The Latest from Me

According to the calendar it was the peak of migration season this last weekend. Saturday Sam & I joined the Audubon Society of Central Arkansas and Audubon Arkansas for a field trip to Holland Bottoms WMA between Jacksonville and Cabot.  The weather was beautiful and we had maybe 30 people attend.  I didn’t get many photos but I did see or hear 55 species that morning including FOS Cattle Egret, Wild Turkey, Wilson’s Phalarope, and Blackburnian Warbler.

 

Sunday morning  I went to Murray Park hoping for among other things Palm Warbler and empidonax flycatchers. I made a large loop hugging the river at first and the modest wetlands on the other side of Rebsamen on the way back. In all I saw 42 species including FOS Willow Flycatcher and Wilson’s Warbler.

Saturday I joined 15 other birders for the 150 mile journey to Wapanocca NWR near Turrell, AR. It was cloudy and cool and occasionally threatening rain but we were there for 7 hours making it a 13 hours excursion before Sam & I dragged ourselves home.  It seemed kind of slow considering where we were but we had over 60 species including Western Grebe and FOS Painted Bunting, Dickcissel, and Common Nighthawk.  Due to the weather I didn’t take many pictures but here are the best. Click image for a larger view.

Sunday morning Allan Mueller and I birded Bell Slough WMA, both North and South. It was still cool and cloudy but no chance of rain.   We walked the gravel road and up to Grassy Lake on the north side and the levee on the south side. Highlights included Yellow-crowned Night-heron, Little Blue Heron, about 50 Black Vultures, Sora, Wilson’s Snipe, and the for the third time in three consecutive outings – American Bittern.  Here are some pictures from the morning.

Finally, Sunday afternoon Sam Dixon & I went to the Rocky Valley Trail at Pinnacle Mountain State Park for Scarlet Tanager. We were not disappointed.  About midway down the trail, I played their song and before long we had one responding in kind behind us and another saying “chick-burr” in front of us.  Add a Mississippi Kite soaring above and we had two more year birds.

Sunday Allan Mueller, Lenore Gifford, Dottie & Doris Boyles, Karen Holliday and I went to Pine Bluff to visit several sites to see reported rarities and look for spring migrants.

We started at Lake Saracen. Actually, we started at Carpet Barn in Maumelle and picked up Meep the Lucky Roadrunner. After that we started at Lake Saracen looking for Soras and Virginia Rail.  No rail but several soras were there and very cooperative. Other notables were Marsh Wren, Yellow Warbler, and Yellow-breasted Chat.

We then visited the Delta Rivers Nature Center and walked some of the trails. Among the regulars there were Great Crested Flycatcher, Warbling Vireo, Black-throated Green Warbler, and Baltimore Oriole.

Then it was down to some wetlands on the southeast side of town on Ohio Street Pike near I-530 for American Bittern. It didn’t take long for someone else to locate the bitterns for us and we also found FOS Black-necked Stilt and more Marsh Wrens.

Then to Byrd Lake Natural Area which turned out to be perhaps the birdiest area of the day even though it was mid-day.  We picked up Kentucky, Nashville, Tennessee, and Yellow-throated Warbler. Philadelphia, Yellow-throated, Red-eyed, and White-eyed Vireo. Plus almost every woodpecker found in Arkansas and the by now common Summer Tanager.

Finally we stopped at the Bayou Bartholomew Nature Trail.  There, besides some of the migrants reported above, we saw Anhinga, Prothonotary Warbler, and Swainson’s Thrush.

By the end of the day, the group had a list of 83 species and I personally had 79.