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I started a cold Sunday morning by birding what I call the Maumelle Valley Estates Wetlands in Maumelle.  It is an area of rumored to be federally protected wetlands in a new housing development in Maumelle.  I didn’t see anything extraordinary there but as I was finishing I got an email on my phone. It was an AR-Bird post from Kenny Nichols who had a Barrow’s Goldeneye at his house on Lake Dardanelle.  I called Sam to let her know and then notified Karen Holliday because I suspected she wouldn’t get the email until much too late.  I went home for Sam and then met up with Karen and off we went as she also contacted other birders.  In case you are not aware, a Barrow’s Goldeneye is an accidental species in Arkansas.  It was last reported in 2003 and that individual stayed one day.

We got to Kenny & LaDonna’s house at about 11 PM and within 5 minutes had all seen the Barrow’s Goldeneye, confirming the field marks so we were sure.  It was a life bird for all three of us.  The Braddy’s were there as well and soon the Boyles’, Scheiman’s, and Terry Butler also arrived.

In all it was very fine if unexpected outing.  Thanks to Kenny & LaDonna for finding the bird and inviting people to their house to see it.

Sam and I plus three other birders worked the Little Rock Christmas Bird Count for 2010 yesterday.  Ours was “Section 3” which is north of I-630 to the Arkansas River from I-30 on the east side to the edge of the circle on the west.  We started a little before 7 AM at Two Rivers Park.  I had hoped to get there a little earlier to try for owls but it didn’t work out, still it was 25 minutes before sunrise.  Right off the bat I was able to get a Virginia Rail to response to playback at the swamp.  Something I found on the Internet indicated they were most responsive to playback at dawn and dusk so I wanted to get that done first off.  Year bird for me.  We walked there for about 3 hours, longer than we should have but we picked up 42 species so that’s not shabby.  After TRP we went to Murray Lock & Dam and Murray Park.  These were kind of disappointing due to the lateness of the morning.  By the time we wrapped up Murray, it was lunch time and two of our group had to leave which left Sam, Roger, and me.  Later we walked North Cedar where we had been notified of Pine Siskins and were able to pick those up.  Another year bird, Yay!  After this Roger had to leave so it was just Sam & me.  We then birded Allsopp & Knoop parks plus a couple fruiting trees we had been alerted to.  Nothing spectacular but a few new day birds.  We swung by downtown but saw nothing new.  By this time it was about 3:30 with 90 minutes of daylight left.  Sam was pooped so I dropped her off at home and went to the Natural Resources Complex to wrap up my daylight.  Here I found my last day bird, a Great Horned Owl.  After sunset, I made a short trip into Rock Creek Trail, part of which is in my territory, in hopes of Barred Owl which I have heard there but no luck on the front.  After then end of the day, after 10.5 hours of birding we had seen 57 species though no one person had seen them all.

Karen Holliday and I traveled west on Saturday going to Holla Bend NWR with stops at Beaverfork Lake, Lake Overcup, and Ed Gordon Point Remove WMA along the way. We didn’t see much at the initial spots, mainly birds to load up my fledgling month count, but once we got to the Holla Bend area we started getting a little more unusual.

First we stopped on County Loop Road in New Neely where Bewick’s Wrens were known to hang around. Almost immediately one appeared giving us a good look from the car. However once the camera came out he took off.  We stayed there about 40 minutes seeing several other species but the camera shy bird never came back. However, that one good look gave me Arkansas Year Bird #262 tying last year’s personal record.

At Holla Bend NWR, we made a quick circuit as it was getting late.  We saw lots of American White Pelicans, Bald Eagles, Ring-billed Gulls, Green-winged Teal, several dark Red-tailed Hawks, and others. The highlight was one Merlin flying by in exactly the same spot I photographed one in November of 2008.  Cool and Arkansas Year Bird #263, leaving my 2009 record in the dust.

Sunday morning, we headed east to Galloway hoping for Longspurs.  We didn’t see any but we did see Horned Lark which are always a treat.  Before heading to Galloway though Karen showed me two wetland trails in Maumelle. The first, near the country club ball parks was relatively short and may have limited productivity but the second which we’ve given the interim title of “Maumelle–Valley Estates Wetlands” is a federally protected wetland in the southern reaches of the city. There is development around it but the wetland itself will hopefully remain viable.  In it we saw a lot, including a 5 weeks late Common Yellowthroat, and the area deserves more scrutiny.