walterb
Active member
I headed out of St. Louis Missouri for the Cache River area, not really knowing where I was going , but I just knew this was the place to be this past weekend.
I wanted to take a good photo of the Ivory Bill. I wished it were still alive since I’ve been about 8 years old seeing it in my bird book.
I drove down to Memphis then over towards Little Rock on Interstate 40. I had always though Arkansas was a hilly state, and it is if you only visit the northern area, but central eastern Arkansas is flat and marshy. Fields of Rice, cotton, and watermelons.
I had drove all over St. Louis looking for an Topographical Atlas of the State of Arkansas but it seemed people had beaten me to it. I finally found one at my 5th Border’s book store I visited.
At a Rest stop I pulled over to get a few hours sleep. I decided based on the information I had recorded onto CD from NPR’s website that the best place to go was the Cache River Wildlife Refuge. I wanted to be there at dawn on Saturday, so I only slept a few hours and then hit the road again.
I got to Brinkley Arkansas about 5:30am, Its just off interstate 40. I headed south and west out of town about 4 miles on Highway 70. Taking the Dagmar Gravel Road Exit, I drove back into the Dagmar Wildlife Management area. It’s a large Bayou that is part of the Cache River System. (see Map)
http://www.fws.gov/cacheriver/ManagedAccessArea.pdf
I stayed for two days in the area, but failed to see the Ivory Bill. If you don’t have access to some sort shallow draft boat (which I don’t ) you are going to limit your viewing.
The roads are quite good (gravel). I made it all over in the WMA with a small low clearance Kia Passenger car.
In a nutshell the entire area is a swampy area with large Cypress trees, and Oaks. I’ve seen birds there I’ve never seen before. Many warblers.
There were a few campers, a few birders and many fishermen with John boats having their buddies or wives unhook the boat from the back of the pick-up truck, then take it out into the channel, and circle around to come back and pick them up after they parked the truck.
The best place if you don’t have a canoe or kayak to view the bayou for a possible fly-by is Dagmar WMA. There are two places that seem to be better than others One is at the end of the road were people launch their john boats (see the bird observation area in the center of the Dagmar WMA on the map).
The second place is an abandon Railroad track that appears on the map as a straight line between Interstate 40 and Highway 70. This allows you foot access to walk across the bayou.
Bring a lot of bug spray, and some knee deep rubber boots , and there are plenty of snakes including copperheads and cottonmouths. I’m told there are alligators there too.
The local’s don’t know what to make of all this fuss about the Ivory bill. Federal Agents have set up a ring around the federal area where the bird has been seen, and Scientists from Cornell University have been conducting experiments within that area. Access to this area is forbidden (see yellow hatch marks on map).
The Dagmar area is only about 1 mile south of the restricted area.
Its amazing that this bird has lasted in that corridor because its filled with duck blinds where hundreds of duck hunters go each year.
I don’t know what the status of next year’s duck hunting will be in this area, but the local’s take their hunting very seriously. I try and keep in mind that its their money via usage tax stamps and hunting permits that is really credited with providing the habitat that has kept this bird alive all these years.
I ended up staying at the Brinkley Inn. It was $27 per night for a single room. Its not much to speak, but a friendly staff and free HBO. There are other places in town if you don’t mind paying a little more. I don’t know about Internet connections at the other hotels but this one had none and no WIFI.
I would love to go back during the winter (January / February ) when the leaves are off of the trees and you can see better without Mosquitoes bothering you .
I wish I had more to tell you about the trip, like I have wonderful photos of the Ivory Bill, but alas, this is not the case. It seems the 40 researchers spent a year making only six or so sightings.
The White and Cache river system is over 500,000 acres so I’m sure where there is one bird, there will be others..
Good luck..
Thanks.
http://www.fws.gov/cacheriver/
I wanted to take a good photo of the Ivory Bill. I wished it were still alive since I’ve been about 8 years old seeing it in my bird book.
I drove down to Memphis then over towards Little Rock on Interstate 40. I had always though Arkansas was a hilly state, and it is if you only visit the northern area, but central eastern Arkansas is flat and marshy. Fields of Rice, cotton, and watermelons.
I had drove all over St. Louis looking for an Topographical Atlas of the State of Arkansas but it seemed people had beaten me to it. I finally found one at my 5th Border’s book store I visited.
At a Rest stop I pulled over to get a few hours sleep. I decided based on the information I had recorded onto CD from NPR’s website that the best place to go was the Cache River Wildlife Refuge. I wanted to be there at dawn on Saturday, so I only slept a few hours and then hit the road again.
I got to Brinkley Arkansas about 5:30am, Its just off interstate 40. I headed south and west out of town about 4 miles on Highway 70. Taking the Dagmar Gravel Road Exit, I drove back into the Dagmar Wildlife Management area. It’s a large Bayou that is part of the Cache River System. (see Map)
http://www.fws.gov/cacheriver/ManagedAccessArea.pdf
I stayed for two days in the area, but failed to see the Ivory Bill. If you don’t have access to some sort shallow draft boat (which I don’t ) you are going to limit your viewing.
The roads are quite good (gravel). I made it all over in the WMA with a small low clearance Kia Passenger car.
In a nutshell the entire area is a swampy area with large Cypress trees, and Oaks. I’ve seen birds there I’ve never seen before. Many warblers.
There were a few campers, a few birders and many fishermen with John boats having their buddies or wives unhook the boat from the back of the pick-up truck, then take it out into the channel, and circle around to come back and pick them up after they parked the truck.
The best place if you don’t have a canoe or kayak to view the bayou for a possible fly-by is Dagmar WMA. There are two places that seem to be better than others One is at the end of the road were people launch their john boats (see the bird observation area in the center of the Dagmar WMA on the map).
The second place is an abandon Railroad track that appears on the map as a straight line between Interstate 40 and Highway 70. This allows you foot access to walk across the bayou.
Bring a lot of bug spray, and some knee deep rubber boots , and there are plenty of snakes including copperheads and cottonmouths. I’m told there are alligators there too.
The local’s don’t know what to make of all this fuss about the Ivory bill. Federal Agents have set up a ring around the federal area where the bird has been seen, and Scientists from Cornell University have been conducting experiments within that area. Access to this area is forbidden (see yellow hatch marks on map).
The Dagmar area is only about 1 mile south of the restricted area.
Its amazing that this bird has lasted in that corridor because its filled with duck blinds where hundreds of duck hunters go each year.
I don’t know what the status of next year’s duck hunting will be in this area, but the local’s take their hunting very seriously. I try and keep in mind that its their money via usage tax stamps and hunting permits that is really credited with providing the habitat that has kept this bird alive all these years.
I ended up staying at the Brinkley Inn. It was $27 per night for a single room. Its not much to speak, but a friendly staff and free HBO. There are other places in town if you don’t mind paying a little more. I don’t know about Internet connections at the other hotels but this one had none and no WIFI.
I would love to go back during the winter (January / February ) when the leaves are off of the trees and you can see better without Mosquitoes bothering you .
I wish I had more to tell you about the trip, like I have wonderful photos of the Ivory Bill, but alas, this is not the case. It seems the 40 researchers spent a year making only six or so sightings.
The White and Cache river system is over 500,000 acres so I’m sure where there is one bird, there will be others..
Good luck..
Thanks.
http://www.fws.gov/cacheriver/