Date: 4/6/26 5:38 am From: Keith Hawkins <kdrjnest...> Subject: Don Simons
A lost treasure for sure! I am thoroughly enjoying all the reflections and memories of Don shared by our group. I feel compelled to add to the accolades. Like others, I too am grateful for the rare birds I would have never seen in Arkansas without his alerts-the Rosy Finch, the Townsend Solitaire, the Rufous-crowned Sparrow, in addition to a long list of raptors.
As most of you know Don hosted a Hawk-Watch, at Mount Magazine State Park, during fall raptor migration. I had the distinct pleasure of exposure to his knowledge, of all things in nature, for a number of years during these events. It often required a bit of probing but if a question arose all I had to do was ask-he would not often offer from his deep well of knowledge. One event in particular comes to mind. There was a noisy Bee, or so I thought, fliting in and out, as we stood watch at the overlook. I asked "Don, what kind of Bee is that? It sure is noisy". His reply was, it is not a Bee, it is a fly and gave me the scientific name (forgotten).
His knowledge of raptors was also amazing to me. We would spot a distant raptor and he would offer his opinion on what species we were seeing. He would run through a litany of facts and behaviors a particular species exhibited. If the bird approached close enough to pick up defining plumage details he was always correct. What a joy, what fun! I rarely saw him exhibit excitement but when a large group of birds were "kettleing" into a "Hawknado" he would get excited. The last couple of years, with him absent, have not been as much fun.
