Spotted Towhee

I’ve spent the past few days trying to get a better glimpse of a male Spotted Towhee that’s been found at a local park in Little Rock. The above photo is the best photo and look I’ve gotten so far, although I know it is the bird in question since it responded to call backs I played and other birders got better glimpses of it right before I arrived.

The Spotted Towhee is not as commonly found in Arkansas as it’s relative, the Eastern Towhee. The male of both towhees are robin-sized. They have black heads, throats and backs with a white belly that has brown streaks along each side. The Spotted Towhee has white streaks along it’s wings and back while the Eastern Towhee has a white bar on the edge of its wings but not as many white streaks.

The range of the Spotted Towhee is typically more to the west of Arkansas with the non breeding season range including parts of Colorado, Oklahoma and Texas, according to All About Birds.

Snowed in

“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.

White Ibis

White Ibis

At Two Rivers Park in West Little Rock, there is a swampy section that I enjoy visiting just to see what I will find. In this visit, it was a juvenile White Ibis. White Ibises typically gather in groups in shallow wetlands in southeastern United States. They are not common in Arkansas, although they make a random appearance each year.

Walk it off

Pine Warbler3 032120 Bufflehead Bay
Pine Warbler

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. 🙂

Photos: Little Rock CBC

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)

 

Backyard Visitors

Earlier this year, I accepted a non-journalism job in Little Rock — a move I never thought I would ever make both in terms of leaving journalism and leaving Northeast Arkansas.

I lucked out in the housing situation, though, and one of my favorite things to do is to keep track of the various wildlife to visit my backyard. Besides the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, I think we are most excited to welcome four to five Baltimore Orioles. Above are some photos taken in late April.