Whew!.. Man is it hot. At 6:30 this morning when Ed and I were up I noticed the temp and it was 81 degrees! But 9 it was 89! This has definitely put a crimp in our style. I've made a Solomon's Decision; there is no reason to be kicking our head in with this heat. The birds simply are not around when the temp gets to high. This morning we'll go on the Dardanelle nature trail to spy some birds and then we'll go by the lake pavilion to look at the displays of fish and spy out the air-conditioned windows.
In the morning I was serinaded by three or four great horned owls hooting back and forth to each other. It's an interesting "song" if you've never heard them; you can get a feel why people thousands of years ago likened them to ghosts.
We started down the nature trail this morning and we immediately decided that few people used it because of the number of spider webs that covered the pathway. There were spiders everywhere, nearly every 20 feet or so. Ed and I started to watch each other to make sure we didn't step into a web and several times had to brush a spider off our back. (shades of Indiana Jones).
The trail had very few birds. It was if the birds gave up the trail and gave it to the insects. Once again we were amazed by the number of swallowtails. All over the place, total indifferent to Ed and I, they few above, around, and near us. We did spy a couple of birds.
The trail was pretty deep. It went on for a mile or more and Ed and I cut it short by a half a mile or so. It was 9 oclock and even in the bushes it was in the high 80s.
Look close and you can see on the top of a leaf in the middle of the picture you can see a swallowtail butterfly. They are all over, landing on your shoulders, just amazing.
Ed with a J-bird feather. We found this on plus a goose feather and a large goose down feather. He has them in stuck in his hat now (yes, their official name is Macaroni).
A few of the many geese around. They allow you to walk within 3 feet of you before taking off.
Mama duck and her ducklings. We walked within 4 feet and they hit the water fast!
All in all we saw a swallow, an Occasional Thrush, a common robin, a great horned owl, a couple of mallards, a mama duck with 4 ducklings, and our goose friends. This afternoon we will be driving to Bull Shoals for the final leg of the journey. We've decided to get in this afternoon, do the nature trail this morning, and then leave for home. The weather has been simply too hot. The birds are only available for watching in the early morning and then they disappear. But even with this we've had a great time. We've spent a lot of time spotting some unique birds and got to see a couple of rare ones, including seeing our osprey and owls. We're going to enjoy today and then pack up for towmorrow.
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