Fall Migration

Black-throated Green Warbler

This past weekend, I stopped by Gillam Park in southeast Little Rock to see if I could spot in warblers passing through. I got lucky with a great look at a Black-throated Green Warbler – a long-distance migrant that’s headed across the Gulf of Mexico for the winter.

I also spotted an American Redstart that couldn’t sit still and more:

On a neat, but disturbing note: I spotted this wandering Wolf Spider carrying tons of babies. I’m afraid of spiders and typically to avoid them and any mention of them. I didn’t realize female Wolf Spiders carry their babies on their backs for several days after they are born to guard and tend to them. They may have more than 100 babies at a time.

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.

Currently loving: Common Yellowthroat

Common Yellowthroat3 BKNWR 040420
Common Yellowthroat

I stumbled across a Common Yellowthroat during a recent trip to Bald Knob National Wildlife Refuge. Not going to lie, it took me a good 20-ish minutes to finally spot/identify this little guy. I could see two birds sprinting around in the shrubs across a huge ditch from me, but they were moving too fast for me to see clearly at first. I finally caught the one pictured above just resting in a bush.

This morning trip fielded about 28 different species of birds for me. Some of my highlights are below:

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Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Yellow-rumped Warbler3 BKNWR 040420
Yellow-Rumped Warbler

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Blue-gray Gnatcatchers and a Red-bellied Woodpecker

Double-Crested Cormorant BKNWR 040420
Double-crested Cormorant

Eastern Bluebird BKNWR 040420
Eastern Bluebird

Do you see what I see (II) …

Pied-billed Grebe

After the bayou float, I had to walk about Arkansas Post to find the red-bellied woodpecker. I found the awesome bird and more.

Do you see the American Alligator?
Canada Goose
Red-Bellied Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow Rumped Warbler
Hairy or Downy Woodpecker
Northern Cardinal
Brown Thrasher
White-throated Sparrow