Rose LakeCanadian CountyFrom the 1986 edition of A Guide to Birding in Oklahoma published by the Tulsa Audubon Society, supplemented in 2007 with material from the OKC Audubon Society. Rose "Lake" is not really a lake but an area prone to flooding if there has been sufficient rain which floods the adjoining bottomland fields. It is reached by driving west on US 66 past Morgan Road to Sara Road. Turn north on Sara Road and continue to NW 63 where Sara Road ends. Much of this road is sand and gravel and is often muddy and soft from rains and heavy truck traffic. In spring and late July through September, if flooding has occurred, shorebirding is fantastic and hundreds of herons and egrets may be feeding. Over thirty species of shorebirds visit Rose Lake every year when conditions are favorable. During years when water covers it for longer periods cattail growth has attracted nesting coots, Common Moorhens, Pled-billed Grebes, and Least Bitterns. During migration hundreds of Yellow-headed Blackbirds and dozens of Bobolinks may be seen in nearby fields along NW 63rd and NW 50th streets. The following, by Pat Velte, is excerpted from the OKC Audubon Society Rose Lake Page. Please visit their page their page for a complete account: Birders frequently report a wide variety of sandpipers at Rose Lake during spring and fall migration. It's very easy to pull over along the gravel road and watch White-faced Ibis; Little Blue Heron; Snowy, Great and Cattle Egrets; Wilson's Snipe; Avocet; Yellow-crowned and Black-crowned Night-Herons; Mississippi Kite; Red-tailed Hawks, Osprey, gulls and terns. Several birders have located Glossy Ibis and Common Moorhen at Rose Lake. I'm not one of them so they are still on my "wish list." But I have seen several Yellow-head Blackbirds in the areas around Rose Lake. In fact, if you travel north on Sara Road to 63rd and turn right, you can find quite a few grebes, Canada Geese, Killdeer, and Red-winged Blackbirds along the ponds and ditches. If you continue east on 63rd Street, you'll find open fields that attract hawks, harriers and kestrel. 63rd Street ends at Morgan Road and it's an easy trip to Lake Overholser if you turn south for two miles and cross 39th Street Expressway (Route 66). Please see the excellent OKC Audubon Society Rose Lake Page for complete details on birding this area and for a bird list. |
