In my experience, April is the best birding month of the year followed by May. In April 2009, I saw or heard 148 species of bird. In April 2010, I encountered 153 species. After going to the Natural Resources Complex to try to pick up Acadian Flycatcher and getting Wood Thrush instead, I close April 2011 out with 162 species for the month. My best month ever. At every opportunity, I went out and on April 20th started five weeks of half days at work so I was able to bird somewhere every day since the 20th. I don’t expect May to be as good but the pace enabled me to reach 200 birds for the year, none exotic except those that have been corroborated by someone else, on April 29th.
Murray Lock & Dam and Murray Park 4/30/2011
I hadn’t visited the “Murray Recreation Complex” recently so I decided to spend my Saturday morning there. It was cloudy and in the mid to upper 60s. In all I walked 2 miles and back or 4 miles. While there I saw Tennessee Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Cedar Waxwing, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Orchard Oriole, Baltimore Oriole, and a first of season Anhinga.
Camp Robinson Special Use Area 4/29/2011
I birded Camp Robinson SUA near Mayflower Friday morning. I was surprised by the storm damage. It looks like a tornado came through the area, and maybe one did, with the storms that hit Vilonia so bad. The newly renovated shooting range was hit and looks to have serious damage and the adjacent warbler spot we go to had many tree uprooted and broken in half. However, once you get past that there was no damage. My target bird was Bachman’s Sparrow and it seemed a perfect day for it, sunny not too cold not too hot not too windy. I traveled along the areas I know of that have the proper habitat but could not find any. I did however pick up 40 species of birds including FOS Tennessee Warbler and Wilson’s Warbler.
