Last night, I attended Ballet Arkansas’ performance of American Images at the Grand Prairie Center for work. It’s the second year the company has traveled to Stuttgart.
The performance took audience members on a trip through U.S. history with six sections ranging from the American Civil War-based Times Torn to the American Dream to Nowhere/Now Here, which is based on everyday struggles.
In August, I completed my first Bird Island sunset tour at Lake Ouachita near Hot Springs. I was in awe. There were literally hundreds of Purple Martins coming in to roost for the night.
Bird Island, designated an Important Bird Area by the Audubon Society, is Arkansas’ largest known pre-migratory Purple Martin roost. It is 1,260 feet long and about 100 feet at its widest point. According to Audubon Arkansas, an estimated 8,000-50,000 birds use the area between late July and early August.
Lake Ouachita State Park now offers Purple Martin boat tours, which has the boats circling the tiny island at sunset so viewers can watch the Purple Martins and other birds come in to roost.
For my visit, one part of the island housed egrets and other larger birds, such as Little Blue Herons, Cattle Egrets and Great Egrets. The Purple Martins filled the trees and the skies covering the rest of the island. It was a nice way to end the evening — watching the birds glide across the water towards the island with a beautiful sky behind them.
The Arkansas Historic Preservation Program brought its “Walks through History” program to Stuttgart Saturday to highlight the community’s commercial historic district. The nearly 3-hour walk took us from the intersection of Third and Maple Streets to Sixth Street. From Sixth Street, we walked up and down Main Street learning about nearly every building.
The history included this undated picture, which shows the former Hotel Price (left) and Riceland Hotel in Stuttgart. Hotel Price was originally the Metropolitan Hotel and its northern half was demolished in 1921 to make room for the Riceland Hotel. Riceland Hotel is infamous in Stuttgart for its bad luck as well as its hayday when it was the place to see and be seen.
To the far right is the oldest brick building on Main Street (now Wilkerson’s), which was built just after an 1889 fire nearly destroyed the entire commercial district.
These Northern Mockingbirds were having a field day fighting with each other. They would sit and watch each other, fight, and then start all over.
On April 23, 1952, three birders documented the first sighting of a cattle egret in North America. Today, the bird is a common sight in the fields, especially in Arkansas County. It’s a sight I took for granted until two days ago when an Arkansas park interpreter shared a 1953 story from Wild America discussing the “new find.”
To be continued …
Rediscovering Arkansas with a few detours.
We preserve, conserve, and study the native plants of Arkansas
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Rediscovering Arkansas with a few detours.
Think left & think right & think low & think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!" -Dr. Seuss
I previously worked as a news and sports photographer. Recently I have been enjoying wildlife photography. My approach toward bird photos is similar to sports photography. I attempt to capture mostly action and hopefully a unique perspective.
Urbanites in the woods, doing all our own stunts.
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Rediscovering Arkansas with a few detours.
Rediscovering Arkansas with a few detours.
Rediscovering Arkansas with a few detours.
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