Pine Bluff – Memos for Me

Eared Grebes and more

September 29, 2023

Eared Grebes are apparently the “most abundant grebe in the word,” according to All About Birds. Monday marked the first time I spotted not just one, but four at the Boyd Point Waste Treatment Plant in Pine Bluff. One still had its breeding plumage (black head and neck with golden feathers behind the eye, which shines in the light in the above photo). The other three are non breeding or immature.

While Arkansas just fits into the Eared Grebes migration range, the small waterbird is primarily found in the western half of the United States.

My visit to the Boyd Point WTP was excellent. I also saw:

Photos: Lake Saracen

December 23, 2019

Tropical Kingbird1 122219 Lake Saracen, Pine Bluff — Tropical Kingbird

This past weekend, I traveled to Saracen Lake in Pine Bluff to search for the Tropical Kingbird that’s been spotted there for roughly the past two weeks. It’s rare to Arkansas, and more common to South America. I saw my first Tropical Kingbird earlier this year on my birding trip to Costa Rica.

Pine Bluff is a 45-minute trip from Little Rock. My first attempt to find the Tropical Kingbird was around noon Saturday. I was there for about an hour with no luck. It was later spotted about an hour after I left. I tried again on Sunday, arriving around 2 p.m. – the same time it was spotted the day before. This time, I immediately found the Tropical Kingbird sitting on a chain link fence near the park’s entrance. While it never vocalized, the Tropical Kingbird was very accommodating in letting me park near it to take pictures.

Below are some other birds spotted during the two trips: