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On May 2nd, 2025, I broke the Arkansas Big Day Record with 191 species. The previous record was held by two longtime Arkansas birders, Kenny Nichols and Dick Baxter, in which they saw 176 species on May 3rd, 2023. Before I discuss my record-breaking day, I want to describe what a birding big day is as well as explain my previous experiences with big days. A birding big day is when a person, or in most cases a group of birders, tries to find as many species of birds in a 24-hour period. This can be as local as birding a specific refuge or metro park or as broad as even a world big day (these primarily occur in the tropics). I was the mastermind behind breaking the Illinois big day record with a group from University of Illinois in May 2022 with 205 species (previous record was 191). A friend of mine, Ben Lucking a full-time guide for WINGS, and I broke the Michigan big day record in May 2023 with 206 species (this was broken by one in 2024, unfortunately). Even broader, a group of birding friends include Ben, myself, as well as Jack Rogers and Nick Ramsey, currently hold the third highest U.S. big day with 271 species in which we crisscrossed central Texas. To say the least, I am experienced to conquer big days, really anywhere. I reached out to both Dick and Kenny if they were interested in another big day run at some point this spring. Both were open to the idea or at least help along in planning one. Dick eventually had to pull out and so did Kenny, but I am thankful for their help and guidance in figuring out both a route to run this year as well as future routes. I wanted to complete one in late April, but the weather ended up not being good enough and migrants seemed to be slow, so I decided to wait. I saw a two-day window (5/2 & 5/3) with rain (so I could not go out in the field for my work) as well as plenty of south winds that would bring many new migrants into the state. I wanted to complete a trial run and then try one the following day based on what I scouted. Well, the short story is, the scouting went well enough that I just kept going. I broke the record by 5:30pm on the scouting day… It was 2:00am and I was wide awake. For what reason, I am not sure. I wasn’t planning on leaving until 5 or 6 to go scout, but I sure was wide awake. I thought, well, I can’t go back to sleep, I am all packed and ready, I guess I could go scout nocturnal species. I birded the backroads of Cleburne County until sunrise then began the morning at Jim Kress WMA, but there really wasn’t a sunrise. Rain, at times moderately heavy rain, began around 5:15 and kept on until 7:00. Since in my mind I was focused on scouting, I focused more on breeding and year-round species than migrants. Also, with the added problems with the rain, I was not as driven to find every single migrant. Due to this, I missed plenty of easier migrants, especially earlier ones including Golden-winged & Black-throated Green Warblers. I was able to pin down a few tougher migrants such as Veery and Gray-cheeked Thrush, Blackburnian Warbler, and crucial breeders such as Worm-eating and Blue-winged Warblers.  Radar over the region at 6am (from the NWS page). The rain over central Arkansas between 2 and 4am and moved slowly northeast throughout the morning, affecting most of central and northeast Arkansas through the first couple of hours of daylight on 5-2. The rain that was over Oklahoma became a factor later in the morning as you will see! I decided to drive a couple of backroads nearby to add open country species. I added plenty of crucial species during this segment, such as Bell’s Vireo, Lark Sparrow, and Bobolink. I made a quick pass around Magness Lake and the Heber Springs area, adding more migrants such as Magnolia, Blackpoll, and Yellow-rumped Warblers but nothing particularly uncommon besides a pair of lingering Ring-necked Ducks. Despite missing numerous species and lack of finding anything rare, I was still doing quite well. I was at around 100 leaving the Heber Springs area by 10:00. With all that I missed, I knew a record was possible. I decided to wait until after Bald Knob to make that decision to continue or not, in which that was the next major stop.  Flock of male Bobolinks that were first of many flocks of this neotropical migrant throughout the day On the way to Bald Knob, I made several stops. The Grasshopper Sparrows were singing quite well north of Bald Knob, as well as other sparrows such as lingering White-crowned and Lincoln’s Sparrows, and my only Northern Bobwhite of the day. I stopped briefly for the Western Kingbirds, which I saw the pair and saw the lingering hybrid. On my first stop at Bald Knob NWR, I heard then saw the continuing young male and female Yellow-headed Blackbirds. Then I drove down more to cell 1, where I saw the first Wilson’s Phalaropes of the day. I then drove by Cell 2, where I picked out a male of both Northern Pintail and Green-winged Teal, as well as a pair of Willets that were hunkered down in the middle of the hundreds of dabbling ducks. The fields nearby were flooded from the morning’s storms, which likely helped bring down a hundred or so shorebirds as well as Black Terns that were flying around. Some of the shorebirds there included nearly two dozen Semipalmated Plovers, the first peeps of the day (Least, Semipalmated, and White-rumped), as well as a beautiful alternate plumaged Stilt Sandpiper. I made a quick stop at the Bald Knob WTP (only added a Ruddy Duck) and kept moving south.  Yellow-headed Blackbirds  Willets Most of my research sites are in Woodruff County, and between the Cache River being so high and me visiting sites all week, I knew where the best shorebird spots were. I decided to target one specific road that I checked the day prior. Shorebirds were surprisingly sparce where the birds were the day prior, but I still added a few species including my first Dunlin, Horned Lark, and Marsh Wren. I then saw a very large group of shorebirds flush from a field that I thought was inaccessible. I then spotted a smaller, blue and white heron that was hunkered down within the shorebirds, likely dropped down due to the morning’s storms, a TRICOLORED HERON! A rare species for northeast Arkansas! I then drove back to the field and was unsuccessful in finding much within the group of ~500 shorebirds besides my first Black-bellied Plover for the day. I did get much better views of the heron before I left (and it started to pour anyways).  Tricolored Heron with some Long-billed Dowitchers I arrived at Saul’s West just after 2:00pm, and knew I had to make a very quick pass at both here and Treadway’s to the west. I was in-and-out of both complexes in just over 30 minutes. Although I did not find as many new species as I had hoped, I still picked up a few, including an alternate Eared Grebe, a Western Sandpiper, and a surprising Upland Sandpiper! On the way towards Desha County, I unexpectedly added a male Great-tailed Grackle in Carlisle as I was driving through with my window down (thankfully). I then took a quick pass-through Stuttgart where Ryan Askren found some Fulvous Whistling-Ducks a week prior. I arrived at the pond, and guess what, SOME GUY WAS MOWING around the pond! Which meant there were NO ducks AT the pond. The next day I drove by and sure enough, there was one Fulvous there…  Male Great-tailed Grackle Next up was the confluence of the Arkansas & White Rivers in Arkansas and Desha Counties. I decided to text Dick Baxter since I was driving that direction. He told me to keep him updated and to let him know when I was making my pass-through Kelso. I took a quick stop at Arkansas Post, quickly adding numerous aquatic species, including both Common and Purple Gallinules, Least Bittern, even a couple of Swamp Sparrows, and AN ALLIGATOR! Not countable but still exciting to see on a big day.  The famous marsh just before Arkansas Post  Alligator I then went to the lock and dam nearby. I figured this would be my best bet for a gull or tern, pelican, maybe a migrant or two, plus Dalton R. reported a Bufflehead a week prior. The river was surprisingly quite low, with quite a few shorebirds, but nothing I needed besides a flock of four breeding plumaged American Avocets. Two more species I added were a large flock of pelicans, and of course the male Bufflehead was still there and quite close! With these three new species, I broke the 2023 record. The Bufflehead was my 177th species for the day!  Male Bufflehead, #177!!! I then drove to Kelso where Dick met me to check out one of his sheds for a Barn Owl. Sure enough, there was a single Barn Owl! We tried for an Inca Dove he saw the day prior, no luck, but added Wild Turkeys nearby from his house. He wished me good luck, and I kept on south towards his catfish farm. The rain began once again and the rain likely limited me from adding too many new species. I did add a couple of species including a pair of Mottled Ducks as well as a Least Flycatcher that came into a mob tape along the riparian corridor. I left his property with 181 species. A good number especially with my misses, challenges throughout the day, and even just being by myself. I still had more birds to see, and I figured out a plan for the remaining part of the day. The best bet was to go towards Lake Chicot either to look for birds on the lake & White-winged Dove or drive around the roads to the west to search for waders. I chose the latter.  Pair of Mottled Ducks The rain finally stopped, and the sun began to give a final peek before setting for the day. I arrived at a few fish ponds west of Lake Village at around 7:30. I immediately noticed after my arrival numerous waders flying towards a large pond around a mile to the northwest. I picked up my first Black-crowned Night-Heron quickly, 182, but knew I could add more. I drove over and set myself up to watch the waders pour into the suspected roost, and they sure did. Hundreds of waders poured in during the final 30 minutes of light and I added FOUR new species. I added all three ibis species as well as a Neotropic Cormorant, 186!  Sunset over the lake with the heron roost  Neotropic Cormorant I drove back to McGehee, checked into my hotel, had a tasty barbeque dinner at Hoot’s BBQ to celebrate breaking the record, and of course, kept going. I drove fifteen minutes over to Choctaw WMA west unit, parked, and walked out close to a mile to listen for marsh species in the large hemi-marsh habitat. As I walked, I heard plenty of migrants beginning to migrate for the evening, nothing new, but still fun to listen to, plus a distant pair of Great Horned Owls began to call, 187. I quickly added Sora and American Bittern, 188 and 189. Then I added my second state bird of the day and what this property is known for, a King Rail, 190. Their dry sounding grunt may be my second favorite sound of Rallidaes in North America, that behind the Black Rail of course. While listening to the marsh species, a surprising Eastern Screech-Owl began the whine behind me from the forest, an unexpected tick and the 191st species of the day. Despite still not having Common Nighthawk and Virginia Rail, I figured 191 was enough and I would call it a day. I had been out since 2:30am, and it was after 10:30. I was TIRED and ready to get to the hotel. What a day!  BBQ Dinner after a BIG (record-breaking) day! I was quite satisfied by my number from Friday, May 2nd, despite numerous factors that limited the extent of my total. I now know that a 200+ day is possible if the right conditions are in place, the right route, and more importantly, the right species are present along the route. The route I completed on this day was not my first choice, and not my second choice, but now I know what works and what doesn’t work. I easily could have cut an hour out of the Heber Springs segment and may have added a couple stops along the route to even make it better. I did not go to Pine City or Warren Prairie for Red-cockaded Woodpecker, I should have had more migrants, and a more western route would have added a few western species and more bigger lake species. I also did not do as well with waterfowl as I had hoped, especially since I knew more ducks as well as Snow, Ross’s, and Greater White-fronted Gesse were all present in Craighead County at the time. Still, I saw so many species as well as finding a few uncommon ones, and my favorite part of birding, checking out a few underbirded areas such as Jim Kress WMA. I look forward to hopefully conquering another Arkansas big day or watch others try to break my record in the future! Bird on!  EBird map of the big day, see the trip report linked below! https://ebird.org/tripreport/360025
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