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ARBIRD-L for Sunday, May 4, 2008
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Subject: Whimbrel
From: Charles Mills <swamp_fox(AT)MAC.COM>
Date: 4 May 2008 8:29am
I found a single Whimbrel at the Okay Levee a little after 8:00 a.m.
It is presently walking and feeding from the west to the east along
the levee's base.
Charles Mills
Ogden AR 71853
Sent from my iPhone
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Subject: Gillam Park 5/4/2008
From: Jim Dixon <jamesdixonlr(AT)ATT.NET>
Date: 4 May 2008 10:48am
Arrived at 7:45, left at 10:15. The bird I consider significant I makred
in bold. Saw several first in long times (FILT) which are marked with an
asterisk. The Chestnut-sided Warbler would have been a FILT except that
I saw one yesterday at Allsopp Park. The Ruby-throated Hummingbird
resisted all my efforts to morph him into a Black-chinned Hummingbird.
Species seen or heard:
* *Blackburnian Warbler **
* *Chestnut-sided Warbler*
* *Blue-winged Warbler*
* *Swainson’s Thrush **
* *Hairy Woodpecker **
* Mourning Dove
* House Sparrow
* American Crow
* Eastern Phoebe
* Red-bellied Woodpecker
* Northern Cardinal
* Carolina Wren
* Northern Flicker
* Hooded Warbler
* European Starling
* White-eyed Vireo
* Blue Jay
* White-throated Sparrow
* Carolina Chickadee
* House Wren
* Orchard Oriole
* Indigo Bunting
* Yellow-rumped Warbler
* Ruby-throated Hummingbird
* Great Egret
* Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
* Northern Mockingbird
--
Jim Dixon
Little Rock, AR
www.jamesdixon.us
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Subject: Still Have Grosbeaks
From: Susan & Henry Matinchek <hsmatinchek(AT)SUDDENLINK.NET>
Date: 4 May 2008 10:59am
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I still have two male Rose Breasted Grosbeaks and one female at my feeders
today. They arrived on the 23rd and are still here. My brother in Natchez
Mississippi had two Rose Breasted Grosbeaks at his feeder today - I would
have thought that those guys would have long since fled Mississippi!
Susan Matinchek
Batesville, AR
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Subject: Re: Bell, with company
From: Joyce Hartmann <hart(AT)ARTELCO.COM>
Date: 4 May 2008 11:02am
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Our group from the Little Red River Audubon Society (LRRAS) sure enjoyed
this trek and thank Herschel for sharing his expertise. It was great to
watch such a master birder at work; it seemed like he was at one with the
forest and the swamp and all the critters within. I have to admit that I
didn't see all these birds, but I heard most of them. As we ate together at
the Fish House in Conway after our trek, our group discussed the trip. We
agreed that we all learned a lot, both about specific birds, dragons, flies,
and snakes.and just general principles to improve our future birding treks,
which I'm sharing here in hopes they may be useful to others:
1. CALLS: We all decided that one of the most important things we can do is
to learn to recognize more bird calls. Obviously, we can't always see the
birds with all the leaves that are out now. Listening practice should help,
especially since so many songs are similar to each other. As an amateur
birder, I particularly had trouble with the Carolina Wren and the Kentucky
Warbler, but at Bell Slough we could hear both simultaneously, and I learned
to differentiate the calls. I wish all the songs were as distinctive as the
Fish Crow! Another reason we need practice is that we don't get to hear the
migratory birds all the time, so we forget. Virginia said she was going to
go home and listen on recordings to a lot of the birds we heard, great idea.
Herschel cited his 36 years of experience at birding; many of us don't have
that much time. But.shows the importance of taking your kids and grandkids
out when they are young!
PATIENCE, FOCUS, TUNE IN AND TUNE OUT: Bob saw many of the birds at Bell,
even the elusive warblers. He said that we can all see more if we're
PATIENT: hear the call, look for movement and follow the bird with the
binoculars. Our windy conditions made it difficult yesterday morning to look
for movement but on the back part of the trail it was calmer and the birds
sang and flitted around more visibly. Mickey also noted that concentration
was vital. With FOCUS, for instance, we didn't even hear the nearby highway
noise; all we heard is what we're listening for, bird calls. This is also
another reason not to go birding in too large a group; people tend to
chatter and scare the birds away.
GET UP EARLY: Herschel said that right now the migratory birds are still
moving through, and the best time to see and hear them is early, get outside
at 6 a.m. Also while they're moving through, it helps to go to a "rich"
place like Bell Slough, where birds funnel into the good habitat that is
sort of an oasis surrounded by less desirable habitat. Although you can hear
most of these birds right in your yard as they migrate, in the Ozarks they
can spread out more and sit down anywhere, making for less dense
populations. Bell Slough is a great place!
Another great thing about Bell Slough are the bird check lists, showing
birds likely to be found there.makes it easy to summarize afterwards what
you really saw and heard.also the loop trails built of crushed shale with
nice bridges and boardwalks make the whole walk comfortable and
tick/chigger/free.a nice bonus in warm weather.
It was all fun, and after polishing off our catfish, hush puppies and hot
fudge sundaes, we drove back to Clinton and Fairfield Bay with many happy
memories and more birding goals! Field trips are great!
The only sad part of the trip was passing by more tornado damage in
Damascus; our state has just been ravaged by all these tornados, floods,
hail, 8" - 12" snow, straight winds. Enough already! Here's to more
beautiful days like today!
Joyce Hartmann
LRRAS Field Trip Coordinator
Choctaw/Clinton
Van Buren County
_____
From: The Birds of Arkansas Discussion List
[mailto:ARBIRD-L(AT)LISTSERV.UARK.EDU] On Behalf Of Herschel Raney
Sent: Saturday, May 03, 2008 9:07 PM
To: ARBIRD-L(AT)LISTSERV.UARK.EDU
Subject: Bell, with company
Indeed, blustery and cool as many have said. I arrived at Bell early and as
usual in the past month encountered both birds and a few birders. Listening
between punches of the wind and searching like the birds for wind shadows, I
was joined by Hartman and Hartman and her fine group from north central
Arkansas Audubon for a whirl around the loop and the back beaver ponds.
Warblers early were good and then about noon when the wind backed off a bit
the warblers all fired up. Very few butterflies in the cool. And two snakes.
One of which was a 2 foot (plus) Cottonmouth who had just struck a large
Bullfrog. The frog was not getting the good end of the meeting. The snake
made one attempt to hoist the monster Rana out of the water but we left them
still looking eye to eye. This will be one snAke when they work it out. The
singing by Northern Waterthrushes early were overwhelming and the Tennessee
Warblers appear to be peaking with some very odd song variants among them.
Bay-breasted Warblers were singing as well as both of the noon Golden-winged
Warblers. No Yellow-rumps left at Bell but a few calling at my house along
with my now annual pass-through of a Black-billed Cuckoo.
Birds (full list for the group and Rd Mt):
Canada Goose (Lake Conway)
Wood Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Little Blue Heron (three adults)
Cattle Egret (Rd Mt)
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Mississippi Kite (outside Bell, arrived yesterday in the area)
Red-shouldered Hawk
Lesser Yellowlegs
Eurasian Collared Dove (Conway)
Mourning Dove
Black-billed Cuckoo (Rd Mt)
Great Horned Owl
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Least Flycatcher
Eastern Phoebe
Eastern Kingbird
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher (Bell road)
White-eyed Vireo
Yellow-throated Vireo
Blue-headed Vireo (everywhere early)
Warbling Vireo (frequent songster, shale side)
Philadelphia Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Fish Crow
Purple Martin
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Carolina Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Eastern Bluebird
Gray-cheeked Thrush (4 or 5, singing early)
Swainson's Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird (Rd Mt)
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Golden-winged Warbler (2, both singing and one stunning male hammering a
caterpillar on a limb)
Tennessee Warbler (wow, unstoppable calling)
Nashville Warbler (decreasing)
Northern Parula
Chestnut-sided Warbler (many calling males)
Magnolia Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Rd Mt only, vanishing)
Blackburnian Warbler (high calling, wind-blown male)
Pine Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler (few singing)
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Prothonotary Warbler (many)
Northern Waterthrush
Kentucky Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Hooded Warbler (3 calling and perched)
Yellow-breasted Chat
Summer Tanager
White-throated Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Blue Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Dickcissel
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark (Rd MT)
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
Orchard Oriole
American Goldfinch
Herschel Raney
(Bob & Joyce Hartmann, Valerie & Jerry Goodman,
Glenn & Virginia Reynolds, Sid & Mickey Roberts, Lewis & Geneva Lackey)
Conway AR
BAR-SF
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Subject: Whimbrel update
From: Charles Mills <swamp_fox(AT)MAC.COM>
Date: 4 May 2008 11:15am
The Whimbrel is still present at 11:12 a.m. and didn't flush as I
drove slowly past it on my way out. It's about halfway down the levee
just past an isolated strip of trees at its base.
Charles Mills
Ogden AR 71853
Sent from my iPhone
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Subject: Nice morning
From: Don Simons <Don.Simons(AT)ARKANSAS.GOV>
Date: 4 May 2008 11:17am
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Sunrise found me watching over Bear Hollow where I sat for an hour
trying to photograph indigo buntings. Two males were "hormoneiously"
trying to declare Sunrise Rock as their territory. They chased each
other constantly, pausing only to sing. =20
=20
Other birds that came by during that hour included:=20
scarlet tanagers
red-eyed vireos
rose-breasted grosbeaks
a Nashville warbler
a Blackburnian warbler
black-and-white warblers
hooded warblers
black-throated green warblers
ovenbirds
Tennessee warblers
Carolina chickadees
tufted titmice
Carolina wrens
a Baltimore oriole
=20
=20
Later, I had just a little time to walk down to the hang glider's launch
site and was greeted by a singing rufous-crowned sparrow. This week I
hope to do a serious survey of rcsp. =20
=20
Don R. Simons, CHI
Park Interpreter
Mount Magazine State Park
16878 HWY 309 South
Paris, AR 72855
=20
(479) 963-8502
(479) 963-1031 (FAX)
=20
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Subject: bobolinks and whippoorwills in the Delta
From: agfckrowe <agfckrowe(AT)FUTURA.NET>
Date: 4 May 2008 11:34am
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While I have been enjoying the large flocks of bobolinks in the wheat
fields of Arkansas County, I was surprised to hear 3 whippoorwills on
the west side of the White River National Wildlife Refuge yesterday
evening about
8pm. I listened to them for about 10 minutes and then they went quiet.
Whippoorwills are few and far between in our part of the world.
Karen Rowe
DeWitt, AR 72042
www.rollingrfarm.com
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Subject: Re: Bell, with company
From: Dennis Braddy <dmbraddy(AT)MAC.COM>
Date: 4 May 2008 12:27pm
Very wise. As you can only see in the direction you are looking and
only so far as the first obstacle (leaves), but you can hear in all
directions at once, even around corners, you will identify many more
birds if you know their songs, calls, chips, chirps, chatters, honks,
whistles, warbles, caws, screams, screeches, squeaks, hoots, toots,
booms, quacks, clucks, coos, twitters, whinnies, squawks, buzzes,
trills, knocks, drumming, and wing sounds.
Dennis Braddy
Little Rock, AR
http://www.arkansasbirder.net
"Eternity is a very long time, especially towards the end." - Stephen
Hawking
On May 4, 2008, at 11:02 AM, Joyce Hartmann wrote:
> We all decided that one of the most important things we can do is to
> learn to recognize more bird calls.
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Subject: Craighead Forest
From: Ron Howard <rhoward110(AT)SUDDENLINK.NET>
Date: 4 May 2008 1:20pm
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A pretty fair day species wise but not great numbers per species.
Warblers:
Blackpoll
Black-throated Green
Yellow-breasted Chat
Ovenbird
Kentucky
Blue-winged
Golden-winged
Blackburnian
Common Yellowthroat
Yellow-rump
Ovenbird
Nashville
Palm
Tennessee
Chestnut-sided
Also had first of season for me in the park Yellow-billed Cuckoo and =
Acadian Flycatcher.
Ron Howard
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Subject: I'm still dizzy...
From: Kenny Nichols <greykingbird(AT)GMAIL.COM>
Date: 4 May 2008 1:36pm
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...after watching close to 300 Wilson's Phalaropes this morning. Two-hundred
fifty were together in one small pond along HWY 155 west of Holla Bend NWR
and another 43 were seen in Holla Bend. Also seen along 155 were 5
SWAINSON'S HAWKS. They were, as they often do, following a tractor as it
plowed a large field. Still many hundreds of Bobolinks in Holla Bend. At one
point we had about 6 singing Bobolinks in a small oak tree with a
Mockingbird. I couldn't help but wonder what was going through the head of
this mocker (how do I do this?) as it contemplated the complex virtuoso that
played before him. Also at Holla Bend was a CINNAMON TEAL/ Blue-winged Teal
hybrid. The head looked pretty much like BWTE and the body was like CITE.
Neat bird.
Seen at our place west of Dardanelle this morning were over 100 Baltimore
Orioles. They all seemed to be heading west along the lake, occasionally
stopping in our trees before moving on. We also had Rose-breasted Grosbeak
(dozens), Yellow Warbler (several), Chestnut-sided Warbler (several),
Kentucky, Black-and-white, Parula, Tennessee (several), Nashville, Scarlet
Tanager, Catbird and all the vireos except Bell's which we got later at
Holla Bend.
Kenny & LaDonna Nichols
Dardanelle, AR
greykingbird(AT)gmail.com
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Subject: Re: Still Have Grosbeaks
From: Jeffrey Short <bashman(AT)EARTHLINK.NET>
Date: 4 May 2008 2:00pm
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Plenty of RB Grosbeaks here, too! The numbers are down a little from a =
few days ago. Even had two window-strike fatalities (male and female).
Two days ago, we assessed the condition of the Ouachita River downstream =
from Remmel Dam. We had over a month of high water some extremely high. =
Many trees downed but all parallel with the bank. The GB Heron rookery =
trees were spared but I counted only about 15 nests--down from 25 or so =
a year ago.
Jeff Short
At the bottom loop of the backwards "S" on the continuation of the =
Ouachita River
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Subject: Vibrating Vireos
From: Allan Mueller <akcmueller(AT)GMAIL.COM>
Date: 4 May 2008 3:31pm
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Did the sweep on eastern vireos this morning at Camp Robinson Special
Management Area - Blue-headed, Yellow-throatred, Bell's, White-eyed,
Red-eyed, Warbling, and Philadelphia. Also tried to make a late
Ruby-crowned Kinglet into a Hutton's Vireo, with no luck. Also 16 species
of warblers, but nothing unexpected.
Allan Mueller
20 Moseley Lane
Conway, AR 72032
501-327-8952
Be sincere, even if you don't mean it...
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Subject: Songbird study in the yard
From: Herschel Raney <herschel.raney(AT)CONWAYCORP.NET>
Date: 4 May 2008 6:10pm
Coffee on the porch with no wind at all today. Bird song carrying for as
far as it wanted to. I had a Golden-winged Warbler calling in the yard
for five hours. Certainly the longest I have ever been in earshot of
this lovely animal. Watched it several times. There were two of them but
one moved off. This is the fifth and sixth Golden-winged I have seen
this season which is certainly a migration season high for me. I noted
that the majority of its calls were the standard Beee bzzzzz bzzzz. But
one in ten or so had a forth short note Beee bzzzzz bzzzz buh. And some
calls had only two notes. Singing along with the continuous GWings were
many Chestnut-sideds. They were doing variations of Please please please
to MEETtcha. Sometimes please please please to MEETcha meet. Please
please please to meet your TEAcher. Etc. One Magnolia Warbler had such
an anomalous song I had to track it down. Saying tim tim one BEER here.
Quite a few Magnolias out. Surprise singer over near my bridge in the
high Sweetgums was a Cerulean Warbler. Along with several Parulas and
more Magnolias.
In the yard, I had a virtuoso Gray-cheeked Thrush. And then I was
surrounded by thrushes and I have been trying every Gray-cheek season to
separate the whit note in the Gray-cheek and the Swainson's. The full
songs are distinct but I hoped there was some slight difference in the
little whit note. And I think there is. The Gray-cheek seems to have a
bit of rr in its note saying wherRT. And the Swainson's is a more pure
'i' in whiiT. I did the whert and called three thrushes over to perch on
my fence at one time. Two Gray-cheeks and a Swainson's.
Blackpolls calling for a new yardbird (along with the Golden-wings and
the Cerulean). Many Rose-breasted Grosbeaks calling and feeding all
morning. The Louisiana Waterthrush made itself known several times.
Passing Broad-wings were whistling for me. The local Red-shoulders were
talking it up. A lingering Kinglet. Catbirds doing the full song and
some catting. First Yellow-billed Cuckoos. First Pewees.
My Phoebe male continues to call and call and call. It appears that he
has made a nest on my front gutter spout where it angles down about 30
degrees. Must be one of the birds that the male builds a nest to the
approval of a female. He just hasn't gotten a female on the land yet.
His little syrinxes (syrinxi? syringes?) must be thickening up from the
lonely lonely endless pining of phoebe phoebe phoebe. At one point he
went into an odd stutter call that sounded like the Ochre-bellied
Flycatcher of Central America. Ah the deep lust of spring. Maybe we
should call it pressured necessity and not lust in the phoebe however.
Either way, we need a female Phoebe and soon.
A fine day for listening all around.
Herschel Raney
Conway AR
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Subject: New Yard Birds
From: Dennis Braddy <dmbraddy(AT)MAC.COM>
Date: 4 May 2008 7:44pm
We added two new yard birds today. Northern Waterthrush (#108) and
Blue Grosbeak (#109).
Dennis and Patricia Braddy and Skip
Little Rock, AR
http://www.arkansasbirder.net
"Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside a dog, it's
too dark to read." - Groucho Marx
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Subject: Hybrid Flycatchers return to Memphis
From: "Jeff R. Wilson" <OLCOOT1(AT)AOL.COM>
Date: 4 May 2008 10:32pm
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May 4, 2008
Memphis,
Shelby Co. TN
A hybrid female Western/Scissor-tail has returned and seems again paired
with a male Western Kingbird. Two such females, from a pairing in 2006, returned
and produced young by male Western Kingbirds in 2007 at this site. For
photos taken today and previous years, try:
_http://www.pbase.com/ol_coot/image/96588851_
(http://www.pbase.com/ol_coot/image/96588851)
Another hybrid type female has produced young at a site on President's
Island for two successive years but these were from a pairing with a full male
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher. A male Scissor-tail was seen on President's Island
today and Western Kingbirds were located at two other nesting sites west of
President's Island here at Memphis.
Good Birding !!!
Jeff R. Wilson / TLBA
6300 Memphis-Arlington Road
Bartlett, TN 38135
http://www.pbase.com/ol_coot/
What is this feathered thing that lifts my heart to the heavens.
**************Wondering what's for Dinner Tonight? Get new twists on family
favorites at AOL Food.
(http://food.aol.com/dinner-tonight?NCID=aolfod00030000000001)
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