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| Indian Pink (Spigelia marilandica) |
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Related Posts:
. Sicily Island Hills, Feb. 2023:
. March, 2022:
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On March 29th I birded Sicily Island Hills (JC "Sonny" Gilbert WMA), driving the length of the southern part of WMA, making numerous stops. Some habitat shots before continuing:
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| creek just inside WMA entrance |
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| main road |
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| ditto |
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| Red Buckeye / habitat along the main road |
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| main road |
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| ditto |
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| There's a stretch towards the northwest end of the road where the habitat takes on a more piney-woods quality. |
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| looking out over the Big Creek bottoms near the NW end of the road - the Ouachita River isn't too far downstream, ~0.5 miles approx. (left in pic) |
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Some common winter species were singing ahead of their migration to their northern breeding grounds: most of the Ruby-crowned Kinglets and Yellow-rumped Warblers were singing.
I had my First Of Season for three spring migrant species: Worm-eating Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, and Summer Tanager. The Worm-eating Warblers have started to arrive in Sicily Island Hills before March 20th on the years that I've been here in time to document that, and they soon become one the more commonly heard warblers on breeding territories there. I only heard the one Summer Tanager this time, and the date was just on the leading edge of when I might expect to start finding them (usually FOS is first few days of April). They are a very common breeding bird in this location. The Black-throated Green Warbler was also at the beginning of when I traditionally start detecting them in this part of the state, with my FOS for that species usually coming at the very end of March or early April. In my experience, these are a common migrants in this part of the state in both spring and fall.
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(birdsong video:)
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The chilly temps and cloud cover kept the butterflies off the wing. The only butterfly I saw was a single Pearl Crescent on the drive back out. It's a shame I couldn't have made the trip in better weather conditions for detecting butterflies, as a number of interesting species would be expected during this tine of year under better conditions.
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Wildflowers are always of interest on my trips to Sicily Island Hills. By this point in the season, the candy-colored red-and-yellow flowers of Indian Pink or Woodland Pinkroot (Spigelia marilandica) are starting to show up among the green. They are in bloom in good numbers from March-June, with the peak seeming to be in late April and early May. I have seen the species in flower, in smaller numbers, outside of this date range; one as late in the year as October 30th. With the spring bloom of Indian Pink comes the blossoming of whichever Matalea species it is that grows here (one of the "milkvine" or "climbing milkweed" species). Through less numerous, and less obvious at first glance, their deep purple flowers can be seen, often alongside the Indian Pink, in some places in S.I. Hills.
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| hawthorn sp. |
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| Indian Pink (Spigelia marilandica) |
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| milkvine or climbing milkweed sp. (Matalea) |
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| ditto Matalea sp. |
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Below is the bird list for this trip to Sicily Island Hills.
Sicily Island Hills (JC "Sonny" Gilbert WMA)
3/29/2023
9:37am; 3 hr, 43 min; 4.3 miles
52-59F.; overcast, patches of sun towards end; wind about 1-5mph
Wood Duck - 2
Mourning Dove - 7
Turkey Vulture - 1
Barred Owl - 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 8
Downy Woodpecker - 5
Pileated Woodpecker - 5
White-eyed Vireo - 7
Yellow-throated Vireo - 2
Red-eyed Vireo - 2
Blue Jay - 5
American Crow - 7
Carolina Chickadee - 13
Tufted Titmouse - 20
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 14
Golden-crowned Kinglet - 1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 7
Carolina Wren - 15
Hermit Thrush - 1
Cedar Waxwing - 10
American Goldfinch - 2
White-throated Sparrow - 6
Red-winged Blackbird - 2
Brown-headed Cowbird - 4
Worm-eating Warbler - 8 (FOS)
Hooded Warbler - 7
Northern Parula - 10
Pine Warbler - 6
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) - 18
Black-throated Green Warbler - 1 (FOS)
Summer Tanager - 1 (FOS)
Northern Cardinal - 15
passerine sp. - 8
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As always, if you spot any incorrect IDs or have suggestions for those that I'm unsure about, feel free to comment and let me know.
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