Category: Birding

This was my first thorough examination of this fish hatchery near Hot Springs in years. I arrived at 8:10, about 55 minutes after leaving West Little Rock. The signs said no driving on the levees so I gathered up the spotting scope and all my equipment and walked around it. Unfortunately there was not much going on in numbers of species or individuals. The only shorebirds there were Killdeer with the exception of a single small sandpiper that disappeared before I could identify it. I did see Eurasian Collared-Doves which are locally common permanent residents of Arkansas but which I had never seen. I left around 9:45.

Species seen or heard:
• Killdeer
• Canada Goose
• Great Egret
• Pine Warbler
• Carolina Chickadee
• Tufted Titmouse
• American Robin
• Belted Kingfisher
• Eurasian Collared-Dove
• Mallard
• Great Blue Heron
• Green Heron
• Little Blue Heron
• Red-shouldered Hawk
• Snowy Egret
• American Crow
• Pileated Woodpecker
• Turkey Vulture
• White-eyed Vireo
• Northern Mockingbird
• Carolina Wren
• Northern Rough-winged Swallow

We went to this U of A facility on Lake Catherine, arriving at about 9:30. The main attraction is of course the flowers but I was ready to record the birds I encountered. Sad to say, there weren’t nearly as many flowers as there was this spring but as my son said, “It is August, Dad.” I did notice that they had plenty of naturally colorful leaves to make up for the lack of flowers. We stayed about two hours.

Species seen or heard:
• Carolina Chickadee
• Carolina Wren
• American Crow
• Tufted Titmouse
• American Robin
• Blue Jay
• Downy Woodpecker
• Pileated Woodpecker
• Red-bellied Woodpecker
• Mourning Dove
• Ruby-throated Hummingbird
• Summer Tanagerr

I arrived at Saul’s main facility at about 8:15. I drove around many full ponds and finally found two draining ponds to the south of the main entrance where there was plenty of shorebird activity. Left the main facility at 10:06. Headed over to the ponds at the western end of Saul Road (aka Bell Road) which I will refer to as Saul’s West for convenience. From there I drove to Bald Knob NWR. Arrived at BK at 11:25, learned that many Wood Storks were in the swampy area Southwest of the Coal Chute ponds. As I headed there, I noticed that the first two ponds going west from Coal Chute Road had almost completely dried and the third pond which was completely covered as recently as last weekend was now mostly exposed and muddy and now the prime habitat. Left BK at 1:10.

Species seen or heard at Saul’s Main Facility:
• Northern Mockingbird
• Barn Swallow
• Killdeer
• Northern Rough-winged Swallow
• Great Egret
• Snowy Egret
• Great Blue Heron
• Forster’s Tern
• Tree Swallow
• Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
• Belted Kingfisher
• Blue Jay
• American Crow
• Little Blue Heron
• Mourning Dove
• Blue-winged Teal
• Franklin’s Gull
• Semipalmated Plover
• Least Sandpiper
• Semipalmated Sandpiper
• Lesser Yellowlegs
• Long-billed Dowitcher
• Pectoral Sandpiper
• Short-billed Dowitcher
• Carolina Wren
• Eastern Kingbird
• Pied-billed Grebe

Species seen or heard at Saul’s West:
• Black-necked Stilt
• Great Blue Heron
• Great Egret
• Barn Swallow
• Snowy Egret
• Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

Species seen or heard at BKNWR:
• Mourning Dove
• Red-winged Blackbird
• Canada Goose
• Great Egret
• Mallard
• Great Blue Heron
• Little Blue Heron
• Cattle Egret
• Greater Yellowlegs
• Roseate Spoonbill
• Pectoral Sandpiper
• Least Sandpiper
• Wood Stork
• White-eyed Vireo
• Indigo Bunting
• Long-billed Dowitcher
• Semipalmated Plover
• Killdeer
• Barn Swallow
• Turkey Vulture
• Northern Mockingbird
• Rock Pigeon