Date: 3/12/25 8:19 pm From: Karen Holliday <ladyhawke1...> Subject: Lake Maumelle this afternoon
Donna Haynes hadn't had an opportunity to get to Lake Maumelle to see the good birds being found. She had a free afternoon today so we went straight to Bufflehead Bay trail. The great news is the trail is now paved all the way to the point. Very physically accessible after years of having it paved only part way. Kudos to Central Arkansas Water who is doing a great job of improving access to many parts of the lake. Daniel Denman joined us. The more eyes the better. We birded the point first which is at the end of the paved trail. The Clark's Grebe, Pacific Loon, and Eared Grebe were quite close, easy to identify with scopes. We then walked the Farkleberry Trail (unpaved) to its end at the inlet where the wooden platform is, which is always productive. Found over 20 Common Loons, 30+ Ring-billed Gulls. A smaller gull showed up with a fluttering flight when landing on the water with dark underwings when it flared on landing. It looked to be smaller than the Bonaparte Gulls resting on the water. It had a very large dot behind the eye and some shading on the crown. Luckily Daniel got good photos which he'll add to the checklist. He just texted me that if the Little Gull is correct, he will have gotten four lifers this afternoon!! Horned Grebe, Clark's Grebe, Pacific Loon, and hopefully the Little Gull. He is so excited. I love watching the thrill and excitement when our newer birders get life birds. Donna hopes the small gull we saw is a Little Gull. Life bird for her too. I got the Little Gull for a state bird September 2008 at Lake Dardanelle. It's never dull in the birding world! Karen Holliday Maumelle
