Leatherwood Lake, caterpillars, and snakes!
Arkansas
Wednesday 10 July 2024
87 °F
SATURDAY, JUNE 22:
This morning my aunts and dad were in town from hearing my Traviata performance last night, so we went hiking at Leatherwood Lake. It was a beautiful hike but mainly quiet bird wise with only common species found like this EASTERN KINGBIRD:
And NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW:
BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER:
A recently-fledged CHIPPING SPARROW:
A hot AMERICAN CROW panting in the sun:
It was wonderful to spend time with family. Later in the day, I took a brief walk down Blue Springs Rd where I found this gorgeous caterpillar along the trail — any ideas as to the species?
The view over the White River was gorgeous as always:
And later tonight I found a small snake crossing the path back to the dormitory — it turned out to be a Smooth Earthsnake, only the second individual I have ever seen! The only other one was my lifer back at Wildcat Bluff in Illinois.
Bird-of-the-day to the Eastern Kingbirds which gave great views to my family. Stay tuned for more!
Happy birding,
Henry
World Life List: 1303 Species
This looks like a black swallowtail caterpillar to me- same color pattern. They eat plants in the carrot family like this Queen Anne's lace.
by liz cifani