Photos: Longspurs and Owls

Short-eared Owl

I visited the Stuttgart Municipal Airport recently with a group of birders with the hope of finding Short-eared Owls, Smith’s Longspurs, Lapland Longspurs and possibly even a Barn Owl. While we missed the Lapland Longspurs, we did get lucky on the bird front. Our checklist for the day included four Short-eared Owls, a juvenile Bald Eagle and 77 Smith’s Longspurs.

It actually turned out to be a great birding weekend. I traveled to Wynne to visit family and returned to Little Rock via Hwy. 64 through Bald Knob. The route had me stumbling across a birds such as the below Black Vulture, Fox Sparrow, Hooded Mergansers and Mallards. I even spotted a tree that had a hole that eerily looked like a face. What do you think – do you see the face?

Here’s a visual of the birds I saw:

Hooded Mergansers

A foxy sparrow

Fox Sparrow.120017.CBC Craighead

Today, I participated in my first Christmas Bird Count in years. I was even able to bring along my Aunt Cindy and Gigi for the ride. We had the northwest section of Craighead County. My favorite find was this Fox Sparrow, which was in a tree near Bono Lake.