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I decided to do more CBCs this year in attempt to finish out the year with a bang.  As it turned out, several of those that I might have been interested in were on week days and I was busy at work and two of three I wound up doing were in January so I started with a bang rather than finish with one.  On Sunday, I joined Bill Holliman and others for Lonoke.  It started out cold but sunny with little wind. We didn’t come across anything unusual but by the end of the day we had about 66 species.

Three days later, I joined Dan Scheiman and others for the Holla Bend NWR CBC.  It was another cold and sunny but wind free day,  We had the area around the observation tower and including “County Loop Rd” in New Neely where Bewick’s Wren and Harris Sparrow’s can be found.  We did in fact find those species and 66 more including a good look at two Barred Owls who were as surprised as we were.

Earlier in the week, Kenny Nichols spotted a single Barnacle Goose while on the Pine Bluff CBC,  The next day, the coordinator, Robert Dorster, relocated the bird. It was three days later before I could go but Sam and I followed Robert’s excellent directions to a spot off of highway 79. There we found a flock of mixed Snow, Ross’s, and Greater White-fronted Geese.   I stopped at every dark neck with a white head to see if it had the requisite dark cap, so that the white was a mask on an otherwise dark neck and head, with a dark bill.  When they all spooked, I started over when they landed.  After 40 minutes of panning the scope, checking every dark phase goose out there we spotted the one with the right field marks.

Karen Holliday, Patty McClean, and I went to Stuttgart Thursday morning hoping for Longspurs and Short-eared Owls.  While we were skunked for the latter we achieved the former in spades.  First off it was a cold and blustery day.  A predicted cold front appeared to be arriving early.  The temperature ranged from mid to upper 30s all day and there was a constant wind.  About mid-day I realized this would serve as a good shakedown cruise for the Lonoke CBC in about a week.  I need to get to thin gloves or glove liners to protect my fingers but otherwise I was well protected.

Anyway, we fairly quickly identified about 5 Smith’s Longspurs as they flew over.  These were year birds for me, number 267 on my Arkansas Year list. Soon afterward we heard more bird sounds in the agri fields to the north so went there and found hundreds then thousands of Lapland Longspurs.  Of course we didn’t catch every bird and identify it then place it over there but everywhere we looked we saw birds that were obviously Laplands.  We just walked into these clouds of birds and they would go elsewhere and then come back.

Also in the fields we came across groups of American Pipits and Horned Larks plus plenty of Mallard, Greater White-fronted Goose, Snow and Ross’s Goose, Northern Harrier and other species.