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Okay, if you are still with me we are ready to take off and enjoy our trip. Our starting point is the 440 freeway in North Little Rock. From there we go east on Highway 165 -- known as the England Highway. This area is known as "Baucomb" and you might as well call it a “swamp” in through here. The Arkansas River is off to your right and part of the water you see here is seeping in from there. Off the beaten path the land you see hasn't changed much since Euromericans first came straggling into this region. Some woodpeckers, meadowlarks, and yellow crowned night herons make their home in here. This type of heron prefers crawfish to fish and consequently is seen mostly at dusk and night. You're more likely to see the Great Gray Heron wading around in the shallows or perched near a stump in the daylight. During the winter wood ducks and an occasional bald eagle are seen in here too. Since this isn't all swamp you'll see more blackbirds and grackle crossing in front of you occasionally. Some of the houses in through here are a hundred years old. Many trees are hung with with pale, pea-green moss. Baucomb is known best today for raising millions of seedling pine trees every year in the rich loam. All but the final sorting is conducted with modern machinery. |
The American Black Duck,
Courtesy of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
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| Unfortunately, some of the birds we spot aren't even safely confined to a bush.
Like my "eagle" they are flashing over the waters and into the woods. Are those
feathers black? Or are they dark brown? Is that tail too long and moving too
often to be a buzzard's? If it is a buzzard why isn't s/he tilting into the
thermals? And why in the ding dang dunghill are the binoculars ENCASED inside a
leather case INSIDE the trunk? Just because we came out to this secluded spot to
exercise the dogs is NO excuse to have the binoculars stashed away in an
inaccessible compartment so far from our reach! The dagger billed heron spears its prey with a snap. The Great Blue (I call them gray) Herons are 46 inches long and is likely to be gone when the waters freeze over. Your egret has a bill more like a stiletto and is almost always seen in large groups. In this area where there are cows grazing the cattle egrets like to graze right along with them and scoop up the insects that get stirred up. It seems strange with there being so many of them here now that cattle egrets didn't show up in the United States until the 1950s. Their good habits have protected them because they don’t eat many fish, don’t foul the land by staying in one place too long, and they eat insects. The great white egret is seen in here occasionally too. You aren’t likely to see the black-crowned night heron as this short-necked fish eater prefers to hunt slowly at night, almost as if hunting by feel. An occasional wood stork is seen through here. They have a down curved bill. They prefer shallow water like herons. Cranes hold their necks fully extended during flight. They can be seen in dry fields. The brightly colored King Rails might be seen at any time of the year in the marshy ground through here . Because of the long stripes on their backs and the chestnut chest they can be extremely hard to see when at rest. The common moorhen likes marshes too and can be seen at any time of the year. The American coot like water deep enough they can dive for food. They splash along the water to get up; enough speed to take off. Killdeer are in abundance, but I see them mostly in pockets or colonies. They love new fields and water is not a necessity. Like doves they pretend to be injured to lure kids away from their nests. If that doesn’t work they have been known to get right on the child’s head and wreak havoc. In the winter look for snipe. In the summer look for American Woodcock. |
The American Coot,
Courtesy of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
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Quail almost go unnoticed in here but the fact is, they can be numerous. |