Date: 4/3/26 2:09 pm From: Ragupathy Kannan <0000013b0ad14faf-dmarc-request...> Subject: Re: Remembrances of Don Simons
Don was a fine naturalist. Here is a small compilation of some of his postings in Ar-birds over the years. ----------------------Wed, 22 May, 2024 at 9:19 pm
Black-bellied Whistling Ducks
Living in Paris, I started keeping a yard list last year.I’ve had a few surprises. Imagine my excitement when a pair of whistling ducksfew low over the big oak in my yard. Nearly every morning I scan theneighborhood and sky.Just about every day brings one or two of them.
I noticed they tended to circle around to the north. Onemorning we drove north on 5th street past Old Military Road. A small corralobstructs the view of the terrain to the west. We counted 24 BBWDs as they flewover and landed beyond the fence where, I’m sure, some had already gathered.
Murder in ParisDon Simons Mon, 29 Apr, 2024 at 2:31 pm
Acase for Hercule Poirot Not. A group of crows? Not this time. Although Iregularly see and hear both Fish and American here in Paris, AR.Whilethe three of us were watching feeder birds from a large living room window, wewitnessed a murder in our Parisian yard. A “Murder Most Fowl”? Rather, a“Murder Most Squirrel.”Afresh-out-of-the-nest Fox Squirrel was braving his new world when a GraySquirrel jumped on and off the youngster. It laid there, motionless. Two GraySquirrel cautiously, tails twitching nervously, approached the victim. Was oneof them the assassin? We could not pick one in a lineup.
I’ve read that squirrels sometimes kill andeat young nestlings of territorial rivals and birds but, usually, it isserendipitous. This was our first encounter with “squirrelacide.” Well, afterall squirrels are not more than tree rats. But they do taste good. Especially,in a gumbo my momma used to make.Suchincidents are much more common than any of us are witness. These days, I findwatching wildlife interacting with wildlife and the environment moreinteresting than just list ticking. Keepwatching,
Donoff the Mount
Crape Myrtle Birds
Don Simons
Wed, 13 Sept, 2023 at 8:33 am
InApril I retired from 42 years as an Arkansas State Park interpreter (23 onMount Magazine) and moved down to Paris. Birds are not as diverse in my yard ason the mountain. Therefore, I spend more time observing habits of fewerspecies.
Myfavorite spot is sitting in our driveway where a crape myrtle tree dominatesthe scene near the road. Say what you want about them, but I have never reallycared for crape myrtles. These non natives are pretty but don’t normallyattract a lot of birds. This one does, due to its location not so much itsnutritious bounty.
Presently,this myrtle reaches up to touch a street light which attracts numerous smallmoths and beetles(no Beatles yet). Every dawn a mockingbird sings his heartout, often mimicking his neighbors and others from the top of the utility pole.I have taken on a new mission to get him add a soft “wolf whistle” to hisrepertoire. No luck yet. I call him my “Mocking Bud.”
Beforesunrise, pairs of the following birds raid insects attracted by that light:red-bellied woodpecker, great crested flycatcher, blue jay, Carolina wren, graycatbird, house finch, and northern cardinal. They come into the buffetseemingly in some sort of order and stay only a short while. My driveway getslittered with moth wings. A big, fat toad joined the feast at least onemorning. A robin tried to nest in the middle of said myrtle unsuccessfully. Shewas very tolerant of the raiders until the eggs hatched. Then she startedchasing away only Mocking Bud. I guess his constant singing got on her nerves.
Nowthings are very quiet around the yard. Heat waves and drought must have shutdown breeding season for my crape myrtlers.
Don,formerly on the Mount, now a new Parisite, but still watching bird behavior.
Hawk count summary
Sun, 2 Oct, 2022 at 6:31 pm
Ihave been observing and documenting hawk migration here on Mount Magazine fornine years now. The data is available at hawkcount.org.
2022has been the most disappointing. We did not break 200 hawks, eagles, vultures,ospreys and falcons. I got “skunked” four days.Warm, windless, lonely days werethe worst.
Highlightsinclude: seven, possibly ten, Merlins and 80 broad-winged hawks, all withinview at one time. A murder 75 fish crows. And most surprising was a Townsend’sSolitaire searching for cedar berries. I believe this was a September recordfor Arkansas. Moments of excitement between hours of staining at beautifulscenery.
Inthe data, September 28th had the highest totals four of those nine years. Mybest year was 2017 with 3,488.
Iwant to thank Keith, Ed,Lynn, and others who volunteered their time andconversation.
Hummer and others
Tue, 5 Apr, 2022 at 9:34 am
Springis always two or three weeks later up here on the mountaintop than insurrounding valleys. Few trees have begun to leaf out. Plum trees are just nowblooming.
Usually,I don’t see our first hummer of the season until Ohio buckeyes begin to bloomhere on Mt. Mag around April 12th. This morning Lori put out our first feederfor the year. Within minutes, a male hummer appeared as if he was waiting forit. Now I need to check our buckeyes.
Nestingwarblers are starting to arrive. Black-and-whites, black-throated greens, andpine have been heard.
Ourpopulation of swallows is increasing almost daily.
Afew winter residents are lingering: juncos and white-throats.
Cardinals,titmice, chickadees, phoebes, white-breasted nuts, several woodpeckers, andother nesters are in fine cheer.
Donon the Mount
cedar waxwings andswallows
Sun, 27 Mar, 2022 at 2:41 am
Yesterday,around 30 cedar waxwings dined on witch hazel flowers outside my officewindow.
Twodays ago, a first-of-season ( FOS) barn swallow arrived at the lodge. He wasbeat by a rough-winged swallow a couple of days earlier. Both species nestaround the lodge. Barn swallows nest on the building itself. Every year I do acensus and usually find around 50 active nests. It’s a bit fun for me to watchnest building and nestlings growing. Great photo opportunities.
Rough-wingsnest in gaps between large rocks in the wall across the parking lot. Theyaren’t as numerous.
Easternphoebes also nest on the lodge. So far I have found two nests. They nest onmany other sites, natural and manmade, in the park.
Nosolitaires were found this winter despite an abundance of cedar berries.
Norufous-crowned sparrows have been found this year yet.Good birding.
Donon the Mount
Good eyes
Tue, 22 Sept, 2020 at 7:50 am
Itis always nice to have sharp-eyed birders join me on Cameron Bluff to countmigrants. Lynn Christy, Ed Laster, and Keith Hawkings visited yesterday. We hadsome passerine activity in the brush near the gazebo before raptors began tomake their way through.
Tanagers,swifts, a peewee, gnatcatchers, and some warblers (at least one black-throatedgreen) gave us click but close up glimpses. By noon we tallied:
Hawkmigration seems to be increasing now. I predict, this weekend might we will seegood numbers. However, I am oftentimes proven wrong.
Goodbirding.
Elderberry Birds
Sat, 15 Aug, 2020 at 4:21 am
Thursday morning, before a stormreached Mount Mag, I noticed a lot of bird action behind the Greenfield PicnicArea. In the very tops of several dead black locust trees were some silent butactive Empidonax flycatchers silhouetted against brightclouds. A downy woodpecker found a spot that resonated his pecking. A peeweeand a cuckoo called from nearby woods.
Inother treetops, full of vegetation, summer (4) and scarlet (6) tanagers seemedto catch and eat some sort of prey (hopefully, walking sticks) when not chasingeach other. None of these tanagers were in adult male breeding plumage. Onedark-winged scarlet had red patches on his nape and belly.
Twolarge elderberry bushes, loaded with fruit, attracted a lot of attention fromtanagers, cardinals, and indigo buntings. Bills of all these birds were stainedwith berry juice.
Otherbirds in this small area included:black-and-white, black-thoated green, andhooded warblers, redstarts, white nuthatches, gnatcatchers, chickadees,titmice, and a few others. A total of 25 species made for a very active 20minutes.
On Friday, 3 April 2026 at 02:29:17 pm GMT-5, Barry Haas <bhaas...> wrote:
I first met Don Simons in the mid-1980's. At that time the Audubon Society of Central Arkansas (ASCA) held volunteer work sessions to construct bluebird houses made out of wood from donated fruit crates. The bluebird houses were sold to raise funds for ASCA. The work sessions were at Pinnacle Mountain State Park interpreter Neil Curry's park lodgings just west of Little Rock.
One evening Neil had an evening campfire going behind his residence when suddenly from out of the totally dark woods who should appear but a 19th century Arkansan in era appropriate garb. That was Don. What a character. I think Don would have chosen an earlier time to have been alive had he a choice.
Fast forward a few years to the fall of 1990 when I attended my first Arkansas Audubon Society (AAS) meeting at Lake Chicot State Park. Don was the interpreter there, and did a good job shuttling us by boat on Lake Chicot to see one or more active rookeries with a nice variety of avian species wood storks, herons, etc.
In the years since Don has at times played his mountain man role during AAS Halberg Ecology Camp youth sessions at Camp Clearfork. He was always willing to help others both young and old understand what life was like long ago.
His final move years ago was to serve as interpreter at Mount Magazine State Park. Don was always willing to help others whether it involved birds or other wildlife.
