Cane Creek Birdwatching

I had a pretty good weekend last week watching birds. My wife and I went up to Cane Creek State Park near Star City, AR to check it out on Saturday.


They have two trails to nature walk on, the Delta View Trail and Lake Trail. The Delta View Trail is 2.5 miles and the Lake Trail covers the entire lake is about 15 miles long. We covered a partial segment of the Delta View Trail. It was very nicely land out and was great for taking a nature walk.





I was walking for birding, she was walking for exercise so our paces were slightly different. About 5 minutes into our little adventure, she calls me on my cell to tell me to hurry up. She thinks she has spotted a Pileated Woodpecker! I quickened step only to be disappointed when I arrived, it was gone. This is the one bird I has on my list to see first and hopefully capture the moment with a picture.

I did see a Summer Tanager, a Yellow-Rumped Warbler, several Titmice and a few Downy Woodpeckers. I include a pic of the Summer Tanager below. It was high in the trees. He wasn't in the mood to have his picture taken!

I went back up to Cane Creek on Sunday afternoon with my friends and their little 'birder' that I've had the pleasure of showing my backyard birds to. She just loved it. This time we covered the entire 2.5 mile Delta View Trail. We saw and heard several birds.

This time, however, the Pileated Woodpecker wasn't so illusive. I was able to observe 3 Pileateds, all in flight. They are awesome birds. They are distinctive to say the least. I was excited I was able to see one. Next time I hope to get a pic of the experience!

That same day, I had another treat to add to the weekend. I had two Indigo Bunting visit my yard. The hung around for most of the day, just at a distance. They never would come in close enough to get a descent pic.

All in all, it was a good weekend. I added two birds to my life list!

God Bless and Good Birding!

Winter, uh, Spring Wonderland!

Well, we got blasted today with a little snow, to say the least. You'd think I was posting on The Brownstone Birding Blog or Big Spring Birds' Blog up north instead of Arkansas! Best I can tell, we got about 5". Needless to say, this put the birds into a feeding frenzy.

The snow has everything covered. You would never know it is just 13 days away from Spring. It is about 32 degrees with the wind blowing about 15 mph. The birds had only seem to have one thing in mind, "getting something to eat!"

I got a few shots of a Downy Woodpecker on the peanut feeder. Only after I downloaded the pictures from the camera did I notice something a little different. The Downy looked a little smaller than the usual ones on Woodpecker feeder.

I believe it to be a juvenile, probably a 1st year male. You can see the little patch of red starting to show on the back of his head.

The wind was gusting to 20 mph when I got this shot. He was doing everything to hang on the feeder.

Good birding and God Bless!

Anyone For Suet?

I decided to try and make a Woodpecker Suet Feeder, similar to the one I saw over at Craig's Birds. I thought it was worth a try to make one and get a few more woodpeckers to my backyard. They just won't come to any ole bird feeder. Only rarely have I seen pictures of them on regular bird feeders and I've never seen them on one in my yard. Woodpeckers are one of my favorites birds, to say the least.


I've also noticed that any bird that likes suet dough will avail themselves to the feeder. I have a Pine Warbler that just loves it. He is a regular along with the little male Downy Woodpecker. Carolina Wrens will also make a regular stops.

The Northern Cardinals will also get some suet but usually only after all of the sunflower seeds are gone. These days they are having to fight with the huge flock of Goldfinches that have taken up residence in my backyard.

Another regular on the feeder is the female Red-bellied Woodpecker. She really works it over multiple times during the day. I've noticed that she and the male appear to be taking up residence in a hole in the front yard. It may be time for some little ones in the near future!


God Bless and Good Birding!

Fall has Fell, That Doesn't Sound Right!

I tried to come up with a snappy title about fall. The 'Spring has Sprung' phrase for spring starting sounds a lot better. Well anyway, fall is finally here.

The weather around here in Arkansas needs to catch up soon as we are having hotter than normal weather with the highs in the upper 80s. We should get some rain this week to cool things off.

My little Downy friend ventured into the birdbath for a little sip of water yesterday.


I got several pics of him in the bath. I included this picture because his red spot is noticeable on the back of his head.

I didn't realize until it was too late that he had his little wifey with him. He flew up to the tree after getting a drink. I watched him in the tree and then realized that she was in the tree also. She lacked the red spot that helps to distinguish between the two sexes.

High Wire Act

I noticed the other day that my suet feeder had a unusual hole up at the top of the block. Most the birds that frequent the suet block are Carolina Wrens and occasionally, my little Downy Woodpecker friend.

These are very small birds and don't get much when they peck at it. So this large hole was definitely a mystery to me.

Well, I finally found the culprit. I have several Blue Jays in my back yard. They have seem to have developed a knack for hanging upside down to peck at the suet to knock it loose and get a little bit to eat.

They look particularly strange as they hang precariously upside down from the limb above the suet feeder.

Dog Days of Summer

These days here in Arkansas have been some of the hottest on record! We reached 104 degrees several days last week. The bird activity has pretty much come to a stand still in my backyard.

I caught this squirrel getting a drink out of the fountain yesterday. The fountain is having trouble keeping up with the hot weather too. I refill it sometimes twice a day!

It's only supposed to reach 99 degress today. What a cold front!
There are still a few regulars that don't seem to be too effected by the weather. My little Downy friend is still very active. I caught this picture of him this morning on his breakfast run!

On a personal note, I read a great blog post this morning over at Journey Through Grace about a gentleman with Lou Gehrig's Disease. Take time to read the post and be sure to give thanks to the Lord for all he has blessed you with.

Sweet Sip of Nectar

I have a male Downy Woodpecker that loves the peanuts in the feeder I have in my back yard. He frequents the feeder several times during the day. The Downy is the smallest woodpecker in North America measuring only 6 3/4". Male Downy Woodpeckers have a red patch on the back of the head.

The Downy is very similar to the Hairy Woodpecker in appearance. The Hairy is larger and lacks the dark bars on the outer tail feathers.
I love watching the little woodpecker on the peanut and suet feeder. He has started exhibiting a strange behavior today that I haven't noticed before. He has been sipping nectar from the Hummingbird feeder! I've heard that woodpeckers like fruit so this may be the reason why he likes the sweet, sugar water.

It may be because of the extreme 100 degree heat we've had lately. I've never seen a woodpecker at my bird bath before so I'm not sure where they get water from.

I know where he got some today!