MARCH 20
Cook’s
Landing, North Little
Rock/Maumelle
Meet at Cook’s Landing at
8:30 a.m. We’ll explore the
Isabella Jo Trail and the
Pfeiffer Loop Trail, both are
easy walking. The trails at
Cook’s Landing offer a diverse
habitat, which includes the
riparian area of the Arkansas
River, and should provide us
with a variety of birds. We will
finish with a short climb to the
top of the Big Dam Bridge. This
will be half day trip. Bring
water and light snacks.
Directions: From Little
Rock take I-430 North across the
river bridge. Take Exit 12
Maumelle/Crystal Hill Road. Turn
right (east) onto Crystal Hill
Road (Hwy. 100) At the
stoplight, turn right onto
Northshore Drive. Take the first
right onto Cook’s Landing Road
and follow it to the first
parking lot on your right at the
North Little Rock Police guard
shack.
APRIL 10
Frog Bayou
WMA, Dyer, AR (Crawford Co.)
Meet at 6:30 a.m. at the
Mayflower commuter lot located
at Exit 135 off I-40 West. Frog
Bayou WMA is one of Arkansas’
newest wildlife management
areas, established in 2005 by
the AGFC in partnership with
Ducks Unlimited and the U.S.
Natural Resources Conservation
Service. This former farm is a
wetland restoration area, with
migratory waterfowl as its main
user. Secretive marsh birds like
King Rail, Sora, Virginia Rail,
and Least Bittern will be our
target birds. A variety of
wading birds such as herons and
egrets also visit the area.
Walking will be on unpaved,
level paths. If time allows, we
may check the Alma Sewer
Treatment ponds for
Black-bellied Whistling Ducks.
Bring water, snacks, and a sack
lunch. We will return to Little
Rock by late afternoon.
For those in western
Arkansas who would like to join
us, meet our group at 8:45 a.m.
at the Kountry Xpress Truck Stop
south of I-40 West at Exit 20 at
Dyer. FYI-a breakfast buffet is
available at the truck stop.
April
30-May 2
Arkansas
Audubon Society’s Spring
Convention
ASCA encourages birders to
participate in the 2010 Spring
Convention of the Arkansas
Audubon Society. The conference
is being held Friday, April 30
through Sunday, May 2 in Hope,
Arkansas. Information and
registration form can be found
at www.arbirds.org.
MAY 8
Pinnacle
Mountain State Park, West Little
Rock
Help celebrate
International Migratory Bird Day
on Saturday, May 8. Join ASCA in
participating in citizen science
by counting birds in the Pulaski
County area. Meet at the parking
lot of the Arkansas (Arboretum)
Trail at 7:00 a.m. The trail is
a ¾ mile loop, so late arrivals
can easily catch up to the
group. Spring migrants will be
our goal. If time allows, we may
walk the Kingfisher Trail, or
hike the Rocky Valley Trail to
the East Quarry Trail, which has
dramatic vistas of Pinnacle
Mountain and the Arkansas River
Valley. The Arkansas (Arboretum)
Trail and Kingfisher Trail are
paved with slight inclines. The
Rocky Valley Trail is unpaved
and has very uneven terrain.
Bring water and light snacks.
This is a half day trip.
Directions to Arkansas
(Arboretum) Trail: Take Hwy.
Chenal Parkway (Hwy. 10) west to
the Hwy. 300 intersection. Turn
north on Hwy. 300. Go
approximately three miles, turn
right onto Pinnacle Valley Road.
Follow it until you see the
Arkansas Arboretum sign and
parking lot on your right.

FIELD TRIP
REPORTS
TWO RIVERS AND LAKE MAUMELLE
FEB. 13, 2010
Saturday, Feb. 13, we started
our field trip at Two Rivers
Park. 17 people participated,
including three new ASCA
members. Boots on, we fanned
out across the open field trying
to flush sparrows. Quite of bit
of crunchy snow was still on the
ground making it challenging to
sneak up on the birds. Within
two hours we had flushed eight
species of sparrows. We were
thrilled to find six
LeCONTE’S Sparrows! We also got
good looks at Vesper, Fox,
Lincoln, Field, Song, and
Savannah Sparrows, plus one
possible Henslow’s Sparrow. On
the way out, we adding Chipping
Sparrow. We had a total of 36
species.
We moved
to Lake Maumelle where we met up
with Kenny and LaDonna Nichols.
Loons were our goal. At the
marina, we saw our first Common
Loons. At Loon Point, we had
more Common Loons, plus Common
Goldeneyes, Greater and Lesser
Scaup. Buffleheads and one Bald
Eagle. Several Ruby-crowned and
Golden-crowned Kinglets were so
tame, the photographers in our
group were able to get photos of
the normally hyperactive birds.
We then moved to the Hundley
Road Causeway. Doris and Dottie
Bolyes were already there and
had spotted the RED-THROATED and
PACIFIC Loons. The loons stayed
in the same place giving
everyone great looks. The loons
were life and state birds for
many. We also had three BALD
EAGLES and two AMERICAN WHITE
PELICANS. At Vista Point, we
saw a second RED-THROATED LOON,
another Bald Eagle, and an
additional pelican. At Vista,
we had 23 species in less than
an hour.
At this
point in the trip, eight birders
decided to continue on, not even
stopping for lunch. We headed
for a little used trail on the
north side of the lake that is
accessed from Hwy. 113. The
trail took us out to the point
that has the rock chimney. We
were able look back across the
lake towards Hundley Causeway
and Vista Point, plus into a
couple of the bays not visible
from the south side of the
lake. We hoped to find the
Yellow-billed Loon. We did not
find the loon, but did see the
Pacific Loon that we had seen
from Hundley, plus more White
Pelicans. Two Barred Owls were
calling back and forth. We saw
22 species.
Karen
Holliday

Heber Springs Area Trip
January 9, 2010
On
Saturday, January 9, fourteen
very hardy birders ventured out
in 20°
weather to participate in ASCA’s
field trip. Four were under the
age of 16. Despite ice-covered
ponds and fields, lots of birds
were present. We met at the
Mayflower exit, just east of
Conway, and decided to make a
quick check of the Lake Conway
dam site before heading to Heber
Springs. A 20 minute scan of
the lake and parking area netted
us 15 species, including three
Bald Eagles
Our next stop was the Heber
Springs Wastewater Treatment
Plant. We were treated to the
colorful sight of 15 Northern
Shovelers, 48 Ring-necked Ducks,
51 Hooded Mergansers, 17 Common
Goldeneye, 25 Buffleheads, 20
Gadwall, 12 Lesser Scaup, 45
Ring-billed Gulls, and 25
Bonaparte’s Gulls, all clustered
in the first pond, the only pond
not frozen! One lone American
Pipit was foraging along the
water’s edge. Numerous Song and
Swamp Sparrows were in the
nearby grass and cattails.
We then caravanned to Sandy
Beach on Greer’s Ferry Lake. A
Common Loon and a Horned Grebe
were life birds for some of our
new participants. Our final
stop was Magness Lake to see the
swans. 200 Trumpeter Swans
dotted the lake, honking and
fussing. 300 noisy Canada Geese
added to the din. Included were
four Snow Geese, with one a blue
morph, three Ross’s Geese, one
Cackling Goose, one Mute Swan,
one American Wigeon, and one
Wood Duck; along with the usual
winter ducks and birds for a
total of 21 species. We
finished the day with a fun
group dinner in Conway, giving
us a chance to relax and thaw
out.
Karen Holliday
ASCA Field Trip Coordinator
Little Rock, AR