Date: 12/29/24 2:52 pm From: Bryan Reynolds <nature_photo_man...> Subject: Recent Oklahoma Birds, 14 Nov - 19 Dec
All,
I hope everyone had a nice Christmas.
I've gotten out a few times in November and December with my camera and wanted to share some images. Most are of very common birds, but besides the standard photos, I always strive to get interesting behavior and action shots.
On 14 November, I went to Lakes Hefner and Overholser. I started with Hefner and got a bunch of Double-crested Cormorants and a couple American Coots. A few American White Pelicans joined a group of hundreds of cormorants for a feeding frenzy. I tried to get large group shots and photos of cormorants flying to and from the frenzy. After the bulk of the birds got out of range, it was time to hit Lake Overholser. Again, cormorants were the bird of the day, and I got my closest photos to date of that species, including head shots. I also got one with a fish and as well as a couple Pied-billed Grebes.
1 December, I headed to Lake Thunderbird SP to look for deer and any birds that presented themselves. A Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Chickadee, and Yellow-rumped Warbler made an appearance for some shots.
14 and 16 December, I decided to do some set-up photos (bird-on-a-stick) near my feeders (Cleveland County). I had seen a few species on my property that would be photo-lifers (Brown Creeper, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Northern Flickr, and believe it or not, House Finch) and I wanted to get them. I set up a perch and was able to get the regular feeder-visiting group of American Goldfinch (one that had an injured leg that was bleeding), Carolina Chickadee (one with what looks like scaly leg mites), Tufted Titmouse, and a photo-lifer female House Finch. I saw the other target species, but was unable to get photos.
On 19 December, I decided to hit the three main lakes in OKC - Zoo, Hefner and Overholser. Because of the light angle, I always hit the Zoo Lake first, just at sunrise (after braving the morning rush hour). This day was cold and a bit breezy and I got a little chilled trying to sit still at the end of the dock and exposed to the wind. Like usual, I got the obligatory Double-crested Cormorants in flight, but to my pleasant surprise, a Bald Eagle flew by and landed at the top of a large tree along the western bank. I grew up in northern Wisconsin where eagles were pretty common, but this was my first time getting photos. The flight shots were a bit far away, but as I was looking at other birds, a second eagle flew in and the first one took off after it. They interacted with each other, and then one of them flew back to the tree, this time flying a little closer to me for better shots. A Lesser Scaup swam by for a photo and by this time I was pretty cold and needing some hot coffee and a sandwich. So, I hauled my gear back to my vehicle and hopped in to get warm and eat. I got halfway through my sandwich and to my surprise the eagle flew right towards me and landed in a tree in perfect light and right next to the parking area. I jumped out and started to get some shots. After each burst, I crept a little closer until the bird had enough and flew back to the same tree on the west edge of the lake. After the eagle, I went to Lake Hefner and got the standard group of species including more cormorants, a Mallard, coot, Pied-billed Grebe, Bonaparte's Gull, and Ring-billed Gull. Like other visits, I saw an Eared Grebe, but they were just too far away. However, I did get one shot, even though it's a bit small in the frame (photo-lifer). After that bird, I headed to Lake Overholser where my first bird was a male Northern Shoveler. I didn't see much until I got to the fishing dock on the west edge and there were a bunch of American White Pelicans fishing very close to the dock. They'd come in, plunge down, and then swim back out and circle back. I think they were trying to corral the fish before plunging for them. During this, several would swim or fly in and out of the group and that's when I photographed them because I really didn't want any of the fishing dock in the frame. I got lots of behavior including my best landing shot. At one point, a huge group of Red-Breasted Mergansers came in and started diving and fishing. In among this activity, I also photographed Ring-billed Gull, Herring Gull, Double-crested Cormorant, Pied-billed Grebe, White-throated Sparrow, and House Sparrow. As the sun got low, I finished up the day just west of the dam where I got some late-light pelicans and mallards. Then I headed home through the ridiculous traffic.
