Red-Headed Acrobatics!

I've recently added several Red-Headed Woodpeckers to my regulars in my backyard. They were scarce during the winter except for one juvenile that stayed pretty high up in the trees and was only rarely seen.

One of the new visitors has taken a liking to the peanut feeder. He performs acrobatics to get to the peanuts in the feeder. He spins around and around at the bottom to peck at the peanuts.




We spent the weekend at Brush Mountain with my wife's brother and his wife. It was a great time of birding for me. I added three birds to my life list!

My brother-in-law and I spotted a Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher right off the bat the first day I was there. It was a lifer for the both of us! I got a few pictures of it but none turned out. Maybe next time!

On Saturday, we hiked up Pinnacle Mountain in West Little Rock. We saw another lifer five minutes into our hike. It was a Black & White Warbler. He was flitting about in the trees and was too quick to get any pictures.

I added one more to my list on Saturday evening which was a Bank Swallow. He was flying around a lake near the house. He was flying acrobatically and catching insects for dinner.

Good Birding and God Bless!

First Blast of Fall!

I got a surprise today with a new visitor to my backyard. At first, from a distance, I thought it was one of the many Carolina Chickadees that are always at the feeders in the afternoon.

Then, it turned on the peanut feeder and faced down, in the typical Nuthatch posture. I've seen a White Breasted Nuthatch before, up on Brush Mountain, but it is a much bigger bird. This Nuthatch was much smaller than the White Breasted Nuthatch. The White Breasted Nuthatch is about 6" in length compared to only 4 1/2" for the Red Breasted Nuthatch. Also, notice that it has a dark eye line and a white eyebrow. The White Breasted Nuthatch has an all white face and breast.

The red breast is definitely noticeable and shows up. I believe this one to be a female Red Breasted Nuthatch. On the males, the rust colored underparts extend further up the neck.

Arkansas is in the winter range for the Red Breasted Nuthatch so this little blast of cooler weather appears to be causing a little movement. I'm excited!

White-Breasted Nuthatch

This weekend was another one visiting Brush Mountain in central Arkansas. I did a little bird watching and saw several titmice flitting about in the trees. They were flying up to the bird feeder at the house and then back out to the trees to eat the seeds they had found.

While watching the titmice, I was saw a White-breasted Nuthatch climbing up and down a tree. These birds are 5.75" tall with a wingspan of 11". Nuthatches are tree climbers with a woodpecker-like bill. They have a square cut tail but it is not used to brace them as they typically go down trees headfirst.



There are 31 species worldwide with only 4 species residing in North America.

The White-breasted Nuthatch is identified by their black cap with beady black eyes on a white face.

They are present over most of the U.S. from southern Canada to the Gulf Coast and from the Atlantic to the West. They are absent in the treeless plains and prairie of Texas, Kansas, and Oklahoma.

Birds of Brush Mountain

Shelley and I spent Saturday and Sunday up on Brush Mountain with her brother, Kevin, and his wife, Summer. I saw several birds that I had not seen in my backyard in Southeast Arkansas.

They have a pair of nesting Eastern Phoebes at their house. Phoebes like to nest on man-made structures, which this pair have. Their nest is on a perch on Kevin and Summer's house.

Easter Phoebes also have a very distinctive feature. They wag their tail constantly when perched.


I also saw a Chipping Sparrow foraging on the ground next to Kevin's chicken coup. This sparrow has a rufous crown and a dark eye-line which helps to identify it from other sparrows.

I also caught several pictures of the Chipping Sparros in trees around their house.

I saw two other birds I had not seen before. One was an America Goldfinch. The other was a Summer Tanager, which we spotted very late in the evening. I was not able to get a picture of either of these two. I will on the next trip!


I caught this picture of one of the chipmunks in the woods. He was very quick and is alot smaller than he appears in the picture.

I was very pleased to get this picture as I had never seen one before.