A hilltop that became an island when Lake Ouachita was created in the 1950s is ... let's say "popular" with purple martins.
So popular that every summer an estimated 30,000 to 50,000 migrant birds drop in. From late July to early August, vast flocks of the acrobatic insectivores swoop in to spend a few days sleeping on the island at night and pirouetting above the Ouachita National Forest by day.
"It's not the same birds the entire time, but rather large numbers migrating through, staying a few days or longer" -- exactly how long isn't known -- "then making their way south toward Brazil," says Susan Adkins, who has been an interpreter at Lake Ouachita State Park since 2006.
Facing a long haul across the Gulf of Mexico to winter roosts in South America, groups of martins linger on the lake to fatten up before flying south together. "The number of birds, arrival dates and departure dates are influenced by weather and habitat changes here at Lake Ouachita, at their nesting locations, and along their migration routes," Adkins says.
"It's a unique site that the public's able to see this fantastic roost pretty close, and it's amazing," says Karen Rowe, migratory bird expert for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.
"As they leave the roost in the morning and spread out in all directions to feed, the mass can be seen on NEXRAD radar," according to Audubon Arkansas' online description of the island.
The cypress-topped bit of land, about half a mile from shore in the middle of the enormous manmade lake, was listed as an Important Bird Area by the National Audubon Society based upon research conducted during the first decade of this century by students at Mountain Pine High School. The island is so
important because without safe places to gather, hunt and rest undisturbed, the martins would never make it to Brazil. (Arkansas has 29 such sites, each seen as crucial to the survival of a species. More information is at ar.audubon.org under "Important Bird Areas.")
Adkins doubts martins camped out in the area before the lake was built, but researchers aren't sure how the roost began or why. "After talking with area fishermen, many have known about the Bird Island for years, but there was never any real documentation of the phenomenon," she says.
She suspects it dates from 1982, when the Corps of Engineers added trees to the island. "Bird Island is a grove of cypress trees that were planted after the lake was built for erosion control and wildlife habitat," she says. "The birds saw the vacancy, and the rest is history."
Besides purple martins, little blue herons, great blue herons, white ibis, cattle egrets, American crows and red-winged blackbirds frequent Bird Island. In winter and early spring, double-crested cormorants roost there, osprey and other raptors hunt there, and one of the island's big cypress trees is favored by bald eagles.
SEE THE BIRDS
Lake Ouachita State Park conducts evening barge tours, so 20 visitors at a time can observe the martins returning to roost at sunset.
The 2014 tour schedule, listed online at arkansasstateparks.com/LakeOuachita, includes several evening outings every week now through early August.
Tickets are $9 plus tax for adults, $5 plus tax for children age 6 to 12, and free for kids younger than 6.
All children must wear life vests during the two-hour tours, so "I generally don't recommend the tour for children ages 3 and under," Adkins says.
Reservations -- required -- can be bought by calling (501) 767-9366.
"The tour leaves about an hour before sunset, so sunglasses may be helpful. It's Arkansas, it's summer; bug spray is never a bad idea," she says. "Hats are not recommended because they tend to blow off as we speed down the lake at speeds of 20 mph."
She suggests people take along bottled water, binoculars, a camera and a light jacket for the return trip.
NOT TOO CLOSE
These tours stay a safe distance from the island. But it's also possible to make a private boat trip there, and thus potential danger arises, Rowe says.
When the lake is high, as it is this summer, most of the island is underwater. But when the level drops, an area roughly 1,260 feet by 100 feet emerges, and it's possible to beach a boat and walk about.
Bird lovers would never do that.
"Any disturbance of the island -- first of all, it would be a violation of federal law, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act," Rowe says, "because they would be disturbing the birds from their normal behavior.
"And secondly, continued disturbance would cause the birds to leave the roost and eventually abandon that site.
"And lastly, the birds, at that point in time when they are using the roost, are working hard to consume a lot of insects, to build up the energy and the fat reserves it takes to migrate south across the Gulf of Mexico. And so by disturbing the birds, you are causing them to burn calories that they otherwise wouldn't burn, lose the fat reserves that they're trying to build up for migration and you're causing harm -- if not potential fatalities -- to the birds by disturbing them at the roost."
Rowe is the nongame migratory bird program coordinator for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. She says to her knowledge, people aren't trying to land on Bird island.
"More of a problem are people getting too close and just causing the birds to flush," she says. "If you're really concerned and interested about the birds, causing them to flush out of the roost is causing them to lose the energy that they need to make their long migration and could cost them their life."
"Even if a person can't judge distances," Rowe says, "if you're approaching and you're causing birds to start moving, that means you need to back up. Also, motoring very slowly is important, going quietly."
From land, hikers can see the island from a bench at Traildog Vista along the Lake Ouachita Vista Trail, says Robert Cavanaugh, a member of the crew that built the trail. This bench is about 6 miles east of the Crystal Springs Recreation Area and at the highest point of the LOViT as it traverses the north slope of Bear Mountain.
"You can see Bird Island nearly straight out from Traildog Vista. This is a long way off, but that is about as close as the trail gets to it," he says.
ActiveStyle on 07/21/2014