I was waiting for food to be delivered to my car when I happened to spot several birds flying overhead. Since it was nighttime, it kind of threw me off. Those birds turned out to be Common Nighthawks. A swarm of them – eight in total – flew overhead, catching flying insects drawn to the nearby street lights.
Common Nighthawks roost during the day, and can typically be found in the early mornings and evenings. According to Arkansas bird experts, I likely caught a migrating group as they passed through Little Rock. I best recognized the birds by the white patch close to the bend of their wings.
Seven Magnificent Frigatebirds have been found in Arkansas as Hurricane Ida continues to head through. Magnificent Frigatebirds are large seabirds that skim fish from the surface of the water or chase other birds to steal food. They are typically founding around the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea. I wasn’t taking any chances of missing them so I took off to find them at Lake Grand in Chicot County. I got lucky.
Despite it being a cloudy and rainy day, there were quite a few birds, like the below Bank Swallows, to be found. I also got lucky and found four rare White-winged Doves as well. White-winged Doves are typically found in desert habitat in the Southwest and in cities and suburbs of Texas and the coastal Southeast, according to AllAboutBirds.org. They have been turning up in Arkansas more and more.
We currently have an Eastern Bluebird family visiting our feeders. Bluebirds are one of our favorite birds and we have 3-4 at our feeders typically year-round. (Yay!)
There are two types of crows – the American and the Fish. They look alike so they way to tell them apart is by their call. It’s easy to hear and then photograph the American Crow. Not so much the Fish Crow, but I was finally able to do so recently at the Bald Knob National Wildlife Refuge.
“You’re in my spot!” American Goldfinch, Pine Warbler
Today’s a state holiday and we’re snowed in. So, it was the perfect day to birdwatch. We had 23 total bird species visit our feeders today – and that doesn’t include some birds we typically see like the American Crow and White-breasted Nuthatch (both were present yesterday but not today 🤷🏼♀️). Here’s a few of my favorite visitors today:
Red-bellied Woodpecker, Northern Flicker
Eastern Bluebird
Northern Flicker
European Starling
Northern Cardinal
No, I didn’t spend all day simply watching my feeders. There was also tax work and a walk around the neighborhood. I’ll let you guess which one was my favorite.
I can’t tell you how excited that makes me. It comes after years and multiple attempts of me thinking I finally found one – only for a more experienced birder that I trust to come forward and say, “that’s a House Finch. Good try.” 🤷🏼♀️
The Purple Finch I correctly identified was hanging out with American Goldfinches. It’s was a bird-filled yard. Below, I included another photo of the Purple Finch and American Goldfinches as well as my other favorite photos of the trip: one of a pair of Northern Cardinals and one of a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.
An Anna’s Hummingbird was reported in Vilonia yesterday. Luckily, the homeowner who reported her allowed me to stop by today to see her! 😍
Anna’s Hummingbirds have iridescent green feathers (males have rose-pink throats although the females have a tiny red throat patch – females of most species have none). They are typically found along the western coast and in New Mexico and Arizona. According to AllAboutBirds, unlike most hummingbirds, they either don’t migrate or migrate a very short distance to find better places to eat. Cool fact: during courtship, the male will fly up to 130 feet in the air and dive down to produce a burst of noise through their tail feathers. This takes the male about 12 seconds to do.
Today marks the THIRD hummingbird species I have seen in Arkansas since Dec. 3! Pretty impressive – and odd – seeing as I’ve only seen the Ruby Throated Hummingbird and the Rufous Hummingbird since I started birding years ago. Hopefully it won’t be the last!
For the past eight years, I’ve had Mississippi Kites nest near my home. In Jonesboro, the kites could be found in trees in my front yard and my neighbor’s back yard. In Little Rock, the kites can be found soaring leisurely above our house. Mississippi Kites are one of my favorite birds – and I look forward to seeing them again in a few months. Cool fact about Mississippi Kites: the oldest one was at least 11 years old. It was banded in Kansas in 1984 and was later found in Texas in 1995, according to AllAboutBirds.org.
Earlier this week, an immature Black-chinned Hummingbird was reported to be in Austin, Ark. Today was the first day I could make the about 30 minute trip. I got lucky: the owners were gracious and let me visit, the weather was nice and the hummingbird was very active. It came to the feeder within five minutes of my arrival.
This was my first time to see a Black-chinned Hummingbird in Arkansas. This species (the male has an iridescent purple throat) is typically found further west, although AllAboutBirds.org reports more are starting to pass through the southeast and winter along the Gulf coast than was once believed. Most winter in western Mexico. For this specific hummingbird, the homeowners told me they just happened to spot it at one of their bushes that currently has yellow flowers blooming. They were quick to put up a feeder once they realized it was definitely a hummingbird in their backyard. A retired couple who travels and birdwatches later confirmed it was a rare species to Arkansas.
On Monday, I visited the Alma Water Treatment Plant to search for the rare Long-tailed Duck (above) that others had reported seeing there for several days. The plant was closed due to the holiday so I traveled the two hours hoping I could spot the bird from the road based off of the locations given by other birders. I started the trip off by spotting a Greater Roadrunner (below) while grabbing a drink at McDonalds in Conway so I felt pretty lucky.
Upon arriving at the Alma WTP, I immediately found my first American Pipit (pictured below). American Pipits are not rare to Arkansas – just me. All About Birds reports that they can be found in the state during the migratory and no breeding seasons. They are actually among the few American songbirds that nest in both Arctic tundra and alpine meadows.
I stayed for an hour looking among the various ducks for a white headed one. No luck. I was just preparing to leave when a fellow birder arrived. (Side note: this birder, who lives nearby, and I actually met on an international birding trip we both went on that was arranged by the Arkansas Audubon Society Trust.) Within minutes of her arrival, she took me to the corner she had spotted the bird in before and we immediately found the bird. Yes, I realize how lucky I am that she showed up when she did.
Long-tailed Ducks breed in the high Arctic and spend winters mostly along ocean coasts, according to AllAboutBirds.org. Fun fact: they are divers and can feed on small fish and invertebrates as deep as 200 feet. They actually spend 3-4 times as long underwater as on the surface.
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 