I decided to bird locally this morning so I decided on Allsopp Park and the Murrays, all know for their migrants. Unfortunately, none were incredibly busy but I did hear Wood Thrush, Acadian Flycatcher, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, see two Ruby-throated Hummingbird at Allsopp.
Later, at Murray Park, I encountered a first of season Willow Flycatcher, two Pileated Woodpecker, a Great Crested Flycatcher, multiple Eastern Kingbird, and other more common birds.
Finally, at the lock and dam, I saw about 50 Cliff Swallow swarming on a puddle of water. It took a bit for me to realize what they were doing, when you make your homes from mud, you need mud. By this time the temperature was in the mid-eighties and the bird life was diminishing. I walked to the small bridge, on the River Trail, over a small tributary whose name I don’t know. While I was standing there alone on the bridge, it felt as if someone banged it with a massive hammer. Less than a minute later, there was a series of vibrations in and on the bridge that made it cumbersome to walk. That was 9:50 AM on 5/23/2010 and I wonder if there was an earthquake then. I’ve never felt one but I know small earthquakes rattle Arkansas all the time. Later I checked this site (http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/last_event_states/states_arkansas.html ) and learned that there was a 1.9 mag quake just 26 hours earlier and a 2.7 the day before. I plan to check back to see if this was one.
