Category: Bald Knob National Wildlife Refuge

Bald Knob NWR

June 25, 2018
American Golden-Plover.042118.BKNWR
American Golden-Plover

I love Bald Knob National Wildlife Refuge. It’s halfway between my house and the Jonesboro/Wynne area so it’s an AWESOME place for me to take a break from interstate driving and have some fun. There’s different birds to see year-round, and I’ve gotten pretty lucky in the past several weeks. I’ve visited a lot more these past few months — especially since I finally purchased a 600mm lens.

The refuge is best known for migrating waterfowl, and I can usually find shorebirds there year-round. So far, my best finds have been an out-of-season American Golden-Plover, a White-faced Ibis and a Yellow-headed blackbird.

blue-gray gnatcatcher.042118.BKNWR
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
american golden plover.061018.BKNWR
American Golden-Plover
yellow-headed blackbird.042118.BKNWR
Yellow-headed Blackbird
nutria.042118.BKNWR
Nutria
Northern Rough-winged Swallow.062418.BKNWR
Northern Rough-winged swallow
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Dickcissel
Yellow-breasted Chat.062418.BKNWR
Yellow-breasted Chat
eastern towhee.042118.BKNWR
Eastern Towhee
swamp sparrow.042118.BKNWR
Swamp Sparrow
white-faced ibis.042118.BKNWR
White-faced Ibis
great blue heron.062418.bknwr
Great Blue Heron

Birding around

June 11, 2018

 

Sunday’s find: A yellow-billed cuckoo (L) and a barred owl. Sunday marked the first time I’ve ever seen a yellow-billed cuckoo at the Bald Knob National Wildlife Refuge.

Photo essay: Last meal

June 26, 2013

Bald Knob-Great Blue Heron1 4-6This Great Blue Heron looked tickled pink while feeding at Bald Knob National Wildlife Refuge in April — not surprising since it was having plenty of success at finding dinner. I found these pictures and more while clearing up my computer’s desktop. So FYI, I’m about to go on a posting frenzy of my pictures from April to  June. 🙂

Bald Knob-Great Blue Heron3 4-6

Bald Knob-Great Blue Heron3 4-6

Bald Knob-Great Blue Heron4 4-6

Bald Knob-Great Blue Heron5 4-6

Bald Knob-Great Blue Heron6 4-6

Bald Knob-Great Blue Heron7 4-6

Bald Knob-Great Blue Heron8 4-6

A long way to go…

November 16, 2012
Short-Billed Dowitchers off of Hwy. 306 near Wynne

I shot this picture of Short-billed Dowitchers in a flooded field last Sunday. It was overshadowed when I went on to see Bald Eagles, mallards and Cooper’s Hawk in the following 48 hours. I began attempting to identify the Short-Billed Dowitchers this week and remembered I had similar looking birds in an Aug. 25 picture.

Silly me. I found the August picture and, well, the birds in both pictures really looked the same to me.  They’re not, although I was somewhat right in my assessment that they were sandpipers. I successfully begged for help on the Arkansas Bird Listserv today to learn that the below picture is apparently of Buff-Breasted Sandpipers.

Buff-Breasted Sandpipers at the Bald Knob National Wildlife Refuge

Overall, I learned two key things today. The first is that I’m horrible at identifying birds if its not absolutely obvious (re: me thinking the birds in the above pictures were the same). The final fact is, well, I’ve photographed two new birds in Arkansas for my state bird list. Yay for me! 🙂

 

Travelling to the Bald Knob refuge

November 16, 2012

A few months ago, I found myself heading west of Wynne towards the Bald Knob National Wildlife Refuge. I will gladly admit that the highlight of that trip was stopping at Jack Ryan’s Country Store just about a mile outside of Fair Oaks. The Hwy. 64 store has the absolute best sandwiches.

Here’s some more pictures from my trip: