Jan. 30, 2016
Due to a heavy snowfall in Central Arkansas on Jan. 22nd, the Audubon Society of Central Arkansas’ (ASCA) field trip to Lake Dardanelle and Holla Bend NWR was postponed to Jan. 30, 2016. Highlights seen during the trip were a Western Grebe at the Delaware Point Park (Hwy. 393) on Lake Dardanelle, plus one adult Lesser Black-backed Gull, and one adult Herring Gull. Multiple Brown Creepers and Golden-crowned Kinglets gave the group great looks. At least two newer birders said the Kinglets were their favorite bird of the day, a good reminder to enjoy our common birds as well as our uncommon birds. At the dam site on the Russellville side, we did not find the previously seen Royal Tern nor the Neotropic Cormorant. We did find one juvenile Herring Gull mixed in lots of Ring-billed Gulls and Double-crested Cormorants.
At the Holla Bend National Wildlife Refuge, we spotted three Bald Eagles, a small flock of Wild Turkeys, American White Pelicans, a few ducks, a possible Merlin, a Winter Wren, and lots of sparrows, but no Northern Harriers nor swans. At County Rd. 57/Country Loop, New Neely, off Hwy. 154, not far from Holla Bend NWR, we found four Harris’s Sparrows mixed in with White-crowned Sparrows, a Roadrunner, and finally a Northern Harrier, but no Bewick’s Wren. It was a fun day with a huge flock of birders (46) and absolutely perfect weather.
Karen Holliday
ASCA Field Trip Coordinator
Maumelle/Little Rock