Local Audubon Society visits Eagle Watch

Westside Eagle Observer/RANDY MOLL Joe Neal, area bird expert, looks for wading birds in the mudflats along SWEPCO Lake on Saturday during a Northwest Arkansas Audubon Society fieldtrip to the Eagle Watch Nature Trail on Saturday morning (Feb. 3, 2018). About 40 people were out for the bird-watching event.
Westside Eagle Observer/RANDY MOLL Joe Neal, area bird expert, looks for wading birds in the mudflats along SWEPCO Lake on Saturday during a Northwest Arkansas Audubon Society fieldtrip to the Eagle Watch Nature Trail on Saturday morning (Feb. 3, 2018). About 40 people were out for the bird-watching event.

GENTRY -- Approximately 40 bird watchers -- members and guests of the Northwest Arkansas Audubon Society -- visited the Eagle Watch Nature Trail on Saturday to view eagles and a variety of woodland and shorebirds. And, though there may not have been as many birds as most hoped, they did get to view a variety of birds, including a bald eagle, hawks, cormorants, gulls and more.

The bird watchers, for the most part, came equipped with binoculars, spotting scopes and cameras with long lenses. After viewing several birds at the new pavilion, part of the group moved on to the second pavilion and down closer to the water's edge along the mudflats.

The field trip was led by Terry Stanfill, manager of the Eagle Watch Nature Trail for the Flint Creek Power Plant, and Joe Neal, an area expert on birds in Arkansas and the Ozark region.

Northwest Arkansas Audubon Society visits Eagle Watch regularly to view the birds there along the warm waters of SWEPCO Lake.

Eagle Watch Nature Trail is open to the public and draws thousands of visitors each year. While many come to view and photograph birds and other wildlife along the trail and the lake, many come just for a peaceful place to walk and enjoy the outdoors. The trail features an easy 1/2-mile walking path along a natural prairie area, through a wooded area to the lake's edge. Two covered viewing pavilions are available along the trail.

General News on 02/07/2018