Last I woke up at 11 after a short hour and a half nap. No use going back to bed, so I started packing the remaining goods into the van and started out at midnight. A good night, no one on the road, that an hour later turned to... rain. It started about 1am in Mendenhall, and carried on until I was 30 minutes away from Vicksburg. Even so I was fine. Ed and I talked through the morning until at 3:30 he crashed. I decided to stay on the road until I was outside of Pine Bluff, and was there around 5:45. This was stunning, I was taking my time and yet I was coming in an hour earlier that I calculated.
No plan survives a battle however. I was planning on coming in the eastern end of Holla Bend, not realizing that there was NO eastern end, just an alleged road on the east. At 7:15 upon entering in the wildlife refuge, I found that I drove into a dead end. Something on the map that was never updated. Thanks Google.
Before we left there however I saw an unusualy bird. I first thought it was a flycatcher but now I'm not sure and I haven't found it in other bird books. This bird was about the size of a thrush but had a tail TWICE as long as its body. Ed and I spent time looking and the best that I've found to describe it is a forked-tailed flycatcher. This is a bird that traditionally is a Mexican or Central American bird. However this birds will sometimes invade the Gulf Coast, but rarely. How this bird got this far north must be some story. I know what I know. Ed saw it too. What we found was a rare sight.
Making our way to the other side, we made it 45 minutes later and entered the wildlife refuge at 8:00am. Incredible, I had chopped an hour off what I thought would be my best driving time, and I was averaging no faster than 64mph.
Had a good conversation with the rangers there and Ed and I started to lather up both with suntan lotion and bug spray. By 8:30 we were out and going. The wildlife refuge is HUGE. It must be over 3000 acres. This is a true wildlife refuge, in which the animals are the residents and human beings are the interlopers. You got the feeling driving down these dirt roads that this was what it was like living without modern conveniences.
Our first drive was down a dirt road near the river, and a good thing to. While spying some herons Ed noticed a figure swooping down from the sky and skimming the water. We both verified it. We were stunned seeing an osprey! The ospreys are unusual in Summer and rarely are seen. Apartently we were at the right place at the right time.
One of the unique things is the butterflies. They're born with no fear of man and they land on your fingers and could sit there for hours. Just in butterflies the refuge is a wonder. I've never seen so many swallowtails in one place. Beautiful.
Ed checks out the Birds of Prey exhibit. During the winter the eagles nests are common around here. On the wing around this area we saw a sissors-tailed flycatcher, and this is when I revised my thoughts about what I saw. I WISH I would have captured that long-taled bird on camera!
See that white limb? Ed told me this is known as "whitewashing". How does this form? It happens when a bird defecates on a limb, and the acidity kills the limb. Makes it easy to know what limbs the eagle sits on.
Woodducks peeking around the leaves. This is the lake where we saw the osprey.
Egrets survey their kingdom.
One of the roads that cut through the refuge. This is real savannah, except there are a few strategic places growing corn and hay, all of it for the refuge. They allow hunting on the property but only during certain times of the year and during very limited time frames. If you've never had a chance to do this you need to go to a true refuge. It gives you a unique perspective of protective areas.
Ed back at Lake Dardanelle state park. It was HOT. Notice the two fans, one on a stand and the other small one on the table. Fortunately we were in the shade. It didn't help though. Temps soared to 102 degrees this day and cut short our birdwatching.
Sunset on Lake Dardanelle. It's a beautiful place, the lake must be several thounsand acres wide, and connects to the lower Missouri. Despite the heat it was a beautiful day. Starting tomorrow Ed and I will go on a nature trail on the state park, then we leave to go to Bull Shoals state park tomorrow. Hopefully it will be cooler!
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