bald knob national wildlife refuge

Photos: Longspurs and Owls

March 1, 2023

I visited the Stuttgart Municipal Airport recently with a group of birders with the hope of finding Short-eared Owls, Smith’s Longspurs, Lapland Longspurs and possibly even a Barn Owl. While we missed the Lapland Longspurs, we did get lucky on the bird front. Our checklist for the day included four Short-eared Owls, a juvenile Bald Eagle and 77 Smith’s Longspurs.

It actually turned out to be a great birding weekend. I traveled to Wynne to visit family and returned to Little Rock via Hwy. 64 through Bald Knob. The route had me stumbling across a birds such as the below Black Vulture, Fox Sparrow, Hooded Mergansers and Mallards. I even spotted a tree that had a hole that eerily looked like a face. What do you think – do you see the face?

Here’s a visual of the birds I saw:

Acadian Flycatcher

September 9, 2022

I’ve been hearing Acadian Flycatchers for a while at Bald Knob National Wildlife Refuge, but I haven’t been able to spot one until today. This one finally responded to call playbacks and showed up so I could get a good look.

Acadian Flycatchers are sparrow-sized and are olive-green above with a whitish eye ring and underparts. They can be found in Arkansas during breeding season before migrating to Central America and spending their non breeding season in the upper parts of South America.

One cool fact from AllAboutBirds.org: they “are such adept fliers that they sometimes take a bath not by wading into water but by diving at it, hitting the surface with its chest, and then returning to a perch to preen and shake.”

Tricolored Heron

August 23, 2022

I saw my first Tricolored Heron at Bald Knob National Wildlife Refuge. It looks similar to a Great Blue Heron except it has a white belly, a stripe down the neck, and a yellow section that runs from the beak to around the eyes. According to allaboutbirds.org, the Tricolored Heron is common in southern saltmarshes although its range is along the eastern and southern coastline of the United States.

Two neat facts I found on All About Birds: “Tricolored Herons sometimes follow behind Double-crested Cormorants and Pied-billed Grebes snapping up fish that they stir up.” The oldest one recorded was 17 years and 8 months old.

Tricolored Herons can be found in Arkansas each year but rarely.

Photos: Bald Knob WMA Revisited

August 1, 2022

The Bald Knob National Wildlife Refuge never disappoints. I never know what I am going to find, and the latest visit didn’t disappoint. This visit included four Black Terns (including one molting adult) flying above and sitting in the fields neighboring Coal Chute Road. Black Terns migrate through most of the United States, with some of their breeding range including the very northern part of the nation. Its non breeding range is along the coast of Central America and the top part of South America.

This was my first time to see Black Terns. While they were the only firsts for me today, there were plenty of other birds who were very cooperative in being photographed:

Photo: Black-throated Green Warbler

January 15, 2022

I stumbled across this Black-throated Green Warbler hiding as it hopped through the branches of trees at Bald Knob National Wildlife Refuge in October 2021. It’s not the best photo, but its exciting still exciting to have spotted one.

Surprising find: Soras

September 5, 2021

I was taking a photo of a Greater/Lesser Yellowlegs (pictured at the bottom of the above photo) when a Sora casually walked out of the rice and began walking around. I definitely wasn’t expecting that to happen. I was snapping photos when, all of a sudden, a second one appears.

Soras are a secretive marsh bird that can be found throughout the United States at various points in the year, according to AllAboutBirds.org. They can be found in Arkansas during migration season. However, they aren’t expected to be sighted at the moment in Arkansas.

Fish Crow

April 22, 2021

There are two types of crows – the American and the Fish. They look alike so they way to tell them apart is by their call. It’s easy to hear and then photograph the American Crow. Not so much the Fish Crow, but I was finally able to do so recently at the Bald Knob National Wildlife Refuge.

Adding a little color to the day

September 19, 2020

Today, I traveled to Bald Knob National Wildlife Refuge to see the 10 Roseate Spoonbills that’s been reported there for the past several days. While they are typically found along the coast in Texas, Louisiana and Florida, it is starting to not be unusual to have at least one spoonbill found in Arkansas each year.

Besides the spoonbills, I also found the below Stilt Sandpiper nearby.

Photos: Birds of Bald Knob’s refuge

April 19, 2020

Bald Eagles1 BKNWR 04182020.JPG — Juvenile Bald Eagles

This weekend, I visited Bald Knob National Wildlife Refuge and, OH MY GOSH, it was a FANTASTIC weekend. I recorded a record number of birds in eBird that included some firsts for me. Here are my highlights:

Common Gallinule BKNWR 04182020_edited-1 — Common Gallinule

Yellow-headed Blackbird BKNWR 04182020_edited-1 — Yellow-headed Blackbird

Black-necked Stilt BKNWR 04182020 — Black-necked Stilt

Red-shouldered Hawk2 BKNWR 04182020_edited-1 — Red-shouldered Hawk

Common Yellowthroat BKNWR 04182020 — Common Yellowthroat

Bald Eagles2 BKNWR 04182020_edited-1 — Bald Eagles

Currently loving: Common Yellowthroat

April 11, 2020

Common Yellowthroat3 BKNWR 040420 — Common Yellowthroat

I stumbled across a Common Yellowthroat during a recent trip to Bald Knob National Wildlife Refuge. Not going to lie, it took me a good 20-ish minutes to finally spot/identify this little guy. I could see two birds sprinting around in the shrubs across a huge ditch from me, but they were moving too fast for me to see clearly at first. I finally caught the one pictured above just resting in a bush.

This morning trip fielded about 28 different species of birds for me. Some of my highlights are below: