Kansas and Oklahoma

 On September 30th we left Colorado and headed south to the Cimarron National Grasslands north of Elkhart, Kansas. The weather was overcast, pretty dark, and wind swept the plain in a stiff cool breeze. The overlook beside the Santa Fe trail on this dark day yielded nothing more than grazing cattle.

In Elkhart, Kansas we got gas and across the street was huge grain elevator. On the road and the lawn of a bank building nearby we saw hundreds of House Sparrows.

In the flock was a dozen Eurasian-collared Doves:

 

And dozens of Great-tailed Grackles:

 

Not a bad grouping of birds to introduce us to the Sunflower State.

East from Elkhart along the miles of straight, prairie road we saw Northern Harrier, American Kestral, and Ring-necked Pheasants.

We drove into Oklahoma, the clouds sticking with us, and headed to the Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge. We saw birds more familiar to us in Virginia: Northern Cardinal and Blue Jay. We also observed lots of waterfowl, waders, and shorebirds from the blind on the Eagle's Roost Trail. Some but not limited to: Black-necked Stilt, Great Egret, Ring-billed Gull, Green-winged Teal, Mallard, and White Pelican.

After driving to the salt flats, which after. a recent rain was muddy and full of puddles, and digging for the selenite crystals  the refuge is famous for,  we headed westward out of the refuge. Before we hit the main road to Cherokee, OK, we saw over a dozen Scissor-tailed Flycatchers perched on the power lines. 

It was a migratory flock of adults and juveniles whose tails aren't nearly as long as the adults. What a great way to end the day!