I decided to try to make a quick visit to Allsopp Park in between bouts of rain. I was partially successful, at I least I started between bouts of rain. I walked up the paved trail barely able to hear anything over the roar of the hillside stream. As I came around and walked back on a dirt trail above the steam I could start to hear a few birds. Not many but I did hear at least two Cerulean Warbler and later was able to see one of them. I was grateful to have the sighting confirm my identification by song. New year bird for me.
May Day, 2011
I started the Sunday morning planning to bird Pinnacle Mountain State Park. I knew it had rained overnight but had no idea how much. I found part of Chenal Parkway closed and when I got around that, I found Highway 300 closed just north of Highway 10. I decided to come around the other way via Pinnacle Valley Road but found it to also be closed where County Farm Road split off from it. I decided to go down to the River Trail entrance under the I-430 bridge. There I saw three floating docks, presumably from the private marina next to Maumelle Park floating in the Big Maumelle River waiting to join the Arkansas River. At this point I decided to go home. It was only after I got home that I learned we had had 4.5 inches of rain overnight.
After reading the many account of flooding, I’m glad I live on a hill. Although that is no guarantee against water problems. Susan Staffeld was stranded inside Pinnacle Mountain State Park.
End of a Successful Month of Birding
In my experience, April is the best birding month of the year followed by May. In April 2009, I saw or heard 148 species of bird. In April 2010, I encountered 153 species. After going to the Natural Resources Complex to try to pick up Acadian Flycatcher and getting Wood Thrush instead, I close April 2011 out with 162 species for the month. My best month ever. At every opportunity, I went out and on April 20th started five weeks of half days at work so I was able to bird somewhere every day since the 20th. I don’t expect May to be as good but the pace enabled me to reach 200 birds for the year, none exotic except those that have been corroborated by someone else, on April 29th.
