March 30, 2019
Bald Knob National Wildlife Refuge
Our group of 22 birders dodged rain showers Saturday morning
during the Audubon Society of Central Arkansas’s March field trip to Bald Knob
National Wildlife Refuge. Lots of ducks still remain. We had very
large numbers of Green-winged and Blue-winged Teal, somewhat less of Shovelers
and Gadwalls, a couple of Pintails, and one field with about 30 Coots.
Shorebird numbers are picking up. The birds were a little difficult to
see in some places because many were feeding in the dead vegetation and rice
stubble in the less flooded fields. We found good numbers of American
Golden-Plovers, Long-billed Dowitchers, Wilson’s Snipe, Pectoral Sandpipers,
Yellowlegs, mostly Lesser, were seen in most of the muddy fields. We saw
a total of four adult Bald Eagles and a couple of juveniles, several who were
strafing the two flooded fields on the far eastern side of the refuge, pushing
the hundreds of ducks back and forth between the two ponds. One Merlin
and several Northern Harriers were flushing shorebirds in other parts of the
refuge. Approximately 60 American White Pelicans were hanging out in three
different areas. We had a few Great Blue Herons and Great Egrets, but no
Black-necked Stilts. At the refuge headquarters a Mockingbird had in his
repertoire a Bell’s Vireo that was so spot-on we thought we were hearing a real
one singing. No real Vireo popped up to our playback, but the Mockingbird
did reply, much to our amusement/chagrin. In the same area was a nice flock of
colorful Rusty Blackbirds. One Chimney
Swift circled overhead. Barn and Cliff
Swallows were seen at the Bald Knob McDonald’s.
Around noon the rain set in heavy enough that the group voted to head home,
with one group stopping at the Bulldog Restaurant in Bald Knob for a hot lunch
and to dry off. A very wet Loggerhead
Shrike, hundreds of female Red-winged Blackbirds, and several flocks of
eye-popping American Goldfinches in brilliant breeding plumage were our last
bird as we left the refuge. We saw
approximately 50 species for the morning.
Karen Holliday
ASCA Field Trip Coordinator
Little Rock