Date: 4/3/26 3:09 pm From: Joseph Neal <0000078cbd583d7c-dmarc-request...> Subject: Another Don Simon story from a past ARBIRD post
WAITING FOR ROSY-FINCH, OR SOMETHING LIKE May 11, 2012
Like (a-la-Facebook) Don Simon's excitement in his post to ARBIRD-L on May 6: "You are going to think I am crazy, but I just saw and photographed a GRAY-CROWNED ROSY-FINCH next to the visitor center parking lot here at Mount Magazine State Park!!!!"
It's a Western bird of high elevation. Doug James' take on this: A bird that inhabits the highest Rockies has found the highest place in Arkansas. First State Record for Arkansas. The Birds of North America account terms rosy-finches, "extreme-environment specialists. . . craggy breeding sites . . . austere habitats . . . possibly the highest-altitude breeding bird in North America."
Don's post comes in a little after 11:00 AM Sunday. Before another gorgeous Magazine sunset, a bunch of eager-birders have rushed the mountain (you snooze, you lose). Meanwhile, I have rosy-finch whirling an endless loop. My brain turns to mush.
My calendar is full 'til Wednesday, but then I'm out the door at 4:30 AM and arrive atop this surprising, temporary rosy-finch-land before 7 AM. I've got binoculars, scope, and camera, but where is the bird, exactly? I'm blank from rosy-finch fever. Fortunately, David Oakley answers his cell. "AT THE VISITOR CENTER. STAND AT THE DOOR AND LOOK AT 2:00 O'CLOCK!!!!"
By 7:30 AM, I have rosy-finch, at 4:00 o'clock, in a bright yellow patch of Krigia flowers growing on a rocky bulldozed scrape. It's a miracle!
By around 9, traffic is picking up. Avian supporting cast behind rosy-finch includes Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Tennessee Warbler, Swainson's and Wood Thrushes, Ovenbird, Scarlet Tanager. Mitchell Pruitt is headed here from Jonesboro.
Maybe it's 9:30 or so. A couple from Oklahoma walks over where I'm watching. They are also in the bird business -- growing chickens -- and curious about rosy-finch, 10 feet away, beak full of attractive yellow Krigia flowers. My pointing-out finger is deployed.
At that moment, I see Mitchell and others pulling in. Rosy-finch starts and flies. Mitchell asks, "Is it still here?" YES, I answer. We pile down on a big rock in the shade, Krigia patch in full view, to wait. A motorcycle guy with a shiny skin head and black leather walks up and politely asks, "Is the little bird still here?"
We wait. Maybe a short break might help? We drive a couple of miles from the visitor center to the hand glider site for Rufous-crowned Sparrow, another Westerner of severe rocky habitats, singing when we arrive. We have great views! My phone suddenly rings.
It's Carolyn Minson, in Waldron. She is waiting there with a group from Hot Springs Village, for ME, who had agreed to lead them on a Wednesday afternoon field trip! I'm dumbfounded, obviously feverish. Carolyn is graceful.
Back at the rock, Ed Laster, who has ridden his motorcycle here for rosy-finch, tells me he learned his birds from JoAnne Rife and Sally Jo Gibson in his Harrison years.
When a big mower fires up, Edie Calaway runs over to the driver. "You can't mow here there's a rare bird from the Rockies and you'll take away all its food." They readily and gracefully move to another job. We wait.
I spot the bird across the street. Close inspection reveals I've found a Brown-headed Cowbird. More fever.
NOON -- no rosy-finch. ONE O’CLOCK -- no rosy-finch. As wind comes up, we give up. Mitchell, who in his 2011 Big Year tallied 308 species in the state of Arkansas, takes disappointment in stride. An Io Moth by the front door visitor center shows colorful bull's-eye eyespots. Mitchell collects images, terming this a consolation prize.
