GENTRY -- With all the recent rains, it was only a small group of Northwest Arkansas Audubon Society members which visited the native Chesney Prairie Natural Area, southeast of Gentry, on July 9 -- only about 10 members -- but they did get to observe a variety of birds and native plants.
The blazing star, with its purple spikes of flowers, were in bloom Saturday, and the blooms attracted a variety of insects and butterflies. And a variety of birds were seen too, including the dickcissell, red-winged blackbird and scissor-tailed flycatcher.
Much of the prairie was wet, with standing water, but the bird watchers waded through the waters for their outing on the prairie.
Joe Neal, Audubon Society member and naturalist, and Terry Stanfill, local naturalist and photographer, led the field trip to the native prairie.
"Chesney Prairie Natural Area is one of very few tall-grass prairie remnants left on the Arkansas portion of the Springfield Plateau and supports a number of rare species. Much of its flora and fauna is representative of the once extensive upland prairies and savannas of the western Ozark Mountains. Sager Creek runs through the prairie, creating a wooded riparian corridor," according to the Natural Heritage Commission website.
The area is open to visitors who wish to view or photograph the native wildlife and plants. It is located just under a mile east of Arkansas Highway 59 and 1/2 mile north of Chesney Road.
The Northwest Arkansas Audubon Society is a registered non-profit organization serving the four-county region of northwest Arkansas -- Benton, Carroll, Madison and Washington counties. It carries out on the local level the mission of the national organization, preserving and protecting birds and their natural habitat through education and conservation efforts.
Sports on 07/20/2016