Arkansas Wildlife Blog and Gallery
Buffalo National River and NW Arkansas
Arkansas Wildlife Calendar & Nature News Blog
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2010 Arkansas Wildlife Calendar of Events -- Updated 8/30/10
Wildflowers
The roadsides are now dried out after a prolonged drought. The wildflower garden at the Ponca Elk is a super place to take photographs. Also, flowers along Ads Creek behind the center are beginning to take off.
Butterflies
This is prime time for butterflies. It always seems very sudden then there is an explosion of them. The easy shots are butterflies "puddling". The tougher butterflies move rapidly at mid-day, they are much easier to get in the mornings when they can often be found sunning after they first awaken.
Elk
Two weeks to the start of the 2010 elk rut, with peak the end of September to mid October. Make your reservations now if you plan to stay in the upper Buffalo River area. All the cabins and campgrounds get busy in September.
The bulls elk are still scraping velvet from their antlers. I have seen old #2, he is showing 7x6 so far, a fine animal. #2 is easy to ID because he has very long eye guards, a collar, and a somewhat upright rack, I call him "Ladders". There are a few other bulls in velvet, one other I have ID'ed is "Superfreak", he has two main shafts on both sides of his rack. There is no other bull that looks remotely like him. The very biggest bull, the "Boxley Stud" is an 8x7 and shows up rarely. If past patterns hold, he will be the dominant bull for 2010, his third year in that slot. A 4th bull, "Freakshow" has a weird 8 or 9 x 6 rack. He was an early rutting bull last year and seems headed that way this year.
This year I will name all the big bulls and post a page to help others ID them. Viewers and photographers my wish to do a checklist to see if they can get all the big guys. So far, at this writing, there are 4 of the biggest bulls hanging around the fields. There a few second tier bulls as well.
Viewing periods are very short as we are in the summer viewing pattern. For reliable viewing, daybreak to 6 to 7AM is the best, the earlier the better. The most reliable place to see elk is around the 43/21 intersection and points south in the valley. Cow elk with young calves are very common now for viewing. If you are lucky you will get to see the very tiny elk calves just after they are born, but these will be the very last at around the first week in August. Be very aware of the danger of a cow elk with a calf. She can and will stomp anyone she perceives as a threat.
Whitetail Deer
Deer are moving everywhere now. Fawns are a couple of months old. There is a 9 point buck in velvet in Boxley Valley, and I heard reports of a buck deer skirmish a few days back (that would be very early, they are still in velvet).Expect to see them on hikes and in fields just about all day long. Near my home on Old Erbie Road, between two trail heads, we see whitetails nearly every day early and late, including many small bucks.
Trumpeter Swans
All four swans, generally organized in two groups of two, remaining from the back-migration experiment at the Boxley Mill pond. Currently they are back on the Boxley Valley mill pond and offer some decent morning shoots.
Tip: If you see the trumpeters start bobbing their heads and honking occasionally, they are getting ready to fly. Focus and wait and you will see a takeoff, and wait longer and they will return after a loop in the valley. These are great pictures and challenging to take.
Other Birds
I have had some success photographing small bird species at and around the Boxley Valley Mill pond. The mill pond offers an exceptional range of habitat compressed in a small area. It is home to many species of birds. I like to get pictures of birds in flight. I it is cool to catch them reflected in the water while in flight. Some of these qualify as trophy shots, quite difficult to get. The key is patience and gumption -- you will miss a lot of pictures.
Another great bird to photograph is the pileated woodpecker. We have a large population of them here, but they tend to be wary. When I drive the entrance roads to the campgrounds, I have my camera ready to go. Often my best pictures of these elusive birds are taken out the window of my jeep. This is also the nesting period, look for fledglings.
Ticks, Chiggers, and Snakes
We are now solidly in tick and chigger season. Be sure to check yourself for ticks after every outing. Tick borne diseases take 3 days to be transmitted. Be diligent about checking for ticks and get any off right away. Dug in ticks can be removed by applying heat to their butts, they then will back out. Get them off early and avoid the mess. Some experienced hikers carry a short strip of duct tape that they use sticky side out to remove tiny ticks, also called seed ticks.
If you hike around the river and feeder creeks, keep in mind that snakes will concentrate around water during the low water seasons. There is a lot of variability between locations -- you may see very few snakes in one area, but quite a few in the next. Stay alert.
Wildflowers
The roadsides are now dried out after a prolonged drought. The wildflower garden at the Ponca Elk is a super place to take photographs. Also, flowers along Ads Creek behind the center are beginning to take off.
Butterflies
This is prime time for butterflies. It always seems very sudden then there is an explosion of them. The easy shots are butterflies "puddling". The tougher butterflies move rapidly at mid-day, they are much easier to get in the mornings when they can often be found sunning after they first awaken.
Elk
Two weeks to the start of the 2010 elk rut, with peak the end of September to mid October. Make your reservations now if you plan to stay in the upper Buffalo River area. All the cabins and campgrounds get busy in September.
The bulls elk are still scraping velvet from their antlers. I have seen old #2, he is showing 7x6 so far, a fine animal. #2 is easy to ID because he has very long eye guards, a collar, and a somewhat upright rack, I call him "Ladders". There are a few other bulls in velvet, one other I have ID'ed is "Superfreak", he has two main shafts on both sides of his rack. There is no other bull that looks remotely like him. The very biggest bull, the "Boxley Stud" is an 8x7 and shows up rarely. If past patterns hold, he will be the dominant bull for 2010, his third year in that slot. A 4th bull, "Freakshow" has a weird 8 or 9 x 6 rack. He was an early rutting bull last year and seems headed that way this year.
This year I will name all the big bulls and post a page to help others ID them. Viewers and photographers my wish to do a checklist to see if they can get all the big guys. So far, at this writing, there are 4 of the biggest bulls hanging around the fields. There a few second tier bulls as well.
Viewing periods are very short as we are in the summer viewing pattern. For reliable viewing, daybreak to 6 to 7AM is the best, the earlier the better. The most reliable place to see elk is around the 43/21 intersection and points south in the valley. Cow elk with young calves are very common now for viewing. If you are lucky you will get to see the very tiny elk calves just after they are born, but these will be the very last at around the first week in August. Be very aware of the danger of a cow elk with a calf. She can and will stomp anyone she perceives as a threat.
Whitetail Deer
Deer are moving everywhere now. Fawns are a couple of months old. There is a 9 point buck in velvet in Boxley Valley, and I heard reports of a buck deer skirmish a few days back (that would be very early, they are still in velvet).Expect to see them on hikes and in fields just about all day long. Near my home on Old Erbie Road, between two trail heads, we see whitetails nearly every day early and late, including many small bucks.
Trumpeter Swans
All four swans, generally organized in two groups of two, remaining from the back-migration experiment at the Boxley Mill pond. Currently they are back on the Boxley Valley mill pond and offer some decent morning shoots.
Tip: If you see the trumpeters start bobbing their heads and honking occasionally, they are getting ready to fly. Focus and wait and you will see a takeoff, and wait longer and they will return after a loop in the valley. These are great pictures and challenging to take.
Other Birds
I have had some success photographing small bird species at and around the Boxley Valley Mill pond. The mill pond offers an exceptional range of habitat compressed in a small area. It is home to many species of birds. I like to get pictures of birds in flight. I it is cool to catch them reflected in the water while in flight. Some of these qualify as trophy shots, quite difficult to get. The key is patience and gumption -- you will miss a lot of pictures.
Another great bird to photograph is the pileated woodpecker. We have a large population of them here, but they tend to be wary. When I drive the entrance roads to the campgrounds, I have my camera ready to go. Often my best pictures of these elusive birds are taken out the window of my jeep. This is also the nesting period, look for fledglings.
Ticks, Chiggers, and Snakes
We are now solidly in tick and chigger season. Be sure to check yourself for ticks after every outing. Tick borne diseases take 3 days to be transmitted. Be diligent about checking for ticks and get any off right away. Dug in ticks can be removed by applying heat to their butts, they then will back out. Get them off early and avoid the mess. Some experienced hikers carry a short strip of duct tape that they use sticky side out to remove tiny ticks, also called seed ticks.
If you hike around the river and feeder creeks, keep in mind that snakes will concentrate around water during the low water seasons. There is a lot of variability between locations -- you may see very few snakes in one area, but quite a few in the next. Stay alert.
This section is designed to be more in-depth than entries on the home page of AWP. There are three levels of news in three time frames:
Level I: The marquee on the home page is updated by my shooting days. Think of it as the 24 hour news cycle, very current.
Level II: The blog is a updated couple of times a week. It identifies current multi-day patterns and what is coming up.
Level III: The "current wildlife calendar of events" provides seasonal guidance, with some specifics.
In summary, the marquee is brief, the blog more fleshed out and semi-weekly, and the natural calendar is the seasonal perspective with notes.
.
Level I: The marquee on the home page is updated by my shooting days. Think of it as the 24 hour news cycle, very current.
Level II: The blog is a updated couple of times a week. It identifies current multi-day patterns and what is coming up.
Level III: The "current wildlife calendar of events" provides seasonal guidance, with some specifics.
In summary, the marquee is brief, the blog more fleshed out and semi-weekly, and the natural calendar is the seasonal perspective with notes.
.
Cow Elk and Newborn Calf 2009
To protect what is wild is to protect what is gentle. Perhaps the wilderness we fear is the pause within our own heartbeats, the silent space that says we live only by grace. Wilderness lives by this same grace.
Terry Tempest Williams
Terry Tempest Williams
Trumpeter Swans Facing Off
Hummingbird Moth, Ponca Elk Education Center
