The Eastern Bluebirds of Oklahoma

Who doesn't love the Eastern Bluebird? They are full of energy and are not shy. The great thing about the Bluebird is that they're here in Oklahoma year round...Rain, heat, or snow you can see them.

 

American White Pelican

We went to The Great Salt Plains this past weekend (yesterday). The American White Pelicans were out and about. They are a really neat bird!

It was a really windy so a lot of the song birds were hunkered down. The water fowl, woodpeckers and hawks were still out and about.

The pelicans went along the spill way looking for things to eat.



Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

Most beautiful bird! It is the state bird of Oklahoma. They are still here in Norman (OK). Migration is in full swing. The Juncos and Yellow-rumped Warblers have arrived. Hummingbirds are making their way south. The Scissor-tails will gather together and migrate within a week or two.

Jelly, jelly, jelly!

The Baltimore Orioles are everywhere.....And I am loving it!

Last week I went through 4 lbs of grape jelly!

Of course, not only are the Baltimore Orioles eating the grape jelly...There are Catbirds, Mockingbirds, finches, sparrows, and other birds.

My backyard is a rainbow.... of the bird variety! Bluejays, Goldfinch, House Finch, Cardinals, and Ruby-throated Hummingbirds....Colors everywhere.

Who's the King?

The Eastern Kingsbirds were out in force yesterday.

 

They were chasing each other, it was awesome to watch.





Scissor-tailed Flycatchers

I can't tell you how much I love seeing the Scissor-tailed Flycatchers!

 

Here in Oklahoma we start seeing the at the end of March.

 

 

Cute and Quick

 

Here is a Tufted Titmouse eating and caching some nuts and seeds.

 

 

The White-breasted Nuthatch and Chickadee are also customers.

 

 

It is interesting to see how differently the Nuthatch and the Chickadee eat.



Great Blue Heron

Here is yet another Great Blue Heron.

This photo was taken last Saturday at Arcadia Lake (here in Oklahoma).

Cedar Waxwings

It was a great birding day!

We were seeing lots of Robins, they were everywhere.

 And alas, we saw the Cedar Waxwings.

The Waxwings were eating on the same tree as the Robins.

I am figuring by tomorrow all the fruit will be gone....and we got to see it today!

Painted Bunting in the winter....What?

So look what my friend saw on her feeder the other day. It is a Painted Bunting....IT'S WINTER! That is snow next to that bird. WOW! Holy smokes I could hardly believe it. She keeps White Millet in this feeder. Usually we see buntings only in the spring, summer, and into fall. Thank you Diana, for letting me post your photo.

Carolina Chickadee, your go to bird

 This Chickadee is 4.75"-5".  In Oklahoma they are here year round.

 

Where there are Chickadees you will often see the Tufted Titmouse. On the day this photo was taken....yesterday...there were Tufted Titmice hang with them.

 So what do Chickadees eat? They eat a variety of food including seeds (they love black oil sunflower seeds), nuts, fruits, insects and will even visit your suet feeders.

So when it comes to cute birds....Chickadees are your go to bird!

A cute Harris's Sparrow.

Here in Oklahoma we are lucky to get the Harris's Sparrow during the winter. This little guy is hunkered down to stay warm.

The Harris's Sparrow is the largest and heaviest of the sparrows. They do not nest here; they travel to Canada for that. Another tidbit....they get their name from Edward Harris. He was one of John James Audubon’s best friends and most ardent financial supporter. They went on a couple of birding trips together. Harris's bird collection is now on display at the Smith-Cadbury Mansion by the Historical Society of Moorestown, NJ. The collection (on loan from the Academy of Natural Sciences) went on display this past October and will be there until Feb. It would be soooooo awesome to go see that collection!



White-breasted Nuthatch

 So, what this nuthatch is doing is wedging this nut into the tree.

He will strike at it and break it open releasing the meat and gobbling it up.

The nuthatches are a sweet little bird. We have the White-breasted Nuthatch year round. We get the Red-breasted Nuthatch in the fall/winter.

Brown Creeper

It was the highlight of my weekend to see this Brown Creeper. They are soooo cute. We only get these cuties in the fall/winter.They move up the tree in search of insects. When it reaches the top it flies to the base of the next tree and works its way up that tree.

American White Pelican

Here are some American White Pelicans. It was a real treat to see them at our local lake.

Where does time go?

Soooooooo.....Where does time go? Well, just ask these clever ravens. All of the images are DP Artworks stamps. These are from our new stamps.

Hawks everywhere

 There are hawks everywhere. We have been seeing a lot of them.

Above is a Red-tailed Hawk. Want to guess how it got this name? They are amazing birds!

Sandhill Cranes in Oklahoma

 This past weekend we made a trip north to the Great Salt Plains State Park and The Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge. Over the next few days I will be posting photos and info.

 These are Sandhill Cranes. There were hundreds of them flying over head. I am so glad we had a chance to see them.

More tomorrow.............

Great Blue Heron

 

 So this weekend at our local lake we saw a lot of

Great Blue Herons.

This guy was looking for treats to eat. I was kind of comical to watch them.

 Here is one of their landings.

Here is yet another landing.

They often make a call as they are flying. I did hear one call when it was it was just standing around.

Yellow-rumped Warbler

So the Yellow-rumped Warbler is back. They are here only in the fall and winter. This is a cute warbler the moves around a lot. You can see them on the ground or in the trees. Most often I spot them on the ground. These warblers are usually in small groups.

 

 

They have a bit of yellow under their wing as you can see in the photo above.

 

And as their name implies, they have yellow on their rump. They can be seen at your feeders. Most likely they are looking for black oil sunflower seeds, peanut butter, raisins, and suet. I love when they are back in town!