Birding Archives - Page 51 of 112

February 21, 2010

Lake Dardanelle and Holla Bend NWR 2/19/2010

I went to Delaware Recreation Area in the hopes of spotting one of the Lesser Black-backed Gulls that has been seen there for the last few weeks. I also had the idea of spotting a Tufted Duck. I knew there was little chance of that but Lake Dardanelle is where they’ve been seen in February in recent years. I arrived at 8:30 and saw the usual American Coot, Ring-billed Gull, Common Goldeneye, Bufflehead, etc. Scoping the surface I also came across at least two Herring Gull before finally spotting a 1^st winter Lesser Black-backed Gull. Yay! Year bird.

I then drove over to Holla Bend and drove the auto trail. Birds were a little slow there this day but I saw a lot of Red-tailed Hawk and one Bald Eagle. I also saw two Armadillo although the last time I was here I saw about six. The four Trumpeter Swan that I saw are considered notable but I usually see some I didn’t think much of it. Two had neck bands but two did not.

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February 14, 2010

Audubon Arkansas Nature Center and Lake Maumelle 2/13/2010

ASCA had a field trip and Audubon Arkansas had a “Go Wild in your Backyard” event where ASCA was cohosting a free bird walk. So Sam and I went east to Audubon Arkansas to help Dan, as if he needed any, and represent ASCA and then sped west to join ASCA at Lake Maumelle. Later we went to a CAAS meeting so by then end of the day, we were ready for home.

The AANC event seemed well received with about thirty people attending with Sandra Morris from CAAS and Debbie Haynes whose home we visited last winter when she had an Anna’s Hummingbird. We walked back behind the AANC and saw a variety of birds, nothing exotic but still enjoyable.

We met up with ASCA at the Jolly Roger Marina before going to Loon Point, the Hundley Road Causeway, Vista Point, and the recently dubbed Old Chimney Trail off of Highway 113. We were hoping for a glimpse of the Yellow-billed Loon but he was a no show. I hope he’s still around. As far as I know he has not been seen since Sam and I saw him on Wednesday following in the footsteps of several other birders. We did get good looks at a Pacific Loon and a Red-throated Loon though so that was good.

Since the loon was last seen opposite the Hundley Road Causeway on the far side of the lake I had the idea of going down an old abandoned road I had discovered from Google Earth. I didn’t know it because I had not walked the entire length before but that road leads up to a local minor landmark, The Old Chimney hence the new name we gave it. The trail does lead right up to the water so we had good views and could see both Vista Point and the Hundley Road Causeway from there and a large bay. We had good views of the Pacific Loon from there plus other more common waterfowl.

After a couple hours rest, Sam and went to a meeting of the Central Arkansas Astronomical Society. It was packed considering the clouds and snow on the ground. Bill Engberg gave us a presentation of the building of his 24 inch telescope. Once completed, as far as we know, it will be in a tie for the largest telescope in the state.

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February 14, 2010

Weekend Birding 2/6/2010 and 2/7/2010

I was thinking about where to go birding, Pine Bluff for Eared Grebes or Lake Dardanelle for a trifecta of uncommon birds when I heard about a Western Tanager reported in Little Rock off Mississippi Road.

Sam and I joined some birders Saturday morning to walked the residential area but had no luck. Later however, I got a call that it had been seen at the Holy Trinity Church and we took off again. This time we found the very accommodating bird as it was being watched by a dozen birders. State bird for me, life bird for Sam.

Sunday morning we went to Lake Dardanelle for that trifecta of Glaucous Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, and Surf Scoter. Within 5 minutes we had the Glaucous Gull but another 70 minutes of scanning the lake failed to turn up the other two birds. At least the one gull was a life bird for Sam.

Finally it was Sunday afternoon and I wanted one more outing before starting a work week so I headed out to Lake Maumelle. Nada at Loon Point but at the Hundley Bridge Causeway I could see some gulls including one pale bird about midway across the lake. I knew this bird was unusual, it was as large as a nearby Common Loon but paler. The bill was light colored and there was a noticeable white patch around the eye. He looked like a winter plumage Yellow-billed Loon but I knew that that had been seen in Arkansas only once before in 1991. I knew I didn’t have enough data to claim it was one of those. I took some poor pictures. Once I posted my pictures and description to ARBird, I got responses from three respected birder speculating that it was a YBLO. That night 8 inches of snow hit and it was Tuesday before I could get back out. No luck on Tuesday but on Wednesday, Kenny Nichols got out there and confirmed that he was a YBLO. Sam and I got back out there that afternoon and was able to pick the bird back up so. This time he was even further away and so I didn’t even get poor pictures. I hope to spend more time this weekend to get better pictures.
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