Saturday, May 9th was the BirdLR Birdathon, the annual fundraiser for Audubon Arkansas. It was a lovely sunny and mild day to be out birding. Several teams participated, including Team ASCA, the Audubon Society of Central Arkansas Chapter’s team. Because of the coronavirus social distancing restrictions, Team ASCA wasn’t able to bird together as our usual group field trip. Instead, our team spread out around Pulaski County. Areas birded were Western Hills Park, Knoop and Allsopp Parks, the Arboretum Trail at Pinnacle Mt. State Park, The Ranch North Woods Preserve, David D. Terry Lock & Dam, the Port Authority, Gillam Park, and a couple of backyards. One member roamed around Fualkner County hitting several locations, including Camp Robinson SUA and Lollie Bottoms. The highlight for one group was the spectacular sight of approximately one hundred Mississippi Kites soaring high and diving low over the fields on both sides of Frazier Pike in south Little Rock.
Each of our team tallied many of the same birds, but also found additional species, which complimented the joint team list, for a final total of 121 species. Team ASCA received several very generous donations, which will greatly benefit the work of our excellent Audubon Arkansas state office and staff. Team ASCA declared the day a rousing success!
Karen Holliday
ASCA Field Trip Coordinator
Pulaski County/Central Arkansas