Date: 11/14/24 9:39 am From: CK Franklin <meshoppen...> Subject: Keo, Arkansas November 11
Bill B and I visited the England and Keo areas on November 11. We stopped and talked with one farm worker in the field just north of the England silos. He says he hasn't seen many ducks or geese so far this year due to low water levels.
The only interesting bird to report was a bird of unknown parentage on Hwy 15 on the east side of the Keo fish farm. We were watching a flock of very twitchy blackbirds in a field when Bill spotted a bird with white wings. There were Northern Harriers cruising the fields and the blackbirds high tailed it toward distant trees. We did not relocate them.
The bird in question was enough smaller than the Red-winged Blackbirds that you could see the size difference when they flew. It had a brown body and head with no distinguishing field marks we could see other than the solid white wings. After ruling out all the usual suspects, I called one of our bird buddy experts. We discussed the observation, and he opined the most likely suspect was a leucistic Brown-headed Cowbird. I was attempting to get within photograph range when the birds flew off.
Even with the dry conditions, there are lots of birds to be seen out on the near Delta.
