Snows on Mt. Judea, Moss, Round-top, Reynolds, and Sherman mountains are melting fast (55F) bringing up the Little Buffalo quickly:
Parthenon side of Round Top Moutain
Little Buffalo at Will Jones Ford
Posts Tagged ‘river’
Snowmelt near Parthenon Arkansas
Posted in Mountain Scenery, mountains, tagged Arkansas, little buffalo, parthenon, river, Round-top, Sherman mountains, Snowmelt on March 6, 2015| Leave a Comment »
Last April 12th – on the Buffalo just below Pruitt (first bluff on right)
Posted in Mountain Scenery, mountains, The River, Weather, tagged April 2014, below Pruitt, Buffalo National, Buffalo River, river on February 26, 2015| Leave a Comment »
Oh I wish it was like this NOW. This cold, ice, and snow snap has got me down. We will fall to 5F tonight and rise to 25F tomorrow; then ice forecast for Saturday:
more …… Red-headed Woodpeckers nesting
Posted in Wild Birds, tagged aquatic insects, Arkansas, forage grounds, little buffalo, Little Buffalo River, parthenon, red headed, redheaded, river, woodpecker on June 28, 2014| Leave a Comment »
I found this pair with 2 nestlings from the car window this morning, over near the Little Buffalo River. They were busy feeding wasps and aquatic insects to the babies. In the final photo, you have to look up and right to see the nest hole and the nestling. This may be the 2nd brood; not sure ??
Blue Winged (Yellow) Warbler
Posted in Wild Birds, tagged Arkansas, Blue winged warbler, little buffalo, parthenon, river on April 24, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Nest building along the Little Buffalo River, I caught this guy stripping bark for a nest. He is 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.
Adult Description
Small songbird.
Head and underparts yellow.
Black line through eye.
Wings blue-gray with two white wingbars.
Immature Description
Similar in appearance, but duller than adults.
Nest Description
Open cup of grasses, bark and dead leaves. Leaves may form cap over eggs. Usually on or near ground.
Habitat
Early to midsuccession habitats, especially abandoned farmland and forest clearings.
Breeds at forest/field edges, often shaded by large trees.
Photos taken with my Canon 50D and the same Canon 400 f/5.6 Lens I have been using lately:
Ran over to Kyle’s Landing this morning
Posted in Mountain Scenery, mountains, The River, Weather, tagged 2013, autumn, Boston Mountains, buffalo, Buffalo River, color change, fall colors. October 30th, Kyle's Landing, river, Sherman Mountain on October 30, 2013| Leave a Comment »
The first peak is near (maybe today or tomorrow); but it is beautiful !! We are expecting 2-3 inches of rain in the next 36 hours and that will possibly make the Buffalo River from Boxley to Pruitt floatable by weeks end and through the weekend and maybe next week. There should still be a good amount of color left in some trees; making this the ideal canoe or kayak float for fall colors; A FLASH FLOOD WATCH was just issued !!
Top of Sherman Mountain looking down
Driving down the 3 mile grade to the River.
The Buffalo National River at the bottom of the mountain.
Red-winged blackbirds are coming into the valley now
Posted in Wild Birds, tagged 2013, black feathers, blackbird, buffalo, cold weather, late spring, Little, Little Buffalo River, nature, red winged, red winged blackbirds, river, spring on April 13, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Despite the cold weather, and late spring, the red winged blackbirds are coming in flocks and roosting along the Little Buffalo River. I like this shot — because its hard to get a photo that distinguishes the back eye from the black feathers on this bird:
Working together yesterday
Posted in Wild Birds, tagged animals, Arkansas, buffalo, food, Little, mating, nature, nesting, Redheaded woodpecker, redheaded woodpeckers, river, woodpeckers on April 2, 2013| Leave a Comment »
The redheaded woodpeckers must be getting ready to mate and lay eggs real soon – perhaos later this week. This pair began working together on Monday 4/1/13; eating wasps and carrying nesting material and stuffing this hole:
Nesting Red headed woodpeckers along the river’s bottom fields
Posted in Wild Birds, tagged Arkansas, buffalo, County, headed, Little, Little Buffalo River, murray valley, nature, Newton, outdoors, red, red headed woodpeckers, redheaded, river, river bottoms, woodpecker on April 1, 2013| 1 Comment »
Yesterday was a gorgeous day; the temperature here in Murray Valley reached 40F. I spotted a pair of Red headed woodpeckers in the Little Buffalo River bottoms near their forage area. They are nesting high in some dead trees not far from the river. The pair spent the day removing old material, possibly forage, from the hole they selected; maybe making 30 trips around the tree in the hour I watched. They ate lots of wasps also. Guess they are plentiful on these sunny warner days. They are magnificent birds !!!
We are expecting a cool down the first part of this week an then much warmer next week. I now expect the main warbler and vireo migration to begin around April 15th; nesting always begins in late April and early May:
Nesting Belted Kingfishers at the Little Buffalo Crossing
Posted in Wild Birds, tagged Arkansas, belted kingfisher, buffalo, County, Little, mud bank, nature, Newton, outdoors, river, spring floods on March 31, 2013| 1 Comment »
It is a beautiful day; the rain fizzled out and we are stuck with just 0.25 inch of the 2.0 + forecast. I noticed that a pair of Belted Kingfishers was beginning to nest at the Little Buffalo Crossing down the hill. They make lots of continuous racket and are fun to watch as they rattle around. Photo taken with a 7D and a 300 mm f/2.8 lens. They have chosen a high mud bank about 10′ above the river; hope it’s high enough to protect from spring floods. The bird was in a willow tree next to the river for this photo.
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Size & Shape
Belted Kingfishers are stocky, large-headed birds with a shaggy crest on the top and back of the head and a straight, thick, pointed bill. Their legs are short and their tails are medium length and square-tipped.
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Color Pattern
These kingfishers are powder blue above with fine, white spotting on the wings and tail. The underparts are white with a broad, blue breast band. Females also have a broad rusty band on their bellies. Juveniles show irregular rusty spotting in the breast band.
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Behavior
Belted Kingfishers spend much of their time perched alone along the edges of streams, lakes, and estuaries, searching for small fish. They also fly quickly up and down rivers and shorelines giving loud rattling calls. They hunt either by plunging directly from a perch, or by hovering over the water, bill downward, before diving after a fish they’ve spotted.
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Habitat
Kingfishers live near streams, rivers, ponds, lakes, and estuaries. They nest in burrows that they dig into soft earthen banks, usually adjacent to or directly over water. Kingfishers spend winters in areas where the water doesn’t freeze so that they have continual access to their aquatic foods.
A Red-shouldered Hawk in the cover along the Little Buffalo in the cold
Posted in Wild Birds, tagged Arkansas, buffalo, hawk, Little, Little Buffalo River, march history, murray valley, nature, red shoulder, red shouldered hawk, river, weather, winter on March 26, 2013| Leave a Comment »
This past two weeks has been two of the coldest in NW Arkansas late March history. Today it is sunny and supposed to reach the mid-40’s; possibly the 60s by Friday. I sincerely hope this is the beginning of spring. I lost most of my peaches this past weeka and my green “winter wheat” has gone back to a winter looking color. Here is a photo of a Red Shouldered Hawk down along the Little Buffalo River hiding in the brushy cover in the sun trying to stay warm:
