Arkansas & Louisiana 
■ Craig Fish Hatcheiy 
... •Harrison 
• Fayetteville 
e ? Lake NWR 
Kmm 
R. Smith Holla 
• m m Bend NWR 
L Dardanelle 
Bald 
§ Knob NWR 
Hulsey State 
Fish Hatchery 
\ 
Little Rock 
L Conway 
Joe Hogan StaU 
Fish Hatchery 
White 
DeGravL.m ■ Rivem 
m NWR 
ArkadelphiaOxi- 
dafton Ponds Oakw 
Millwood L 
L Chicon 
Ovediow NWR\ 
•Monroe 
^ Shreveport 
> , LOUISIANA 
\ Red River 
ToledoP, NWR Catahoula 
Bendyr L m 
Res. T Alexandria# 
Cheneyville* 
Lafayette 
Lacassine Atch^l^laya 
NWR 
Basin' / Gffti 
Reserve-Bonnet *5le 
Carre Spillway 
GULF OF MEXICO 
Steven W. Cardiff 
A fter a rather quiet August, September 
roared in with back-to-back hurri- 
canes, the effects of which became 
the overriding focus for the remainder of the 
season. Birdwise, both storms were relatively 
disappointing in terms of the diversity and 
rarity of inland pelagics. Hurricane Gustav 
produced the greatest variety, mainly in 
Arkansas and northwestern Louisiana. Hurri- 
cane Ike was primarily a southern Louisiana 
“frigatebird event.” As with Katrina and Rita 
in 2005, the intensity of the 2008 storms and 
the resultant magnitude of human evacua- 
tions, coastal damage, and logistical compli- 
cations largely prevented searching for 
seabirds in the impacted coastal areas either 
just prior to, during, or for weeks following 
landfall. 
Abbreviations: B.K.N.W.R. (Bald Knob 
N.W.R., White, AR); B.S.N.W.R. (Bayou 
Sauvage N.W.R., Orleans, LA); C.EH. (Craig 
Fish Hatchery, near Centerton, Benton, AR); 
C.N.F. (Camp Nine Farm, Desha, AR); 
K.C.G.O.M. (drilling ship at Keathley 
Canyon in the Gulf of Mexico, about 352 km 
sw. of Port Fourchon, LA); LSUMNS 
(Louisiana State University Museum of Natu- 
ral Science); M.L. (Millwood L., AR); N.FU 
or S.FU. (Sherburne W.M.A.: “North Farm 
Unit” or “South Farm Unit,” n. of Ramah, 
Iberville, LA); S.FF (Sauls Fish Farms near 
Des Arc, Prairie, AR); T.EF (Treadway’s Fish 
Farm, near Hickory Plains, Prairie, AR); 
W.W.P. (Woolsey Wet Prairie, 
Fayetteville, Washington, 
AR). Counties/parishes are 
indicated only for the initial 
mention of a specihc locality, 
and states are indicated only 
for the initial mention of 
counties/parishes, except to 
avoid confusion. For records 
of “review list” species, docu- 
mentation has been received 
and records have either been 
accepted by, or acceptance is 
pending by, the respective 
state bird records committee. 
Signihcance for Arkansas 
records is based on Arkansas 
Birds Oarnes and Neal 1986) 
and the Arkansas Audubon 
Society (AAS) online bird 
record database (for records 
since 1986). Signihcance for 
Louisiana records is based on the bird record 
card hie database and the Louisiana Bird 
Records Committee archives at the Louisiana 
State University Museum of Natural Science, 
as well as the most recent draft of the forth- 
coming Birds of Louisiana (Remsen, Cardiff, 
Dittmann, and Dickson), 
WATERFOWL THROUGH GREBE 
Twenty Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks at 
Grassy L., Hempstead 17 Aug (DS, SH) includ- 
ed a pair with 13 ducklings, the hrst con- 
hrmed breeding at this site in sw. Arkansas; 84 
at C.N.F 20 Sep (DB) was a very high number, 
especially for se. Arkansas. New Black-bellied 
breeding locations in n. Louisiana were repre- 
sented by a pair with 5-6 small young near 
Alexandria, Rapides 14 Aug (ph. EVM, Yvonne 
Moore) and two pairs accompanied by 6 large 
young at Marco, Natchitoches 15 Sep O^H). 
Other notable reports included 8 over Baton 
Rouge, East Baton Rouge 2 Sep (possibly asso- 
ciated with Hurricane Gustav, Brian J. O’Shea) 
r A Things had just started returning to a semblance of normalcy in s. Louisiana after the state suffered direct hits from 
J t\ Hurricanes Katrina and Rita within one month of each other in early fall 2005, when the unthinkable happened, and 
two more powerful hurricanes impacted the state within a two-week span in early Sep 2008. Hurricane Gustav made land- 
fall in Terrebonne Parish as a strong Category 2 storm on the morning of 1 Sep and tracked northwestward, inflicting heavy 
damage from Grand Isle to the Baton Rouge area before being downgraded to a depression in northwestern Louisiana. The 
storm's remnants continued northward through western Arkansas before merging with an approaching cold front on 4 Sep. 
Meanwhile, even as Gustav made landfall. Tropical Storm ike was tracking ominously westward across the Atlantic. Although 
Louisiana was spared a direct hit by ike, which made landfall as a Category 2 hurricane around predawn near Galveston, Texas, 
.the storm's immense size and resultant surge impacted the entire Louisiana coast (e.g., Ike's storm surge at Grand Isle and 
elsewhere in southeastern Louisiana was higher than from Gustav, and surge in southwestern Louisiana was as bad or worse 
than from Rita in 2005) and produced tropical-storm-force winds well east of the center. Ike moved into western Arkansas as 
a weak tropical storm during the evening of the 13th and was quickly downgraded to a depression as it passed over north- 
western Arkansas during the early morning on 14 Sep. In terms of habitat damage, this unwanted burst of coastal erosion 
was devastating for barrier islands and marshlands, and Gwsfov caused incredible tree damage deep into central Louisiana. 
One of three found in Arkansas in the wakes of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, this ju- 
venile Black Skimmer at the Howard County section of Millwood Lake 7 September 
2008 was only the seventh for the state. Photograph by Charles Mills. 
and unprecedented numbers at the Lacassine 
N.W.R. Pool Unit, Cameron in late Nov, with 
maximum estimates up to 3000 (a high per- 
centage of juvs.) there 23-25 Nov (ph. DDe, 
ph. DLD, SWC). Several new benchmarks 
were also established for Fulvous Whistling- 
Duck this fall: 129 at C.N.F 20 Sep obliterated 
the previous Arkansas high count and provid- 
ed the 2nd state breeding record, as evidenced 
by broods of 8 small and 10 large young, re- 
spectively (DB); 9 there 19 Oct and 7 on 28 
Nov were late (D&SB). Counts of 2000 just 
inside Vermilion near L. Arthur 25 Oct (ph. 
DBo) and up to 300 at Lacassine Pool 23-26 
Nov (ph. DDe, ph. DLD, SWC) were remark- 
able numbers for so late in fall; 2 at 
K.C.G.O.M. 8 Nov (ph. BM, LO) were late and 
unexpected trans-Gulf migrants. An “early” 
male Northern Pintail and 3 male Ring- 
necked Ducks at B.K.N.W.R. 31 Aug (DS, SH) 
may have been some of the same birds report- 
ed from there earlier in the summer. Two Surf 
Scoters on M.L., Hempstead 22 Nov (CM), one 
at Rutherford Beach, Cameron 25 Nov (SWC, 
VOLUME 63 (2009) • NUMBER 1 
101 
