The Wichita Mountains of Oklahoma

Southwest of Oklahoma City, up from the plains, rise sharp and striking mountains. The granite spines of the Wichitas are remnant, left to stand in memory of years gone by. The area is the epitome of the west. The region got its start with the establishment of Fort Sill, in 1869, to supply the escalating Indian Wars. The fort was strategically placed in the foothills of the Wichita Mountains, an important landmark for Comanche and Wichita Indians in the area. A controversial part of our American history, campaigns were waged against them throughout the last half of the 19^th-century. Fort Sill also played an integral part in bringing some law and order to the west, even aiding the “Hanging Judge” Parker back on the east side of Indian Territory at Fort Smith, AR. In 1901, as things calmed down, the town of Lawton was established. Comanche tamed and outlaws ousted, the area would become the Comanche, Kiowa, and Apache reservation. Fort Sill remains a major installation today, the last of the original South Plains forts.

In 1901, a wildlife refuge was established adjacent to the fort, and remains an important upland oasis today. It was at the Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge where I, and two other birders, found ourselves one weekend in early May 2016. Under the shroud of finals and prepping for my second graduation, I couldn’t help myself.

I am usually able to find excitement on even the most typical day. Sometimes, though, “normal” life itself isn’t enough. With an average life expectancy of around 78 years (I like to think mine will be longer), there’s no time for dilly dallying through a boring day. We only get one life in this world and it’s the greatest earthly adventure with which we’ll ever be bestowed. I think our duty here is to live it vibrantly and effectively. This is precisely the reason I rarely pass up the chance for adventure…I sure wasn’t going to pass this one up either. The Wichitas called and I came.

Early Morning in the Wichitas

The Wichita Mountains are a stronghold for Black-capped Vireo, listed as endangered by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. The species winters in western Mexico and spends summers in northern Mexico, central Texas, and southwest Oklahoma. It is the smallest of our North American vireos and prefers oak scrub on rocky hillsides. No wonder the Wichitas house so many; almost 4500 pairs at the last estimate! We arrived mid-morning the first day, early enough to enjoy another hour of cool temperatures and intermittent cloud-cover. With vireos in mind, we hiked the Elk Mountain trail. The peak sits at 2270 feet in elevation, compared to 1600 feet at the trailhead below, and we went all the way to the top.

I'm always amazed at how well cell phone photos turn out these days.

The terrain in these mountains is rugged. Rounded granite dressed in reds and oranges, provided traction as we climbed. Yellow lichen coated the quartz-laden rock and cacti grew from its crevices. Our first Black-capped Vireos came just five minutes up the trail, in a drain culminating into a steep canyon far above. In the oak mott, here, lived a pair. The tiny male was heard singing from a thicket and soon seen darting through the scrub oaks. His dark black head was colored in stark contrast against a white face mask, all surrounding a brick-red eye. His yellow flanks and greenish back were like a beacon as he moved around marking territory with insistent singing. The female, much like the male, but with a slate gray head, followed close behind. Cameras waited anxiously as these two quickly skulked from oak to oak.

One of our first Black-capped Vireos of the day.

They didn’t pay us much attention, as it was early morning and matters were still focused on finding food. The duo, and others throughout the day, could be seen singing, darting in some direction, grabbing a snack, and perching to quickly swallow it before emitting a quick song, and moving to the next tasty morsel. Nearly every one gave the cameras only a split second chance, often missed with the photographers vying for a precarious boulder perch. Vexing little birds. The Black-cappeds were interesting to listen to, as their song repertoire is an order of magnitude greater than other vireos. 

Soon after our first vireo encounter, a Canyon Wren sang from boulders above us. It’s descending series of tee-tee-tee-tee-tees is one of the sole melodies that draws me back to the west. The welcome was appreciated. Without much coaxing, he landed on a boulder right in front of us, curiously bobbing up and down as he scoped out the area…a typical wren behavior, even way out here.

A common sight in the western canyonlands: Canyon Wren.

As the clouds parted, and we rose higher, things began to heat up. Before it got too hot, the rocks came alive with Eastern Collared Lizards. This species is recognized for being very large and colorful. Known as “Mountain Boomers” back in Arkansas, the lizard has been extirpated from most of their former limestone glades. Back home, males have brown heads and backs, two black collars, and lime-green-yellow to bluish-green legs, tails, and sides. In the populations of the Wichita and Glass Mountains, males have the same two black collars, but have bright golden heads and backs, with electrifying teal-blue legs, tails, and sides. The Wichita lizards also have a nice set of speckles covering their bodies. Females of both types are nondescript and blend in well with the rocks.

Eastern Collared Lizard

Unlike our Arkansas collared lizards, those in the Wichitas are not wary and sit calmly for a gawking naturalist.

For all intents and purposes to this southerner, the Wichita Mountains are the west, but ecologically speaking they’re the very near west. Most of the birds are something I could easily see back home, but it’s the few that I can’t find at home, and the dramatic terrain, that make trips like this worthwhile. One of the coolest birds of this canyon habitat is the Rufous-crowned Sparrow.

Rufous-crowned Sparrow

Dubbed “little brown jobs” (LBJs) by many birders, sparrows get a bad wrap for being dull. Those who say a sparrow is dull, though, clearly have never looked closely at any of them. A good friend of mine inspires birders away from this mindset with his “Sparrow Wall of Fame”, a collection of his brilliant sparrow photos adorning a wall in his home. The large Rufous-crowneds love rocky slopes and walk around all day feeding along boulders and among the grass and cacti. Not wary at all, we had several walking amidst us in the rocks. One, not noticing the three photographers standing on a boulder, walked almost too close to focus on! We did a lot of boulder perching…picture a circus act where a mass of performers climb on top of something, join hands, and hang off the edge. Not quite what we did, but you get the picture. Ta-da!

I hope he doesn't get this close to every large predator he encounters.

The habitat on Elk Mountain and its slopes is very interesting. Great expanses of granite hold many, small oases in the form of scrub oak/juniper thickets and grassy meadows. This interspersing of habitats exists in harmony. The little, grassy meadows are home to many of the spring wildflowers still in bloom: antelopehorn milkweed, larkspur, tiny barrel cacti with hot pink blooms, and firewheels, among others. The canyon oak motts are home to our Black-capped Vireos, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, Summer Tanagers, and a few other familiar faces.

In the meadows were long-dead oak and juniper snags; some standing, some fallen. Some probably saw their end in a hot fire, some in old age. The singing of Painted Buntings was the persistent anthem of the snaggy meadows. One didn’t have to look far to find a nice male perched up, head thrown back in song. As a matter of fact, one didn’t have to go far at all to be stopped in their tracks by a Painted Bunting. They held up progress so, I thought we would have to start swatting them out of the way like flies; a blasphemous thought.

One of the most incredible plumages of the avian world.

Up we went, thinking we would soon run out of Black-capped Vireos. We never did. At the capstone of Elk Mountain’s peak, the highest absolute point, 700 feet above the plains below, sang one of the vireos from a grove of junipers. With 30 mph gusts of wind, I was surprised it had decided to, at least temporarily, take up residence here. Us large humans could hardly even stand at the top without threat of being blown over the edge! Yet somehow, this tiny bird, a poster-child for scrubland conservation, seemed to be having a great life in this sweeping field of nearly treeless orange granite. Looking out from the top, bison could be seen grazing on the plains far below, where the main park road snaked through a sea of green grass. The rest of the Wichitas could also be seen from this almost 360-degree view. Views like this spark in me a sort of nostalgia for times gone by and I can’t help but think I would have been part of those times in another life. How I would love to go back and partake in the early years of conservation, when the land was still completely wild. But my place is enjoying today's time and continuing what was started.

All in all, it was about two miles to the top, but took us most of the day thanks to all of the incredible sights and birds along the way. With my wiry build and active lifestyle, I always find myself in need of food. With breakfast at 6:00am and a measly granola bar at 11:00, I quickly regretted not packing lunch for our hike, but there was no way I was turning around to get it. I am too competitive to leave my friends for even a few minutes. I might miss THE Black-capped Vireo shot of the day! The granola bar helped for about thirty seconds, but its energy was used in flexing my big toe as I clambered over yet another boulder. Amazingly, the day’s 25+ Black-capped Vireos helped me forget most of my hunger.

One of the upper-most vireos.

Out of water and food, we arrived back at the car after 2:00pm. One stick-gouged calf, four sunburned limbs, and two sunburned eyes later was enough to put most people over the edge, but our group of three birders isn’t most people. This is all a welcome price to pay for good adventure, good fun, and good birds, most of all. We enjoyed a Black-chinned Hummingbird feeding above us, at prairie larkspur, and another photogenic collared lizard before finally calling it a day.

The next morning found us at the refuge just before sunrise. We arrived in time to have front row seats to the show we missed the day before. As sunbeams started to peek above the mountains, turkeys began to call from every direction and, somewhere, a Chuck-will’s-Widow ended his long night. As we photographed the sunrise, two turkeys went back and forth gobbling from someplace just out of sight. Camera snapping at the orange and blue sky, I could hear their loud wing beating display, snapping as the stiff feathers scraped the ground. We soon found the two toms in a strutting face-off nearby.

Early sunbeams over the mountains.

It wasn’t long before we were interrupted by Painted Buntings again and our thoughts drifted to Black-capped Vireos. Back at Elk Mountain, we spent several hours enjoying them again, chasing one in circles, during its morning rounds, for at least 30 minutes. Eventually, we made our final descent and left the vireos behind.

Sing, feed, sing, feed, sing, feed...a never ending process for an energetic bird.

Later, back down on the plains, Lark Sparrows seemed to dominate. Lark Sparrow is another striking sparrow that will draw even the worst advocate of the LBJ from their evil ways. They, along with a large flock of Clay-colored Sparrows and Painted Buntings, provided late-morning entertainment. 

Lark Sparrow, large and charismatic.

Bison bidding us farewell against a backdrop of rugged granite, it began to rain, and so ended our Wichita Mountain excursion. As with any trip west, I left changed just a little bit more.

The way it used to be.

"Time, geologic time, looks out at us from the rocks as from no other objects in the landscape...Even if we do not know our geology, there is something in the face of a cliff and in the look of a granite boulder that gives us pause."

--John Burroughs

For a complete set of the trip's photos, visit: http://www.pbase.com/mpruitt/wichita_mountains

Happy travels!