Arkansas has some gorgeous birds. I’m on the lookout for a bald eagle, but while I look, I’ve decided to keep my eyes out for other birds of the sky. This is my way of keeping track of what I’ve seen (and so I can get help identifying them).
A few weeks ago I visited Bufflehead Bay on Lake Maumelle, and it was warbler haven. While I saw favorites like the Pine Warbler and Summer Tanager, I also saw firsts for me: the Worm-eating Warbler and Yellow Warbler.
There were few birds found recently on Pinnacle Mountain State Park’s Arboretum Trail (and only 1 other person – we stayed far away from each other), but the ones I definitely made the trip taken between rain showers count. I found a Carolina Wren feeding its babies, a Carolina Chickadee (not pictured) gathering food and a Swanson’s Thrush. A native Red Columbine flower also grew near the trail – a perfect celebration of this being Native Plant Week.
This weekend, I visited Bald Knob National Wildlife Refuge and, OH MY GOSH, it was a FANTASTIC weekend. I recorded a record number of birds in eBird that included some firsts for me. Here are my highlights:
Two Eastern Bluebirds have been feeding their young right outside of my front window for the past few days. Tonight, they sat in a feeder filled with mealworms and fed the youngster.
On Saturday, we were going a little stir crazy at home so we decided to take advantage of the warm weather to grab some drinks at a nearby Starbucks and then visit local parks (while practicing social distancing of course and other guidelines advised by health officials).
The trip got off to a great start! Starbucks’ drive-thru line was long but there was a native Possum Haw tree/shrub that had about 15 Cedar Waxwings eating the berries on it.
We eventually visited Bufflehead Bay, the flower garden near Pinnacle Mountain State Park’s Visitor Center and Two Rivers Park. The clear winners of the day were the many butterflies we saw as well as a Northern Diamondback Watersnake that was sunbathing. Here’s a little of what we saw:
I stumbled across a Common Yellowthroat during a recent trip to Bald Knob National Wildlife Refuge. Not going to lie, it took me a good 20-ish minutes to finally spot/identify this little guy. I could see two birds sprinting around in the shrubs across a huge ditch from me, but they were moving too fast for me to see clearly at first. I finally caught the one pictured above just resting in a bush.
This morning trip fielded about 28 different species of birds for me. Some of my highlights are below:
Recently, we took a walk at Bufflehead Bay near the Jolly Roger’s Marina to get out, enjoy the good weather and see what birds we could find. There were TONS of common loons as well as other little birds like the above Pine Warbler.
Just a note: We did practice social distancing. 🙂
During yesterday’s walk at Bufflehead Bay just west of Little Rock, I discovered a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher on a nest. I’m pretty excited since the nest overlooks the main trail. I seem to be spotting a lot of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers this season. Thank goodness they are so darn cute. Another cool sighting: an Easter Tiger Swallowtail butterfly.
I’ve been singing all day like this pine warbler because we’ve FINALLY had our first bloom of the season at the house! Yay!
Rediscovering Arkansas with a few detours.
We preserve, conserve, and study the native plants of Arkansas
Our Nicaraguan Journey
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.
WILD IN FLORIDA: Exploring and Photographing Florida's Threatened Ecosystems, Wildlife, and More
by Jo Woolf
Rediscovering Arkansas with a few detours.
Rediscovering Arkansas with a few detours.
Memos for Me 