Stop over at Sloans Spring along the Jefferson Highway about one hundred years ago; which I believe was Highway 7 by the 1930’s – Click to enlarge:
Posts Tagged ‘ar’
An old photo or PC of Highway 7 south of Jasper AR from the teens – 1920’s
Posted in General, Mountain Scenery, mountains, tagged ar, early photo, highway 7, jasper arkansas, Jefferson Highway, PC, to Russelville on October 7, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Another photo of a Rufous Hummingbird in NW Arkansas
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged ar, Arkansas, August 2014, Boston Mountains, northwest arkansas, parthenon, RARE, Rufous Hummingbird on August 24, 2014| Leave a Comment »
From yesterday morning. Since the Rufous Hummingbird is rare in Arkansas and surely out of range, I decide to post a photo of him on a feeder Saturday morning:
Other than the Bluebird, our other 2 blue birds
Posted in Wild Birds, tagged ar, Arkansas, Blue Colored Birds, Blue Grosbeak, of Newton County, parthenon on August 6, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Both photos of blue colored birds, taken in my yard yesterday; the indigo Bunting, and the Blue Grosbeak; both taken with a Canon 1DS and 400mm f/5.6 yesterday morning, 8/5/14:
The beautiful Blue-Winged Warbler
Posted in Wild Birds, tagged ar, Arkansas, Blue winged warbler, Boston Mountains, Jasper, parthenon on May 23, 2014| Leave a Comment »
I ran into the male Blue-Winged Yellow Warbler very early this morning; and had to use a high ISO setting to photograph him while he was gleaning insects from leaves. The high ISO setting leaves the photographs grainy. Not only does this guy have pronounced blueish-gray wings but he also wears a black mask.
They forage mostly in upper half of trees and shrubs and probes dead leaf clusters in winter. Often hangs upside down.
NW Arkansas is the southernmost section of their breeding grounds.
Brightly colored but easily overlooked. A bird of shrubland and old fields, the Blue-winged Warbler expanded its breeding grounds northward throughout the 20th century. They have a make a nest that is an open cup of grasses, bark and dead leaves. Leaves may form cap over eggs. Usually on or near ground.
Stormy day – Sunday 4/27 in Arkansas
Posted in Mountain Scenery, Weather, tagged april 27, ar, Arknasas, near Parthenon, Sunday, tornado, tornados on April 28, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Terrible destruction just south of me near I-40 ! I was very lucky to get off easy with this weather system. There was a confirmed tornado about 15 miles SE of me near Lurton, AR. The storm that produced that tornado came thru about 11 PM last night. I was asleep and the storm really caught me by surprise. It was not a quick T-Storm; the wind and lightning lasted a full 20 minutes. Many things have been rearranged in my yard.
In all, total we had 6 rounds of thunderstorms starting early on Sunday. Here is a photo, from my driveway, of the turbulent, rolling, heavy skies during the storm a 12:30 PM, the dew point hovered around 65F-70F all day long:
Couple of photos of the Buffalo River in early morning 4/22
Posted in The River, Weather, tagged after, April 2014, ar, Buffalo River Arkansas, dawn, Jasper, ozark, pruitt on April 22, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Just a couple of photos taken with a Canon 1DS MK III full frame with a Canon EF17-40 f/4.0 IS:
Buffalo River at Steel Creek on 4/17/14
Posted in Mountain Scenery, The River, tagged ar, Buffalo Rin=ver Arkansas, Buffalo River at Ponca, good canoe water, Klemmer Hole, parthenon, Steel Creek on April 20, 2014| Leave a Comment »
With a good flow at Ponca the Buffalo River at Steel Creek looks inviting and very floatable. The smallmouth bass the goggle-eye are hitting and the Goggle-eye are spawning. These photos taken at the old Klemmer Hole below Bee Bluff in the middle of last week:
Now a male and a female Yellow Bellied Sapsucker
Posted in Shrubs and Trees, Wild Birds, tagged ar, male and female, nw arkansas, parthenon, spring arrival, yellow bellied sapsucker, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers on March 21, 2014| Leave a Comment »
I took these on Friday, one week ago, along Murray Road with a Canon 7D and a Canon EF400L Lens. The Male looks a little beaten up and the fmale is beautiful.I only get to see these wonderful birds in the very early spring while they migrate north to their breeding grounds:
- Male (first), then Female (second) Yellow Bellied Sapsucker
From Cornell Labs:
On a walk through the forest you might spot rows of shallow holes in tree bark. In the East, this is the work of the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, an enterprising woodpecker that laps up the leaking sap and any trapped insects with its specialized, brush-tipped tongue. Attired sharply in barred black-and-white, with a red cap and (in males) throat, they sit still on tree trunks for long intervals while feeding. To find one, listen for their loud mewing calls or stuttered drumming.
Cool Facts
- The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker makes two kinds of holes in trees to harvest sap. Round holes extend deep in the tree and are not enlarged. The sapsucker inserts its bill into the hole to probe for sap. Rectangular holes are shallower, and must be maintained continually for the sap to flow. The sapsucker licks the sap from these holes, and eats the cambium of the tree too. New holes usually are made in a line with old holes, or in a new line above the old.
- The sapwells made by Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers attract hummingbirds, which also feed off the sap flowing from the tree. In some parts of Canada, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds rely so much on sapwells that they time their spring migration with the arrival of sapsuckers. Other birds as well as bats and porcupines also visit sapsucker sapwells.
- Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers have been found drilling sapwells in more than 1,000 species of trees and woody plants, though they have a strong preference for birches and maples.
- The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker frequently uses human-produced materials to help in its territorial drumming. Street signs and metal chimney flashing amplify the irregular tapping of a territorial sapsucker. The sapsucker seems to suffer no ill effects of whacking its bill on metal, and a bird will return to a favorite sign day after day to pound out its Morse code-like message.
- The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker is the only woodpecker in eastern North America that is completely migratory. Although a few individuals remain throughout much of the winter in the southern part of the breeding range, most head farther south, going as far south as Panama. Females tend to migrate farther south than do males.
- The oldest known Yellow-bellied Sapsucker was 7 years, 9 months old. It was banded in New Jersey and found 6 years later in South Carolina.
In spring and summer, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers favor young forests and edge habitat, especially areas regenerating from timber harvesting. There they find lots of fast-growing trees ripe for sapwells (and since they can spend half their time or more tending to or feeding from their sapwells, sapsuckers needs lots of trees for tapping). So unlike most woodpecker species, sapsuckers don’t rely on dead trees for feeding, although they do search for trees with decayed heartwood or dead limbs for their cavity nests. On their wintering grounds, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers aren’t as selective in habitat, as they’re found from bottomland hardwood forests to as high as 10,000 feet, though never in pure conifer stands. In winter, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers can be found in forests of hickory or pines and oaks.
A Carolina Wren today (close-up)
Posted in Wild Birds, tagged ar, Arkansas, Boston Mountains, Carolian Wren, House Wren, missouri, parthenon, winter here on March 13, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Taken this morning. These wrens are small – medium in size; bigger than a House Wren and very cheerful. They winter here in Arkansas and in Missouri. Taken with a Canon 7D and a EF400 f/5.6 Lens.
First Yellow-bellied Sapsucker of this spring 2014
Posted in Wild Birds, tagged ar, Arkansas, Boston Mountains, County, Hickory tree, Newton, parthenon, yellow bellied sapsucker on March 7, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Just a photo; caught him (it’s a male) flying from a ring of sap holes in a Hickory tree. Taken with a Canon 7D with a Canon EF 300 f/2.8 IS at 75 feet; just off Murray Road near Parthenon, Arkansas. They are beautiful birds ! They drink sap from a ring of hole they dig around a tree (look at the tree to the left).