Hey ArBirders....the Missouri Family in Carolyn's post was us! Leslie and
Kathy Koller, and son Shelton Moreland. We dipped on the Tufted Duck that
day. Getting Pacific Loon, White-winged Scoter, and Black Scoter was a very
nice consolation prize though!!!

I see in the next message that Carolyn left that the bird was refound today,
at 11:00am. Let's see, I must have been at Bald Knob NWR by then....figgers
tho, with my luck. Oh, well, makes me want to change hobbies :(

Seriously though, I'd like to echo Carolyn's remarks about Kenny and
LaDonna...you could not find better birders, better friends, better people
anywhere. I got to their house about 8:30 am, and they helped several of us
look for the Tufted until we finally left, about 4 or 5:00 pm or so. A good
8 hrs of birding, chatting etc...

Thank You Kenny and LaDonna for a wonderful day...if the Tufted is still
there in two weeks, I may wait on my Prairie Chicken for another trip to
Dardanelle!!!

Leslie Koller
Sikeston, Scott Co, Missouri


----- Original Message -----
From: "Carolyn Minson" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, March 05, 2006 10:09 AM
Subject: Lake Dardanelle - Saturday, March 4, 2006


> Yesterday, March 4, 2006, thirteen members of the Hot Springs Village
> Audubon group met Kenny and LaDonna Nichols at their place on Lake
> Dardanelle just after 9:00 a.m. The day was mostly sunny with some wind.
> We were joined by other searchers, including one family from Missouri. We
> began the search for the unusual birds they have been seeing on the Lake.
> Because we wanted to focus on the target birds, we made no attempt to
> keep a total species list. Shortly after our arrival Kenny found the
> Black Scoter, which we were all able to observe. Then after walking to
> the point across from the State Park, LaDonna spotted the Pacific Loon,
> which we also viewed rather easily. During some of the time spent
> scanning for the Tufted Duck, Kenny and the fellow birder from Missouri
> found the White-winged Scoter. They both saw the bird fly in and land,
> but it was way out in the channel and difficult to see because of the
> distance, wind, and waves. Lots of scopes were used all day long from all
> the usual locations, some of them twice, in an attempt to locate the
> Tufted Duck.
> When we left at 3:30 p.m. Kenny, LaDonna, the Missouri birder, and folks
> from Little Rock were still looking. As many of you who have birded with
> Kenny and LaDonna know, they are gracious hosts who are willing to search
> all day long to share the birds they see from their property with
> visitors. During times when the rest of us were taking a break to rest
> our eyes, they continued to intently scan the lake in search of the
> elusive (yesterday) Tufted Duck. A huge thanks to Kenny and LaDonna for a
> wonderful day birding at Dardanelle.
>
> We did have one very unusual encounter with a Red-tailed Hawk in their
> yard. The bird was perched in a small tree just to the back of their deck
> and allowed us to walk as close as we wanted. Unfortunately, there was a
> serious injury to one leg. When we left, it had moved just out of their
> yard but continued to stay close to where we were.
>
> Carolyn Minson
> Hot Springs Village

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