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I’m taking the day off from work and went to Saul’s this morning.  I went to the same pond that housed the Red-necked Phalarope last weekend.  The pond was a bit drier and a lot slower but still had about two hundred birds.  The highlight was probably the Black-bellied Plover and some Dunlin.  Besides that there the usual Pectoral, Western, Semipalmated, and Least Sandpipers, Yellowlegs of both sizes, Forster’s terns, five species of swallow, plus three but only three Semipalmated Plovers and loads of Killdeer and egrets.

Here is an image of the non-breeding plumage BBPL and another of mixed peeps:

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Species seen or heard:

• Northern Shoveler
• Great Blue Heron
• Great Egret
• Snowy Egret
• Black-bellied Plover
• Semipalmated Plover
• Killdeer
• Greater Yellowlegs
• Lesser Yellowlegs
• Semipalmated Sandpiper
• Western Sandpiper
• Least Sandpiper
• Pectoral Sandpiper
• Stilt Sandpiper
• Forster’s Tern
• Mourning Dove
• Tree Swallow
• Northern Rough-winged Swallow
• Bank Swallow
• Cliff Swallow
• Barn Swallow

I joined Karen Holliday, the Boyles’, and the Muellers for a trip to Bald Knob NWR Saturday morning.  Clear skies had been forecast but it was mostly cloudy but thankfully not rainy.  The refuge was rather slow but we did see a few uncommon birds like an American Avocet.

I had to take off early to pick up Samantha.  Later I got word of a Red-necked Phalarope and other neat birds at Saul’s Minnow Farm that they had seen so I filled up the cooler and grabbed the camera and took off with Angie.  We got there at about 5 PM and after an hour of scoping had seen all of the “good” birds including the Phalarope, Black-bellied Plovers, and American Golden-Plover.  There were also Caspian Terns which aren’t too rare this time of year but still cool to see any time.

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Species seen or heard at BKNWR:

• Mallard
• Blue-winged Teal
• Northern Shoveler
• Northern Pintail
• Great Blue Heron
• Great Egret
• Snowy Egret
• Little Blue Heron
• Green Heron
• Semipalmated Plover
• Black-necked Stilt
• American Avocet
• Least Sandpiper
• White-rumped Sandpiper
• Pectoral Sandpiper
• Long-billed Dowitcher
• Mourning Dove
• Blue Jay
• Carolina Chickadee
• Red-winged Blackbird
• Common Grackle

Species seen or heard at Saul’s:

• Blue-winged Teal
• Great Egret
• Snowy Egret
• Little Blue Heron
• Green Heron
• Black-bellied Plover
• American Golden-Plover
• Semipalmated Plover
• Killdeer
• Black-necked Stilt
• Greater Yellowlegs
• Lesser Yellowlegs
• Least Sandpiper
• White-rumped Sandpiper
• Pectoral Sandpiper
• Red-necked Phalarope
• Caspian Tern
• Black Tern
• Forster’s Tern
• Belted Kingfisher
• Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
• Tree Swallow

I made two excursions yesterday, one to Bald Knob NWR and another to Sheppard Island Park in Pine Bluff chasing the Swallow-tailed Kites so I decided to stay close to home today and just bird Two Rivers Park.  It was a good choice because I got a life bird (Alder Flycatcher) and would have had another if I hadn’t seen the Swallow-tailed Kite the day before.  I did get a much better view of the kite today so no complaints there.  I saw the STKI soaring with a juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk and a juvenile Mississippi Kite.

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Species seen or heard:

• Canada Goose
• Northern Bobwhite
• Great Blue Heron
• Great Egret
• Swallow-tailed Kite
• Mississippi Kite
• Red-shouldered Hawk
• Killdeer
• Mourning Dove
• Downy Woodpecker
• Northern Flicker
• Pileated Woodpecker
• Alder Flycatcher
• Great Crested Flycatcher
• Eastern Kingbird
• Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
• White-eyed Vireo
• American Crow
• Fish Crow
• Carolina Wren
• Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
• Eastern Bluebird
• American Robin
• Northern Mockingbird
• Northern Cardinal
• Indigo Bunting
• Common Grackle
• Orchard Oriole
• House Finch
• House Sparrow