flowers – Memos for Me

Day 2: African Wildlife Safari

March 6, 2023

Day 2 was mostly a lazy day. We met for a hot breakfast at 7 a.m. and then spent the morning on the hotel grounds as we waited for the last four members of our 10-person group to arrive.

Once everyone arrived, we had lunch at the Cultural Heritage Center where we also listened to performers, shopped and toured its art gallery.

The rest of the afternoon/night was spent back at the hotel where several of us hung out on the hotel grounds to drink, chat and (at least for me) birdwatch.

Photos: Gotta get out!

April 15, 2020

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher2 Bufflehead Bay 04112020.JPG — Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

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.

Cedar Waxwing Little Rock 04112020 — Cedar Waxwing

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:

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Pinnacle Mountain 04112020 — Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

Northern Diamond-backed Watersnake Two Rivers Park 04112020 — Northern Diamondback Watersnake

Red-spotted Purple Admiral Butterfly Bufflehead Bay 04112020 — Red-spotted Purple Admiral

Red Admiral butterfly Pinnacle Mountain 04112020 — Painted Lady

Silver-spotted Skipper1 Pinnacle Mountain 04112020 — Silver-spotted Skipper

Silver-spotted Skipper2 Pinnacle Mountain 04112020 — Silver-spotted Skipper

Purple Martin3 Two Rivers Park 04112020 — Purple Martins

Flower1 Bufflehead Bay 04112020

Scissortail Flycatcher Two Rivers Park 04112020 — Scissortail Flycatcher

Colorful view

September 6, 2019

Flower2 (winter vetch) 051119 BKNWR.JPG

The good thing about visiting Bald Knob National Wildlife Refuge is that I can usually find something for each member of my party (which typically includes family members). For my aunt, that means flowers. So, you can imagine we were happy to find these flowers this past May.

Flower3 (winter vetch) 051119 BKNWR.JPG

Bayou Meto springtime

May 1, 2013

I typically visit the Bayou Meto Wildlife Management Area in the fall and winter — never spring and summer. I broke tradition this year by taking a late afternoon drive through the area with Izzie. Boy, was I glad I did. There were Barn Swallows, Dickcissels and Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds at the Halowell Reservoir while Indigo Buntings and Blue Grosbeaks lined the roads leading to and from the reservoir. Overall, it was a pretty drive with a gorgeous sunset (see the last pictures).