It’s the season of migrants and baby birds. Speckle-breasted baby American Robins are out in the yard, hunted by neighborhood cats. Owls are out in the day light, trying to feed ravenous young.…
Everywhere I go in northwest Arkansas giving bird programs people ask me about birds they used to see here, but don’t see now very often. Lots of the old-timers remember bobwhite quail, that pleasant, whistled BOB WHITE! So do I. My answer to such questions is usually the same: it’s…
Down around Fort Smith old cut-off Arkansas River meanders refilled after heavy rain in late March. Meanders are the big bends in the natural river as it winds its way toward the Mississippi. …
Great Blue Herons are standing on nests in the Illinois River bottomlands rookery west of Tontitown, on the road to Siloam Springs. Number of nests, about 35. Number of adults perched improbably atop mature trees, about 39. Nests are in tall white sycamores, forming picturesque contrast with winter grays of…
Loons migrate through Northwest Arkansas during spring and fall. But Common Loons, scientific name Gavia immer, are never common. A productive November day is 10, and in winter, a single bird or two. It was a big deal when a single loon wintered on Lake Fayetteville last year. I’ve seen…
The annual Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) begins Friday, Feb. 17 and goes through the weekend. I’m going to Devil’s Den State Park on Friday to get things started. Y’all Observer readers are mighty welcome. I’ll meet anyone interested in the parking area adjacent Lee Creek bridge in the park at…
White Rock is way out in the middle of the Ozark National Forest and the Boston Mountains. Birding is good with Hermit Thrushes and Golden-crowned Kinglets in a stand of native shortleaf pines. Male Purple Finches are enjoying coralberries and tree buds right alongside Forest Service Road 1505. Flocks in…
