Samantha and I went to Magazine this morning. Our target bird was the Rufous-crowned Sparrow. It’s a long trip so we left early. Mapquest & Google Maps both said about 2:20-2:30 but we made it in 1:50 without excessive wreckless driving. I hadn’t visited the mountain in many years, probably since my previous birding life. It was way different, with new cabins and lodges. We parked at the hang gliding area and then walked along the south edge to the lodge looking for the sparrow. The weather was nice, perhaps 10 degrees cooler than Little Rock. As we returned to the car, I thought I had found one but when I got home and checked the pictures, I realized that I had a Chipping Sparrow instead. They are fairly similar from the front with the Rufous having black sideburns while the Chipping is clean shaven. Then we walked up Signal Hill just to say we were there. On the way out, we stopped at the now open Visitor Center and added goldfinches to our trip list. On the way home, along Highway 10, we got stuck behind a wide load who drove reasonably when he could but had to slow to a crawl in the turns. The trip home took 20 minutes longer than the trip there.
Species seen or heard:
- Eastern Phoebe
- American Crow
- Blue Jay
- Indigo Bunting
- Eastern Wood-Pewee
- Eastern Bluebird
- Black-and-white Warbler
- Hairy Woodpecker
- Carolina Wren
- Barn Swallow
- Yellow-billed Cuckoo
- Blue Grosbeak
- Acadian Flycatcher
- Downy Woodpecker
- Chipping Sparrow
- Red-eyed Vireo
- White-breasted Nuthatch
- Tufted Titmouse
- American Goldfinch
