Saturday morning Dottie & Doris Boyles allowed me to tag along as they went to Bald Knob NWR to see what there was to see. While there we saw 53 bird species including first of year (for me) Least Tern, Acadian Flycatcher, Snowy Egret, Black-bellied Plover, and American Avocet. The Avocets were a bit late and seeing 13 of them was out of the ordinary.
Weekend Birding May 11 and 12, 2013
According to the calendar it was the peak of migration season this last weekend. Saturday Sam & I joined the Audubon Society of Central Arkansas and Audubon Arkansas for a field trip to Holland Bottoms WMA between Jacksonville and Cabot. The weather was beautiful and we had maybe 30 people attend. I didn’t get many photos but I did see or hear 55 species that morning including FOS Cattle Egret, Wild Turkey, Wilson’s Phalarope, and Blackburnian Warbler.
Sunday morning I went to Murray Park hoping for among other things Palm Warbler and empidonax flycatchers. I made a large loop hugging the river at first and the modest wetlands on the other side of Rebsamen on the way back. In all I saw 42 species including FOS Willow Flycatcher and Wilson’s Warbler.
A Weekend of Birding
Saturday I joined 15 other birders for the 150 mile journey to Wapanocca NWR near Turrell, AR. It was cloudy and cool and occasionally threatening rain but we were there for 7 hours making it a 13 hours excursion before Sam & I dragged ourselves home. It seemed kind of slow considering where we were but we had over 60 species including Western Grebe and FOS Painted Bunting, Dickcissel, and Common Nighthawk. Due to the weather I didn’t take many pictures but here are the best. Click image for a larger view.
Sunday morning Allan Mueller and I birded Bell Slough WMA, both North and South. It was still cool and cloudy but no chance of rain. We walked the gravel road and up to Grassy Lake on the north side and the levee on the south side. Highlights included Yellow-crowned Night-heron, Little Blue Heron, about 50 Black Vultures, Sora, Wilson’s Snipe, and the for the third time in three consecutive outings – American Bittern. Here are some pictures from the morning.
Finally, Sunday afternoon Sam Dixon & I went to the Rocky Valley Trail at Pinnacle Mountain State Park for Scarlet Tanager. We were not disappointed. About midway down the trail, I played their song and before long we had one responding in kind behind us and another saying “chick-burr” in front of us. Add a Mississippi Kite soaring above and we had two more year birds.
