Two Day Trips to Bird

   Berry’s recent retirement and Robert’s flexibility as far as work both allow us to go on birding day trips, if we want. We went on two such day trips since Christmas. One Saturday, we chose to go to Little Rock, Arkansas. Even though it rained all day, we had a great trip. We followed I-40 west all the way to Little Rock. Much of the flat land in the Mississippi watershed was flooded. We drove through Brinkley, Arkansas, and through the Dagmar WMA. We did not see the Ivory Billed Woodpecker (Campephilus Principalis) as had been reported by others several years ago. What we did see was enormous flocks of Snow Geese (Chen Caerulescens) in the rice fields. The Snow Geese in these fields would have darkened the sky. They were beautiful and numerous.

   When we arrived in Little Rock it was time to eat lunch. We found a cute little local resturant called The Faded Rose. Many local Arkansans were there enjoying themselves, so we assumed it would be good. They served a New Orleans Creole type of lunch. We have been to N’awlins many times, and this reproduction of their excellent cuisine was only approximate. About a half a mile from The Faded Rose, there is the Rebsaman Golf Course. The course was deserted when we went by, due to the rain, however the area was teaming with birds and a herd of four White Tailed Deer. We saw several kinds of warblers, including the Black and White Warbler (Mniotilta Varia)), the Yellow Rumped Warbler (Setophaga Coronata), and the Cerulean Warbler (Setophaga Cerulea). They were all eating berries from a tree at the entrance to the golf course. we wandered down to the Arkansas River, where we snagged a Ring Billed Gull(Larus delawarensis). We finally drove home on the tiny Highway 70 instead of busy, modern I-40.

   Last week, we went to Reelfoot Lake in northwestern Tennessee for another birding day trip. The lake was created in 1812 by the New Madrid Earthquake. Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) spend most winters at the lake. On the way to Reelfoot, we encountered snow and ice about 75 miles north of Memphis in Dyersburg. The agricultural fields were flooded, but this time instead Snow Geese, we saw ducks, gulls, and terns. We spotted an Osprey (Pandion Haliaetus) as well as Northern Shoveler (Anas Clypeata) and Northern Pintail (Anas Acuta) ducks.

   Upon arriving at the Lake, the very first bird we saw was a Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus Leucocephalus). It was soaring over the lake with its very distinctive white head and white tail. America’s official bird, or something like that.

We ate lunch at Boyette’s Dining Room. The food was neither remarkable nor memorable. The rest of the day was spent driving slowly around the lake and poking in various points to see the ducks. Late in the afternoon, we hiked an excellent nature trail on Grassy Island. There we were treated to three different species of wookpecker, the Red Bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus), the Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens), and the Red Headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus). Reelfoot was for us a great day of birding.

Robert and Berry

Photos courtesy of wikipedia

Barred Owl on the Block

   For the past several weeks, usually just as it got dark, we hear the call of a Barred Owl (Strix Varia) in our neighborhood in east Memphis. It is a medium sized owl with a round face. We encounter it often in the wild. Now we notice its presence inside the city of Memphis, in a residential neighborhood, flying from yard to yard.

   Last week while walking our dog, Cosmo, around dinner time, we heard the owl. He was perching on a low branch in a pine tree across the street, a little way down from our house. Robert playfully hooted "Who… who… who cooks for you all" in a low tone. All at once, the owl swooped down in front of us. It did not attack us. It was looking for the other Barred Owl. He landed on a chain link fence. Cosmo did not seem to be excited by the owl, but we were delighted that Robert had “called” a wild owl.

   Off and on the past couple of nights, we heard the owl in a tree in our back yard. It was situated directly above the neighbor’s chickens, yes my neighbor has chickens, in a wire enclosure in his back yard. Because of the chicken wire, our neighborhood Barred Owl cannot get to the chickens and will have to eat something else.

Robert and Berry

Photos courtesy of wikipedia

Festival of Birding Photos

   The annual family winter vacation between Christmas and New Year’s Day was great this year. The weather in the Charleston area is dreamily pleasant. We observed our share of birds while we were there. We even bumped into one Life Bird. Below is a festival of photographes that we took while traveling in South Carolina. Have fun.

The Point at Lake Moultrie

Berry at a Bridge at Boone Hall Farm

Thick Underbrush

Wild Ibises at Boone Hall Farm

Fire Ant Mound the size of a Basketball

Huntington Beach

Palmetto Palms at Huntington Beach

A Great Egret on a Piling

Happy New Year.

Robert and Berry

Photos courtesy of rfowler

A Rainy Day Woman on a Rainy Day

   This morning it was raining, so it took us a while to roll out of bed. We left Georgetown and drove west through Francis Marion National Forest. New Year’s Day began with Cattle Egrets (Bulbulcus Ibis) tending a small herd of cattle. This is a small white heron which originated in Africa. It has an orange beak and orange legs. It is white, but at this time of year, it bears a slight tinge of pale orange on their feathers. This signals its willingness to mate. The cattle egrets tended to their cattle and we drove on down the road.

   We turned down a tiny dirt road named Wildlife. This was a good idea. After we slowly rolled past a huge flock of hundreds of Red Winged Blackbirds (Agelaius Phoenicus) roosting in the trees beside the road, then we arrived at a field in front of someone’s house. There was a flock of the bluest Eastern Bluebirds (Sialis Sialis) that Berry had ever seen. They were brighter than usual to Berry, I think, because the drippy weather conditions diffused the light. It was overcast all day and raining off and on. Blues looked very blue, today.

   We keep seeing the Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis Phoebe) in every flycatcher friendly place we looked. It is indeed a flycatcher, hunting midges and mosquitos in all the wet bogs. And in South Carolina, there is water, water everywhere. The Eastern Phoebe appears rather big-headed, especially if it puffs up the small crest on its head. Also, we note that it pumps its tail up and down, when perching on a branch.

   As we drove down the highway, we saw a male American Kestral (Falco Sparverius), balancing on a power line. He was holding a small dead or dying critter in his right claw, pinning his prey against the wire with his claw and leaning his head down to nibble on it. It was about then that we decided that it was time for us to eat our lunch too.

   In the afternoon we went to Lake Moultrie. There is a large fish hatchery on one side of the lake. There was a small boy tossing rocks into the water. There were fisherman launching and retrieving their fishing boats and barges at the ramp. We stood on the warm, windless parking lot and leaned against our car. The pine trees along the side of the parking lot yielded for us the Black and White Warbler (Mniotilta Varia) with its striking black and white striped coat of feathers. This bird forages like a nuthatch, gleaning insects off the bark of trees. We spotted it about thirty feet off the parking lot.

   Another yummy warbler from the parking lot was the Chestnut Sided Warbler (Setophaga Pensylvanica). This one had a large yellow dot on its head. A delicious yellow dot on the top of its head. We spotted this one about ten feet off the parking lot.

   We worked the excellent parking lot for about an hour and then walked to the end of the peninsula to see the entire lake. The wind howled and there were white caps on the surface of the water. The temps dropped and Robert shivered in only a t-shirt. By the time we got back to the car to get warmed up, it was getting dark, so Berry called it. We drove to the hotel for the night.

In the week that we have been here, we have observed several of the available woodpeckers in South Carolina. The large Red Bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes Carolinus), the Red Shafted Northern Flicker (Colaptes Auratus) high in a tree, the small Downy Woodpecker (Picoides Pubescens), but we did not observe the rare and endangered Red Cockaded Woodpecker (Picoides Borealis). We looked for it. It only lives in a few places now. South Carolina has them, but their population was decimated by record flooding in October 2015.

   On someone’s fine recommedation, we had dinner at Seewee Restaurant on rainy Highway 17. Robert had Shrimp and Broiled Flounder with lima beans and mushrooms. Berry had the Grouper served on spinach leaves. This is a good place to eat if you are in the area. Real authentic Low Country vittles in a homespun atmosphere. Very nice.

The Grouper Special that Berry Had

Robert and Berry

Photos courtesy of Wikipedia