valley Park. Missouri	Pied-billed Grebe	Kenton, Oklahoma
Turkey Vulture	Snowy Egret	Canyon Towhee
Common Grackle	American Avocet	Hoot Owl Ranch - Kenton, OK
I44 - Cuba, Missouri	Pectoral Sandpiper	Canyon Wren
Eastern Meadowlark	Gadwall	Rock Wren
I44 between Rolla & Joplin, MO	Mallard	Black-billed Magpie
American Kestrel	Northern Shoveler	Brewer's Blackbird
Wild Turkey	American Wigeon	Black Mesa State Park - Kenton, Oklahoma
Joplin, Missouri	American Coot	Willet
Yellow-rumped Warbler	White-faced Ibis	Autograph Rock - Highway 412 near Boise City, OK
Killdeer	Lesser Scaup	Barn Owl
House Sparrow	Sharp-shinned Hawk	Mountain Plover field - near Boise City, OK
Red-winged Blackbird	Northern Pintail	Lark Bunting
Barn Swallow	White Pelican	Burrowing Owl
I44 - Oklahoma Toll Road	Chipping Sparrow	Keyes Sewage Pond - Keyes, Oklahoma
Swainson's Hawk	Forster's Tern	Semipalmated Sandpiper
Great-tailed Grackle	Little Blue Heron
Great Egret	Greater White-fronted/Snow Goose Hybrid	4/23/09
Highway 412, Oklahoma	Salt Plains State Park, OK	Oxley Nature Center - Tulsa, OK
Mourning Dove	Greater Roadrunner	Lincoln's sparrow
Double-crested Cormorant	Ring-billed Gull	Marsh Wren
Western Meadowlark	Common Goldeneye	Swamp Sparrow
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher	Crystal Digging Area, Salt Plains NWR, OK	Indigo Bunting
Enid, Oklahoma	Piping Plover
American Robin
Highway 412 - between Enid & Woodward, Oklahoma	4/21/09
Eurasian Collared Dove	Slapout, Oklahoma
Cattle Egret	Western Kingbird
	Highway 412 toward Guymon, Oklahoma
4/18/09
Boiling Springs State Park, OK	Horned Lark
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher	Ring-necked Pheasant
Carolina Chickadee	Lake Optima - Hardesty, OK
Great Blue Heron	Green-winged Teal
Cedar Waxwing	Wilson's Phalarope
Carolina Wren	Horned Grebe
Yellow-crowned Night Heron	Ash-throated Flycatcher
Pileated Woodpecker (heard)	Orange-crowned Warbler
American Goldfinch	Highway 412 - near Boise City, Oklahoma
Louisiana Waterthrush	Common Raven
Eastern Phoebe	Chihuahuan Raven
Northern Parula	Keyes Sewage Pond - Keyes, Oklahoma
Black-chinned Hummingbird	Bufflehead
Pine Siskin	Wilson's Snipe
Selman Guest Ranch, OK	American Pipit
Belted Kingfisher	Baird's Sandpiper
Yellow-headed Blackbird	Northern Harrier
White-winged Dove	Boise City Sewage Pond - Boise City, Oklahoma
Wood Duck	Franklin's Gull
Lark Sparrow	Solitary Sandpiper
Red-bellied Woodpecker	Lesser Yellowlegs
Eastern Bluebird	Greater Yellowlegs
Redhead	Long-billed Dowitcher
Great Horned Owl	Kenton, Oklahoma
Savannah Sparrow	Say's Phoebe
Ladder-backed Woodpecker	Dinosaur Tracks Monument - Kenton, OK
Snowy Plover	Golden Eagle
Least Sandpiper
Loggerhead Shrike
Hal & Fern Cooper WMA, OK
Song Sparrow (heard)
House Finch

Favorite Bird Photos From this Trip (place pointer over Thumbnail for caption - click on any photo thumbnail to view full size):