With the idea that Two Rivers Park is best in the early morning and birds at Lake Maumelle might last longer, I started at TRP at 8. I got off to a good start at the swampy area at the start of the paved trail with a Virginia Rail. Unfortunately that was the highlight of the visit. There weren’t many sparrows or much else for that matter. At Lake Maumelle, there wasn’t much going on either – 2 Common Loon, 2 Horned Grebe, 2 Pied-billed Grebe, 2 American Crow. Seeing a pattern, I looked around for an arc but could not find one.
As I was about to load up the spotting scope, I saw something new fly in. A quick look showed something weird. Closer scrutiny showed similarities to a Long-tailed Duck but the head was too light and the bill too heavy (or so I thought). After sharing my images with AR-Bird, all agreed it was a Long-tailed Duck. The LTDU is an “uncommon Winter Visitor” and a life bird for me. Apparently it was enough to stir some activity as I know of at least two people went to chase it.
