From the highway leaving Hernando, Mississippi, we turned down Pleasant Hill Road, heading to the Pleasant Hill boat ramp. This concrete ramp is on the northwestern side of Arkabutla Lake. We were delighted to see many American White Pelicans and some Wood Storks in the water. We parked and set up the spotting scope. There was a tree bare of leaves at the water's edge. We caught sight of several birds in succession flycatching from the top branches. One reason we like birding in the autumn is that trees with no leaves make spotting some birds very easy.
Other birds we saw there were:
- Eastern Bluebird
- Yellow Rumped Warbler
- Pine Warbler
- Eastern Phoebe
- Red Winged Blackbird (with Yellow Wing Bars)
We enjoyed this first birding honeypot and then proceeded around the lake to the State Park and the dam.
The road going across the dam was closed to traffic by Park Authorities, so we parked near the southwest end of the dam, close to a place where we had seen Baltimore Orioles in the summertime. Several feet from a Persimmon tree, we found our second honeypot of the day. There were Eastern Bluebirds in the tree enjoying the fruit and we witnessed a Bluejay actually pick a large juicy persimmon and fly away with it.
Just below the Persimmon tree are several picnic tables. Perching on one of these tables was a beautiful Cerulean Warbler.
As we drove through the picnic and swimming areas (which are officially closed for the winter), at the water's edge there were Ruddy Ducks, Double Crested Cormorants and a Great Blue Heron standing in the water. On the beach were some Ring Billed Gulls and Franklin Gulls. Bouncing slowly on a line of small orange buoys in the lake were Forsters Terns.
Along the roadside on the way to the Camp Grounds, we saw a yellow flycatcher on a telephone wire. With closer inspection and reasoned debate, we determined this was a Western Kingbird. These birds are occasional visitors to this side of the Mississippi River. Other birds we noted along the roadside were:
- Belted Kingfisher
- Northern Harrier
- Cooper's Hawk
- Turkey Vulture
- Red Tailed Hawk
- American Crow
- Northern Mockingbird
- Northern Cardinal
We peeked into the Camp Ground area, searching carefully through a mix of tall Pine trees and deciduous trees, where we expected to see woodpeckers. We stopped the car and waited and listened for about twenty minutes. We saw a couple of Northern Flickers (Yellow Shafted) and Robert finally located a Red Headed Woodpecker, in the sunlight high at the top of a tree. Also in the Camp Ground area, we heard plenty of both the Carolina Chickadee and the Carolina Wren.
Driving past the Spillway on the northern side of the lake, we saw Ground Doves, European Starlings, English Sparrows, and Canada Geese.
Having then explored both ends of the dam, we decided to go picnic at Hernando Point, at the other end of the lake. The lake's water level is very low in autumn because the Corps of Engineers lowers the lake each year to make room for flood water from the Coldwater Creek, so that the Mississippi River itself does not flood. The Delta Sailing Club is closed, (ironically) right when the autumn wind is perfect for sailing, because the lake's water level makes it impossible to launch their vessels. We ate our picnic lunch of cold fried chicken and grapes. As we were eating lunch, we noticed a Pied Billed Grebe trolling slowly among the reeds, out of the wind. As we finished our picnic, it started to rain. This was a very relaxing and fun day of birding, and so, we made our way home.
Berry
Photo courtesy of wikipedia
