A few weeks ago, a friend and I visited the Hot Springs National Park after receiving an eBird rare bird report of a White-throated Swift being sighted at the Hot Springs Mountain Tower.
The trip was unsuccessful, and we gave it no further thought. Until now, when someone, once again, reported seeing the swift. We decided to give it another try. Luck was on our side.
The White-throated Swift was flying just below the observation desk level and steadily flying around its presumed roost area at dawn and again just before dusk. I only saw one swift each time, but other birdwatchers discovered at least one more in the days following my visit.
Typically found in the cliffs and canyon walls of western North America, the White-throated Swift is an extremely rare visitor to Arkansas. This is the fifth-reported sighting of one in the state since 1935. They are also highly social creatures and sleep in roosts of hundreds of birds. This just makes our sighting even more interesting.
When I try my hand at bird calling, the Merlin app typically identifies my call as a Bewick’s Wren. While interesting, I’ve never actually seen a Bewick’s Wren until recently.
A Bewick’s Wren recently showed up at a bird watcher’s house in White County. He was gracious enough to let others stop by to see it. Typically found in the western United States, this rare wren is occasionally spotted in Arkansas, typically every few years. This hyperactive wren was happily feeding all over the yard and mixed in well with other birds.
One issue I’ve always had while birding is that I have trouble distinguishing among certain species, such as thrushes. Despite this hiccup, I recently got lucky and spotted my first Gray-cheeked Thrush without an issue.
This little guy was not bothered by me at all. It was foraging on the ground near the entrance to the boardwalk at Lorance Creek Natural Area in Little Rock, and later flew to a nearby limb where I had an excellent view of it through my camera.
I identified it through its call and eBird reviewers have since confirmed my photo. Gray-cheeked Thrushes are medium-sized, without a prominent eyeing and has a grayish face with no buffy coloring. Its belly is whitish. The eyering and coloring – gray vs Buffy – are two ways to distinguish the Gray-cheeked from other thrushes.
The spotting had perfect timing. I’d just spoken to someone the day before about the ideal time to see the species. In North America, Gray-cheeked Thrushes are currently migrating through Arkansas from their wintering grounds east of the Andes from Venezuela and Colombia to their breeding grounds in western Alaska.
I finally saw the elusive-to-me Hooded Warbler this morning, and photographed my 300th bird species in Arkansas.
I actually got my first great look at a Hooded Warbler in Marion over 10 years ago. I was walking down the steps of my aunt’s back patio and came face to face with one. I think it shocked both of us because I just stood there with the bird fluttering just inches from my face.
But I never got a photo of it. That remained true, even after I took up birdwatching in 2012 and began my attempt to photograph as many bird species in Arkansas as I could. I heard it, but never saw it.
That luck changed Friday when a friend mentioned seeing it at the entrance of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission headquarters. Around 7:30 a.m., I made it to the AGFC entrance and I didn’t even have to get out of my car to hear two calling to each other. While I never saw one, the second was constantly on the move and easy to spot.
Hooded Warblers breed in Arkansas and most of eastern United States, and winters in Central America. It generally hands out in the understory of forests, according to AllAboutBirds.org. While I do not see them often, the Hooded Warbler is pretty common with low conservation concern.
It’s the same for Yellow Warblers, which also breeds in Arkansas in the northern part of the state. It’s not uncommon for me to see these warblers, but today did mark the first time I saw one at home. They eat mostly insects and don’t come to backyard feeders, but it seemed perfectly happy in the large oak tree in my front yard.
It took two years of actively searching for the Blue-headed Vireo before I finally found one. Although I must admit, I stumbled across this sighting. I was recently in Pine Bluff with five other birders for the monthly field trip of the Audubon Society of Central Arkansas. Our final stop was the William (Bill) G. Layer Nature Trail in Bayou Bartholomew, which is the longest bayou in the world.
We were over half way through the shorter loop when our field trip leader suddenly spotted the Blue-headed Vireo flitting among the trees. As we all watched, it came closer and closer until it was nearly within arms reach at one point.
Blue-headed Vireos are songbirds with thick bills, a blue-gray head, olive-green back and bold white “spectacles.” It has yellow flanks and a white breast and belly. They pass through Arkansas during migration on their way to breeding grounds in eastern North America.
A rare-to-Arkansas Ferruginous Hawk has been staying around Stuttgart recently. This hawk, the largest of North American hawks, is more commonly found in the prairies, deserts, and open range of the West.
I finally caught up with it on Goldman Sunshine Road in a spot I had driven past three times before. I was headed home when I finally spotted it.
Another rare gull has been spotted at the Lake Dardanelle Lock and Dam, although this time on the Russellville side.
The latest find is a first-year Iceland Gull – Thayer’s (second from right in photo). This gull has first-cycle plumage, a dirty white color, and is smaller than a Herring Gull with an all black bill. It looks like a smaller Glaucous Gull, another rare-to-Arkansas gull that was recently spotted at the same location.
The Iceland Gull breeds in the Arctic and mostly winter in the Arctic waters and the Northeast, Great Lakes and West Coast regions. The gull has three subspecies (Iceland, Thayer’s and Kumlien’s) and the main difference between the three is in how dark the wingtips are in adults. Thankfully, a local birder who initially spotted the Iceland Gull met me at the lock and dam to help me find the Iceland Gull.
The Iceland Gull marked my 300th bird species spotted in Arkansas, and my 296th photo-wise.
A Glaucous Gull – the second largest gull in the world – was spotted recently at the Lake Dardanelle Lock and Dam. A first winter, the gull was mottled tan and white, and quite larger than the Ring-billed Gulls surrounding it. It also has a pinkish bill with black at the tip.
The Glaucous Gull is in a steep decline, conservation wise. They mostly migrate along coasts and are common in New England and the Pacific Northwest. They nest in the arctic. Needless to say it’s not often you find a Glaucous Gull in Arkansas. But according to AllAboutBirds.org, first- and second-year Glaucous Gulls tend to move farther southward than adults. That makes sense – the one spotted recently was a first-year.
It was fun watching this Glaucous Gull. It had no issue battling over fish with the other gulls and an American White Pelican. It caught one fish and was then chased around by others.
It was overcast and raining all weekend but that didn’t stop the constant flow of birds at my feeders. The newest visitors are American Goldfinches and a Pine Warbler. Here’s hoping to see more.
I traveled to the southeast region of Arkansas with a conservation biologist with the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission in search of the Henslow’s Sparrow.
The biologist was studying the presence of the Henslow’s Sparrow at Warren Prairie Natural Area. Warren Prairie consists of salt slicks, saline barrens, Delta post oak flat woods, mound woodlands, pine flat woods and woodlands, and bottomland hardwood forest communities, according to ANHC. It is one of the few consistent places to find the declining Henslow’s Sparrows, which prefers thick, weedy grasslands and wetlands.
We went back and forth a flooded grassland to flush the Henslow’s sparrows. According to the biologist, these sparrows are rarely vocal so the best chance to find them is when they are flushed from the ground to nearby trees.
Warren Prairie is also home to several colonies of Red-cockaded Woodpeckers, which the Continental Concern Score indicates is a species of highest conservation concern. Our first stop at Warren Prairie had us watching a Red-cockaded Woodpecker busy pecking at a tree just near a cavity.
The Red-cockaded Woodpecker used to fairly common in the southern United States, but the species is now endangered and only remain mostly in large populations on federal lands due to their dependance of old-growth southern pine forests for food and habitat.
They live in family groups that work together to dig cavities and raise young, according to AllAboutBirds.org. Breeding pairs are monogamous and often stay together for life. They live in family groups of two to five adults usually with only one female. Females will leave during their first winter. It’s neat: sons from previous breeding seasons typically stay with the parents to help incubate, brood and feed the young. When the parents finally leave, these sons will then take over the cavity and the tradition continues.
For roosts and nests, they only live in live pines, preferably ones infected with red heart fungus. The fungus softens the wood making the work of creating the cavity easier. AllAboutBirds.org reports it may take two years or more for the Red-cockaded Woodpecker to completely dig out one cavity. Due to this, family groups rarely colonize new areas.
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.
Memos for Me 