Patricia is a superlative chef and connoisseur of fine wines, particularly champagnes. She is also an accomplished and dedicated birder. Pat’s Arkansas Big Year lies in the not too distant future.
Dennis (left in photo) retired from his career as computer scientist and physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in 2006. Now a full-time birder and part-time theoretical techno-geek, Dennis completed an Arkansas Big Year in 2007.
Skip (left in photo) was born to be a birder. It’s in his English Springer Spaniel blood. So too, apparently, is an abiding interest in snakes, turtles, and especially armadillos. Skip hasn’t said whether he is planning a Big Year.
about us
When we moved to Little Rock in 2006 we had little experience birding in Arkansas. We hope this website becomes a useful resource for other birdwatchers new to the state or new to birding. Hopefully birders at all skill levels will find something of value here. Should this site prove entertaining or a pleasant diversion for some, so much the better.
For up to the minute rare bird reports including first and most recent observation dates, a map, who to contact, and more, visit the RBA page. To learn about Arkansas’ birding hotspots, at least our favorites, follow the HOTSPOTS link. Go to BIRDCAM to watch a live, full-motion video feed of the birds visiting our backyard feeder. PHOTO contains photo albums with contributions from many Arkansas birder-photographers. Learn to identify all of Arkansas’ birds painlessly by viewing the Bird Identification albums. If you want to learn about the natural history of a particular bird, PROFILES is the place to start. AUDIO and VIDEO provide convenient access to Cornell Lab of Ornithology Macaulay Library audio and video recordings of Arkansas’ birds. VIDEO also includes our own videos of birds rare in Arkansas. The latter are also available on YouTube (ArkansasBirder Channel), Google Video, and as a podcast via iTunes (search for “birds in motion”). Among the many entries in the birding BLOG are two Big Year essays, The 300 and An Arkansas Big Year.
If as Henry David Thoreau wrote in Walden, “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation,” then surely the antidote for this fate is passion. Max Parker had an enduring passion and it made him a pillar of the Arkansas birding community. We dedicate this website to Max and to Helen Parker and to all the others with a passion for birds and birding.
Dennis and Patricia Braddy
January 17, 2008
Little Rock, Arkansas
Magness Lake Trumpeter Swans
