brown-headed nuthatch – Memos for Me

Photos: Lorance Creek Natural Area

June 4, 2023

I’ve been on the hunt to spot and photograph a Louisiana Waterthrush, a member of the warbler family that stays close to moving water and is among the earliest migrating warblers.

I finally spotted my first Louisiana Waterthrush today at the Lorance Creek Natural Area. It was also my first trip to the this natural area, which has a .5 mile roundtrip trail that starts in an upland pine-oak forest and ends with a boardwalk through an open water tupelo-bald cypress forest. Added in 1990, Arkansas Heritage describes the natural area as primarily a shallow, groundwater-fed swamp that spreads out along both sides of Lorance Creek. It is situated at the transition zone between the sandy uplands of the Coastal Plain and the flat lowlands of the Mississippi Alluvial Plain.

I got there at 7:51 a.m. and spent the next almost two hours searching for birds. I found 31 species and was actually greeted in the parking lot by a Black-and-White Warbler and a Brown-headed Nuthatch.

I’m looking forward to coming back later when migration picks back up to see What other warblers I can find. Until then, I’m happy with my sightings so far, which include an Acadian Flycatcher, Indigo Buntings and Prothonotary Warblers.

Photos: Little Rock CBC

December 17, 2019

White-eyed Vireo1 121419 LR CBC_Russenberger Road — White-eyed Vireo (Russenberger Road)

This past Saturday, I participated in my first Christmas Bird Count held in Little Rock. It was pretty fun, and awesome in the fact that I got paired with one of the state’s best birders. I also visited some birding areas that I’ve never been to before. We found 59 different species in the eastern section of Little Rock that included the Arkansas Audubon Center and the nearby Gilliam Park. Here’s a few of the birds we saw:

Winter Wren 121419 LR CBC_Fourche Bottoms_Borrow Ponds — Winter Wren (Fourche Bottoms – Borrow Ponds)

House Wren 121419 LR CBC_Audubon Center — House Wren (Arkansas Audubon Center)

American Kestrel, Pileated Woodpecker 121419 LR CBC_Russenberger Road — Pileated Woodpecker, American Kestrel (Russenberger Road)

Brown-headed Nuthatch1 121419 LR CBC_Russenberger Road — Brown-headed Nuthatch (Russenberger Road)

Orange-crowned Warbler1 121419 LR CBC_Benny Craig Park — Orange-crowned Warbler (Benny Craig Park)

Tufted Titmouse2 121419 LR CBC_Russenberger Road — Tufted Titmouse (Russenberger Road)

Swamp Sparrow 121419 LR CBC_Russenberger Road — Swamp Sparrow (Russenberger Road)

Pine Warbler 121419 LR CBC_Fourche Bottoms_Borrow Ponds — Pine Warbler (Fourche Bottoms – Borrow Ponds)

Eastern Towhee 121419 LR CBC_Russenberger Road — Eastern Towhee (Russenberger Road)

Green-winged Teal 121419 LR CBC_Fourche Bottoms_Borrow Ponds — Green-winged Teal (Fourche Bottoms – Borrow Ponds)

Eastern Bluebird, Pine Warbler 121419 LR CBC_Russenberger Road — Eastern Bluebird, Pine Warbler (Russenberger Road)

Double-crested Cormorant 121419 LR CBC_Fourche Bottoms_Borrow Ponds — Double-crested Cormorant (Fourche Bottoms – Borrow Ponds)

All day birding

March 7, 2013

Lately, my days have been pretty bare of after hours, work-related events. I had to take advantage of my good luck by heading out to bird in Arkansas County and around Little Rock. It paid off — I rediscovered four state birds. The birds were House finches, a Brown-headed Nuthatch, the American Goldfinch, and Green-Winged Teal Ducks. The duck pictures aren’t the best since the ducks were practically on the other side of the lake. But hey, at least you can tell what they are. 🙂

Anyway, here’s my pictures of the birds plus sky pictures that I like: