Monday, September 10, 2018

Holla Bend National Wildlife Refuge – Dardanelle, Arkansas


September 9 

We saw 16 deer over the course of our day here. We saw a couple of does with fawns and one doe had twins. Then 8 to 10 of them ran across one of the fields white tails in the air. We also saw quite a few birds including Cardinals, Chickadees, Yellow-billed Cuckoos, lots of wrens that we could never see, Vireos, Flycatchers, Orioles and sparrows. We also saw 3 different Hawks and some Wood Ducks. We also came across a cute little turtle along side the road.

On the boat ramp on the way down to Lodge Lake we saw a lot of butterflies all together. Lots of Great Egrets and a Great Blue Heron. We also saw a Cottonmouth swimming quite close to where we were before it turned and went away from us and it followed the shoreline away from us. 

 White-tailed Deer

 there were quite a few Blue-grey Nuthatches
 young Red-bellied Woodpecker

 Great Crested Flycatcher
 Great Egret
immature Indigo Bunting
 Bells's Vireo








Eastern Musk Turtle?
We stopped in the middle of the day for lunch and we stopped at Mexican restaurant and I have to say it was not only the worst Mexican food of the trip, it was the worst food of the trip. Despite it being run by real Mexicans, I can only think that they make it boring for the Arkansans as I have never tasted anything that odd. The enchiladas were not cooked, but this ground mushy meat was rolled in a corn tortilla like a burrito and then covered with a cheese sauce. Not baked together, it was just assembled & served. The taco had the same meat as did Greg’s relleno which was the size of a 50 cent piece and equally not tasty. I asked for some enchilada sauce for my enchiladas and I have had canned sauce with more flavor. Ah well, can’t win ‘em all. The place was packed so the locals love it. (never a good sign when there aren’t any Latinos eating there) 



We went back and drove around the rest of the huge Refuge. 

 Yellow-billed Cuckoo
 butterfly sat on the car window
 immature Red-tailed Hawk
 butterflies on the boat ramp











 Lodge Lake

 Cottonmouth in the lake
 Cottonmouth in the lake
 Cottonmouth in the lake - far away at this point along the shoreline
 Great Egrets
 turtle on a log

 Arkansas River





One area had a raised platform to look out over the river and it had a plaque explaining the Trail of Tears. They came through this particular area on the way to Oklahoma during the winter of 1838-1839. Various Cherokee, Creeks, Chickasaws, Choctaws, and Seminoles were forcibly moved through this area at other times during the 1830s and 1840s.

From the Trail of Tears website: "In the 1830s, the U.S. government forced tens of thousands of Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole and Muskogee tribespeople to move hundreds of miles west from their ancestral homes in the Southeast to present-day Oklahoma. Members of those tribes traveled by foot, horse, wagon, railroad or steamboat along various routes, some of which are now designated as the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail. The network of trails stretches across 5,043 miles in nine states. Many of the native people died along the way.

The loss of family, land and culture for each of the affected tribes is incalculable. The pain and grief still echoes throughout Indian Country. Remembering and accurately portraying the history surrounding the Trail of Tears and the cost to the tribes is a start toward healing.” 

No wonder there were so many Casinos on “reservation” land in Oklahoma.

I remember growing up in Iowa and the AM Rock station in Little Rock had such a strong signal that it was the only thing that came in late at night after all the rest of the stations went off the air or got too much static to listen to. It was KAAY, The Mighty 1090 and they had a show called Beaker Street and it was a way to hear "all of the long-haired, weird music" that was coming in from the west coast. Before the internet and many TV stations, both coasts got all the new stuff and it took a while to filter into the Midwest. It was normally out of style before we got it. 

In its heyday during the 1960s and '70s, KAAY-AM 1090 played top 40 music during the day and progressive rock at night. With a powerful signal that reached most of Arkansas during the day, at night KAAY's secondary pattern reached much of the U.S., as well as other counties including Cuba. 

Because the signal could be heard clearly in Cuba at night, toward the end of the Bay of Pigs crisis in October 1962, the U.S. government used KAAY to broadcast propaganda directly to the Cuban people. At that time the U.S. was working to secure the release of more than 1,100 Cuban exiles who had been part of a invasion force that failed to overthrow Cuban leader Fidel Castro.
Anyway, we had a great day at the Wildlife Refuge.

Tomorrow, the car goes in to see if this local guy can fix it so we can tow it instead of me driving me behind the coach. 

1 comment:

  1. Too bad the food sucked, the deer photos and other animal shots are really nice, it is a really green and lush place.

    ReplyDelete