dendrocygna bicolor
Bald Knob National Wildlife Refuge, Arkansas
Friday, July 14, 2023 – 4:26 pm
After I saw the Cave Swallows yesterday, there was only one species that occurs annually in Arkansas that I didn’t have on my life list. Now there are none. From here on, any lifers in Arkansas will be vagrants.
I had a long day yesterday, driving down to Texas and back, and I was out and about this morning. I had just showered and was about to settle in for a quiet evening of movie watching and reading when Michael Litz messaged the birding group that Fulvous Whistling-Ducks were present at Bald Knob. I was tired, and Bald Knob is about an hour and 20 minutes away, but I didn’t hesitate. I was in the car less than 10 minutes after I saw the message.
It was an extremely muggy, hot day with threatening clouds moving in when I arrived at the refuge. I drove to the cell (kinda like a pond, only rectangular and very shallow, and the water level is controlled by refuge personnel for rice farming and bird habitat) with the best habitat. I stopped the car, scanned the water and had my lifer.
Two of the ducks were foraging along a large mudflat in the middle of the cell. I took some photos, but the birds were a long way off and the light wasn’t optimum. I drove around to the west end and soon saw another group of six not far away from the first two. The two groups slowly wandered closer to each other, feeding as they went. They usually had their heads down, but occasionally one would look up alertly. Another birder came by, and while we were talking the flock flew further away to the far edge of the cell. I saw them briefly in flight but didn’t get good looks or photos. They seemed to settle in in their new location, perhaps for the night, as they were still in the same place an hour later when I left.
Six hundred lifers (560 in the U.S.) is a significant milestone and it’s almost embarrassing how easy this one was to get. I neither discovered the birds or had any trouble at all locating them.
Fulvous Whistling-Ducks breed in southern California, Texas, and Florida. A few wander up into Arkansas every year, but the only spot where they’re seen regularly is on private property. I knew I’d see them eventually, and I was prepared to jump at the first opportunity. I didn’t know that opportunity would come this soon. I didn’t hear them whistle. Also, Fulvous is an awful name for a beautiful duck — it means dull brownish yellow.