The start of Week Seven was a fairly slow one, as on Monday 10th I didn’t do that much birding as I spent a significant time working on my blog, planning, and doing other non-birding work midday .
I began Monday morning with a visit to the Bankhead National Forest, where I birded from my car along Northwest Road, Walston Ridge Road, the Natural Bridge Recreation Area, and the Corinth Recreation Area. I picked up a handful of new Alabama birds a these stops including Eastern Screech-Owl, Hermit Thrush, Fox Sparrow, Northern Flicker, Hairy Woodpecker, and Pileated Woodpecker – the pick up of Northern Flicker was especially important to me as after birding with Patrick Maurice in Georgia during Week Six I had made a point of trying to see every state’s official State Bird, and the “Yellowhammer” (Yellow-shafted Northern Flicker) of Alabama was the only state bird I hadn’t yet of the eight states I had visited so far. The Bankhead National Forest was an absolutely gorgeous place that, time permitting, I could spend several entire days exploring
From there I continued heading first south and then west through the state as I made my way towards Mississippi, making stops at the Walker County Public Lake, Ivan K. Hill Park, and Guin Wastewater Treatment Ponds. The first two of those three stops were relatively insignificant, but at the Guin WTP I picked up a large amount of ducks, including Wood Duck, Northern Shoveler, Ring-necked Duck, Lesser Scaup, Bufflehead, Hooded Merganser, and Ruddy Duck.
A few miles down the road from the sewage ponds I spotted a quartet of Snow Geese in a large farm pond, and picked up a nice variety of other birds in the surrounding fields including a Red-tailed Hawk. This wrapped up my birding in Alabama, which now sat at a total of 141 species on the year, and I made the drive to Mississippi where I planned to spend the next two days. As I settled in for the night it began to rain, and looking at the forecast the rain was expected to persist for the next 50 straight hours without break.
Now, I have done plenty of birding in the rain in the past – just ask my buddy Isaac Polanski about the day we spent at New Buffalo Beach in October 2022 (one of these days I will finish my Michigan 337 series, I swear) – but birding in the rain is a particularly challenge for me this year as once my gear gets wet, it is going to stay wet. As a result my birding for Mississippi in Week Seven was going to be particularly limited to what I could do from my car.
Trying to make the best of birding in the rain, I figured sewage ponds and lakes would be good visits for my time in Mississippi, and so I started Tuesday morning off with a visit to the Tupelo Water Treatment Facility, which was packed with ten different duck species, of which Mallard and Blue-winged Teal were new for Mississippi for me, as well as a Cooper’s Hawk that I spotted teed up in a tree along the edge of one of the ponds. From there I headed to the Plantersville Wastewater Treatment Ponds where I added Hooded Merganser as well as tallied nearly two-hundred Northern Shoveler. Next I stopped at Davis Lake, which hosted a decent variety of ducks and other birds, and then the Okolona Road Area, where I added Horned Lark, Common Grackle, and Brown-headed Cowbird to my Mississippi list. I made two more stops on Tuesday, first at the Aberdeen Lock and Dam and then at the West Point Sewage Lagoon, and at the latter spot I added Northern Pintail to my Mississippi list.
With the rain continuing on Wednesday I again planned my birding around what could be done from my car, starting the day at the Starkville Sewage Lagoons and then heading to the Browning Creek Reservoir. While neither of these stops were particularly productive, that wouldn’t be the case as I headed towards the Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge, where along River Road I heard a Winter Wren and as I was driving along the road spotted a conspicuous shape just twenty or so feet off the road: a Barred Owl perched atop a skinny stump. As I stopped to take photos of the bird a second individual flew from a tree above me to another tree nearby, and then the original owl I had seen turned and looked at me, staring with their characteristic dark eyes – which prompted me to slowly move on as I didn’t want to flush the bird, and aside from being completely soaked the owl seemed content as I left it alone.
After River Road I headed to Bluff Lake, which held an assortment of ducks including Canvasback and Common Goldeneye, and then the Goose Overlook where I watched nearly a hundred American Coot foraging in the field below. My last stop at the National Wildlife Refuge was at the Loakfoma Lake Overlook, and after leaving the refuge I birded the rural Robinson Road and Singleton Road, where I finalized my Mississippi list at 134 species with the additions of Wild Turkey, White-crowned Sparrow, and Fox Sparrow. This concluded my time birding in Mississippi and after stopping at a Starbucks to finalize the day’s blog post I drove to northeast Louisiana.
In my original map I hadn’t planned on revisiting Louisiana but instead heading straight from Mississippi to Arkansas, but while in Louisiana the last time around I decided to change those plans and not head to the northern parts of the state, instead cutting my time in the Bayou State short and adding in this second visit in order to make my route through the state make more sense.
This second visit to the state began with a trip to the Tensas River National Wildlife Refuge, where on the Greenlea Bend Wildlife Drive I spotted several Northern Harrier, American Kestrel, and eight different sparrow species including Vesper Sparrow, Field Sparrow, Fox Sparrow, and Eastern Towhee, the first two of which were new Louisiana birds for me.
After Tensas NWR I headed to Poverty Point Reservoir State Park, where I would add Hooded Merganser to my Louisiana list, and then the Blake Bayou Lake National Wildlife Refuge, where I tallied a total of 35 species including Yellow-belled Sapsucker and Red-shouldered Hawk.
On the 14th I headed to the Briarwood: Caroline Dormon Nature Preserve where I met the curator, Bayli Brossette, and spent the morning exploring the fantastic property. At Briarwood I got phenomenal looks at a Hermit Thrush and well as added White-crowned Sparrow and Purple Finch to my Louisiana list, and in general just enjoyed the nearly four hours I spent exploring the property, which I cannot recommend with strong enough praise as it was a truly gorgeous and serene place.
After departing Briarwood I began working my way north towards Arkansas, stopping along the way at the Kepler Creek Lake for a quick scan before getting started on a new state for the first time since I entered Georgia ten days prior on February 4th. Before entering Arkansas I texted local Arkansas birder Patty McLean, whose contact information I had received from Patrick Maurice while messaging back in forth about where I was headed next. Patty, a Georgia native and Arkansas resident, served as one of Patrick’s birding mentors back when he was getting into birding and is an extraordinarily helpful individual whose advice would prove to be instrumental to the success I would find while birding in The Natural State.
Upon first entering Arkansas I mostly just aimlessly birded my way into the state, picking up a plethora of random birds scattered throughout about a dozen random quick stops or spottings of birds as I drove, but eventually I found my way to Moro Bay State Park. There, while stopping by the Visitor’s Center to pick up a post card to send out to my Patreon Sponsors, I started chatting with one of the park workers who turned out to be at least a casual birder and who directed me to various spots around the park that were reliable for, well, nearly every woodpecker species possible in the state except Red-cockaded – which he also gave me a spot for just a handful of miles away.
This conversation paid off extremely well, as during the few hours I spent at Moro Bay – at almost exactly the spots he said they were reliable – I spotted Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Red-headed Woodpecker, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, and Pileated Woodpecker. Also at the park I had the “Nuthatch Sweep” when, just about ninety seconds after hearing a White-breasted Nuthatch I spotted a Red-breasted Nuthatch and several Brown-headed Nuthatch. After spending a while birding I stopped at a picnic table to prepare myself some dinner (canned chicken noodle soup and some trail mix), and while eating as dusk set in I heard a Barred Owl call.
The morning of Saturday the 15th would be a return to the type of birding that had been the norm up until my time in Athens Georgia: a full day of nonstop birding. Armed with a bunch of excellent intel and advice courtesy of Patty, I started my day at Lake Saracen where I tallied an assortment of ducks including Canvasback, Redhead, and Red-breasted Merganser. From Lake Saracen I headed to the nearby Pine Bluff Regional Park, where I watched over a thousand Double-crested Cormorant and a few dozen Bonaparte’s Gull out over the water. Before leaving the park I made a quick visit to the Governor Mike Huckabee Delta Rivers Nature Center where I was greeted by a pair of calling Fish Crow.
Next I attempted to make a visit to the Boyd Point Wastewater Treatment Plant, though unfortunately the facility was closed for the weekend. I still had great success birding the road that ran alongside the facility though, spotting first a flock of Greater White-fronted Goose and then a pocket of incredibly active songbirds consisting of Yellow-rumped Warbler, Orange-crowned Warbler, Hermit Thrush, Gray Catbird, and Brown Thrasher. I then birded the Island Harbor Estates, a neighborhood adjacent to the sewage facility, and while there spotted a mixed blackbird flock consisting of Red-winged Blackbird, Rusty Blackbird, Common Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird, and European Starling.
I then made my way to Lake Maumelle, where at Loon Point I spotted the Common Loons after which I assume the point is named, plus a large variety of other waterbirds including Common Goldeneye and Horned Grebe. From there I headed to several riverside farmlands referred to on eBird as “bottoms”. At the first of these stops, Lollie Bottoms, I spotted a large flock of Ring-billed Gulls, a pair of American Pipit, and a small group of Vesper Sparrow. There were also large flocks of gulls at the Morrilton River Bottoms, and while there I got a call from Patty recommending I head to the nearby Willow Bend Drive to try for Brewer’s Blackbird and American Woodcock. I heeded her advice, as it had proved exceptionally fruitful so far as nearly every stop I have listed so far in Arkansas was recommended by her, and while I never was able to locate the blackbirds I did hear three different American Woodcock begin their iconic peenting call as dusk set in. While driving I added one final bird, a calling Great Horned Owl.
The next morning I headed to the small town of Atkins to meet up with Arkansas birder Matthew Matlock, who Patty had put me in contact with. After meeting at the Atkins McDonald’s I hopped in Matt’s car and we drove a short distance southeast of town to the Blackwell Bottoms, where we spotted a large variety of ducks consisting primarily of Northern Shoveler, Gadwall, and Mallard, but with some Wood Duck, American Wigeon, Green-winged Teal, and Northern Pintail in the mix as well. We then crossed over to the adjacent Atkins Bottoms, where we were almost immediately greeted by a flyover flock of Snow Goose, among which we picked out a few Ross’s Goose. While watching the flock we were greeted by a large flock of Lapland Longspur flying over, and just minutes later heard a calling Western Meadowlark mixed in with a flock of Eastern Meadowlark. We also spotted a Merlin as we drove around, but dipped on the resident overwintering Prairie Falcon and the flock of Trumpeter Swans that had been hanging around.
After leaving Atkins Bottoms Matt dropped me back off at my car and I then followed him to the Lake Dardanelle Dam Site Public Use Area, where we were joined by Patty and her partner, Michael Linz. We spent a couple hours birding between the Dam Site and the Lake Dardanelle Riverview Recreation Area, after which Patty and Michael offered to take Matt and I out to lunch.
After a great lunch filled with excellent conversation, Matt and I parted ways with Patty and Michael and headed to the Bona Dea Trails, where we got fantastic looks at a remarkably un-skittish Hermit Thrush. After Bona Dea we made a quick pass through the cattle pastures at County Road 1650, where among the massive flocks of Red-winged Blackbird we picked out a couple hundred Brewer’s Blackbird. Finally we ended the day at Sharp Chapel Road, where in addition to Greater Yellowlegs, Wilson’s Snipe, and a plethora of ducks we spotted a handful of raptors, primarily Northern Harriers and Red-tailed Hawks, but also a Cooper’s Hawk and a raptor that we struggled with, but with the helpful input of several birders from back home I feel comfortable calling a Krider’s subspecies of Red-tailed Hawk.
This concluded my first visit to Arkansas; I managed to tally 103 species in my two-and-a-half days in the state and decided to head to Oklahoma to try and get some productive birding in before an upcoming winter storm would bring several inches of freezing rain and snow accompanied by historic-level cold temperatures. I had expected that Arkansas would be one of the hardest states for me to reach 100 species in this year, and I was fully anticipating that after three full days in February I would only be around 80 or so species and need the few days of my March visit in order to cross the century mark, but instead was met with several days of incredible birding. This has become a common trend so far: the states I have not expected the birding to be too incredible in have wholeheartedly blown me away! Now, however, I was heading to Oklahoma, the state which I fully expect to be the single hardest state to reach 100 in, with the thought being that even three days in February AND three days in March might not be sufficient. Surely I won’t be proven wrong within two hours of entering the state on Monday morning and nearly hit 100 by the end of my first day in the state I am expecting to be my biggest challenge, right? But that’s a story for next week and this post is already late as is (sorry!), so in the meantime, Happy Birding!
eBird Trip Summary:
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Follow me on my journey to see 100 species in every Lower-48 State during 2025, experience some of the incredible places and events in American birding, and meet and bird with as many local birders as possible along the way.
Posts will be made every Wednesday (I will try to have them out by 5pm, but situationally they might be a bit later) and will cover the previous Monday through Sunday. Additional posts will be made periodically with no set schedule.
