Field Trips

FIELD TRIP REPORTS

Lake Dardanelle and Holla Bend NWR

January 21, 2012

Saturday morning was quite cold but not raining, thank goodness. Our original starting point was Holla Bend, but with all the good gull sightings recently, our 22 birders willingly diverted to Lake Dardanelle. We hit the gull jackpot! The Glaucous Gull and Lesser Black-backed Gull were seen close to the boat ramp at the Delaware Recreation Area by the first group to arrive. The Glaucous flew off before the last of the group arrived. After helping the Ornithology students from UCA identify all the birds at the boat ramp, we walked down to the point in the direction the Glaucous had flown. Within a few minutes, the Glaucous Gull flew directly above us and landed on the water. It stayed long enough for the group who missed the first sighting to get great looks. Kenny and LaDonna Nichols had joined us but stayed at the boat ramp to do a careful scan of the many gulls at the ramp. I called Kenny from the point to let the group at the ramp know we had re-located the Glaucous. He told me he was looking at what he was pretty sure was an ADULT Thayer’s Gull. I immediately hung up and gave my peeps marching orders to head back to the boat ramp ASAP. Back at the ramp, Kenny patiently helped everyone get on the Thayer’s Gull. It finally flew; giving us great looks at the underside of the wings, confirming it was indeed a Thayer’s. At that point, the best part of the sighting was seeing Kenny with a huge grin on his face, totally pumped, saying he thought the ADULT Thayer’s was a first for Arkansas. It’s a rare treat for Kenny and LaDonna to see a new bird in Arkansas!

After a sweep of the Delaware area, the resident Screech Owl was a no-show, as was the Black-headed Gull, probably because his Bonaparte buddies were nowhere to be seen, plus also a no-show by the Western Grebe. The birders then migrated to Holla Bend. It was still very cold, with lots of clouds and light winds compounding the chill. We found Bald Eagles at the nest at the dam/boat ramp, an exciting sight for the UCA students. The open fields contained lots of Northern Harriers, plus Red-tailed Hawks in a range of plumages. At the observation deck, a Merlin was sighted perched in a low bare tree. What a rare opportunity to see a Merlin perched long enough to give all the birders a great chance to see all its field marks. We found lots of the usual sparrows, with nice looks at a Lincoln’s Sparrow. No swans were spotted.

The final goal of the day was an attempt to find the Harris’s Sparrows and Bewick’s Wren at County Loop Road. 3-4 Harris’s Sparrows were seen mixed in with the White-crowned Sparrows. Unfortunately, the Bewick’s was a no-show. We had a total of 66 species for the day, several which were life birds for many in the group. The barely-fledged UCA students won the admiration of everyone for their perseverance in spite of the harsh cold and their willingness to see and learn the birds.

Karen Holliday

ASCA Field Coordinator

Little Rock, AR

November 12, 2011

Nimrod Lake

Our field trip objective was to check Nimrod Lake because it's a location that is rarely monitored. Eleven birders participated in the ASCA field trip Saturday morning. We first stopped at Lake Maumelle to look for the Red-throated Loon. No luck, so we went on to Nimrod Lake. At Nimrod, we checked several access areas and found everything from Ring-billed Gulls, Pine Warblers, Eastern Bluebirds, Chipping and Swamp Sparrows, Brown Thrasher, Cooper's Hawk, Common Loons, Buffleheads, Ruddy Ducks, Coots, Gadwalls, and Scaup. We also had adult Bald Eagles feeding their juvenile eagles, plus three additional eagles flying over. A highlight was watching a flock of wild turkeys. Next, we headed back to Lake Maumelle for a second try for the Red-throated Loon. At Vista View, the loon was easily spotted swimming with Common Loons. The bird was a life bird for several!

We then checked the inlet on the other side of the causeway at Vista View. There we found lots of Hooded Mergansers, Gadwalls, Horned Grebes, Green-winged Teal, 2 Common Loons, Cowbirds, plus a large flock of American Wigeons feeding on the grassy bank of the inlet.
Submitted by

Karen Holliday

ASCA Field Trip Coordinator

October 22

Joe Hogan Fish Hatchery and Bob Long Road

We had 23 people turn out for the ASCA field trip. It was a beautiful morning, sunny and warm. We started at the Joe Hogan Fish Hatchery at Lonoke. Our first birds were several Eurasian Collared-Doves. We also had lots of Great Egrets and Great Blue Herons. A surprise was seeing three Loggerhead Shrikes. A Northern Harrier flushed a big group of shorebirds. Once they settled back down, we counted two Wilson's Snipe, L-b Dowitchers, lots of Least Sandpipers, one Greater and several Lesser Yellowlegs, lots of peeps, a Belted Kingfisher and several Yellow-rumped Warblers. Ducks were Northern Shovelers and Gadwalls, plus Pied-billed Grebes.

We then moved to Bob Long Road to check those minnow ponds. Only found one drained pond. Saw most of the same shorebirds, but did add several Pectoral Sandpipers, more Northern Harriers, one American Pipit, and a Horned Lark (we saw several more Horned Larks at Benwood Lake). In the filled ponds, we had Ruddy Ducks, Northern Shovelers, PB Grebes, along with Great Egrets and Great Blue Herons. It was a fun morning with great weather, good birds, and a terrific bunch of birders.
Karen Holliday
ASCA Field Trip Coordinator
Little Rock, AR

September 17, 2011
Willow Beach Park, Terry Lock & Dam, Toltec Mounds State Park

Saturday, twenty-one birders met at Willow Beach Park, a Corps of Engineers’ picnic and> campground facility located on Willow Beach Lake, an oxbow lake just off the Arkansas River, southeast of Little Rock. The day was cool with intermittent rain showers. First birds sighted were two small groups of Northern Shovelers flying overhead. A Belted Kingfisher chattered back and forth across the inlet and numerous Great Egrets, Great Blue Herons, and Double- crested Cormorants dotted the shorelines, the shallow water, and logs. In the trees, we found Cedar Waxwings, an Orchard Oriole, a Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Red-bellied and Downey Woodpeckers. A Red-shouldered Hawk stayed perched on a utility post in a campsite long enough for up-close looks and photos. We then drove to the David D. Terry Lock and Dam hoping for early arriving gulls. No gulls, but we did see a Loggerhead Shrike, Scissor-tailed Flycatchers, and several Killdeer.

Our final stop of the morning was Toltec Mounds Archeological State Park. Robin Gabe, a Park Interpreter, gave us a very informative tour of the mounds area and the boardwalk that meanders along the banks of Mound Lake, another oxbow lake of the Arkansas River. Highlights were 3 Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, Carolina Wrens, a migrant flock of 20 Blue-Gray Gnatcatchers, 2 Summer Tanagers, a Black-and-White Warbler, a Northern Parula, a Yellow Warbler, a Wilson’s Warbler, a Black-throated Green Warbler, 3 Eastern Bluebirds, plus a flock of 60 Canada Geese and 5 Mallards. We finished the morning a count of 40 species for the day.

Karen Holliday

ASCA Field Trip Coordinator

Little Rock, AR

August 27, 2011

Bald Knob NWR

A record 44 birders attended. That is one more than the number of species I recorded, though with so many people present I'm sure I did not hear about every species seen. It was also hard for me to tally birds due to the wonderful distractions of socializing with friends and searching for new species. A handful of early birders among us saw the White-faced Ibis previously found by the Nichols. It mysteriously vanished by the time the rest of us arrived. A flock of 30 eclipse-plumaged Northern Pintail were not only early but a record number for an early date. Jeff Wilson saw two Buff-breasted Sandpipers before he joined the group. He also spotted a Baird’s Sandpiper and took the time to make sure we all got on the bird and recognized its field marks. Thanks, Jeff, and thanks to all who withstood the heat in search of birds.Dan Scheiman