On a tip from a friend, I headed to a Boomer Lake Park here in Stillwater, OK yesterday morning to confirm the appearance of a rare duck. I found the Black-bellied Whistling Duck quite easily! Although Stillwater is a few hundred miles north of where this species is distributed according to range maps in most […]
Author: Tim O'Connell
Tim O'Connell is a professor at Oklahoma State University where he teaches classes in wildlife ecology and directs research on bird/habitat associations. He is the current president of the Payne County Audubon Society, and has held positions with the Oklahoma Ornithological Society, Pennsylvania Society for Ornithology, and the State College (PA) Bird Club. He is keenly interested in training the next generation of birders and ornithologists, and actively engaged in efforts to do that through the international Wilson and Cooper ornithological societies.
Known Biters
For a brief time when we were first married, my wife worked at a daycare center. She mentioned one evening that some of the kids had “KB” annotated next to their names on some list they used to organize activities, with “KB” shorthand for “known biters.” Those known biters required just a bit more vigilance […]
Sometimes the birds come to you: Snowy Owl
On a recent Wednesday morning, one of our graduate students came into my office with a quizzical look on his face, seeking my professional opinion on his sanity. Though I am not a psychiatrist, I do know something about birds and he suspected that the Snowy Owl he had just hallucinated flying through campus might […]
Birding Couch Park, with an homage to the Babe
A much-debated legend in baseball involves the New York Yankee’s Babe Ruth at the plate facing the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field for game 3 of the 1932 World Series. According to the story, Ruth was enduring quite a bit of trash-talk from the Cubs’ bench, and he returned same: With the count at two […]
Some who welcome the drought in Oklahoma
Mornings dawn bright in Oklahoma, and one of my favorite places to revel in the awakening landscape is Lake Carl Blackwell, west of Stillwater. In addition to the reservoir itself, the park’s mix of forest, shrub woodlands, and native prairie provides great opportunities for birding and other wildlife viewing. I took advantage of all of […]