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| * Tricolored Heron, Duck Lake, Catahoula NWR HQ Unit |
As is typical, I headed to the north end of Duck Lake first. Along the way I added some of the usual woodland birds, but also a few surprises. At the area where the woods close in around the road due west of the office buildings I heard a Hooded Warbler singing. I stopped, got out, and was rewarded with a nice little cluster of wood warbler spp. Hooded, Black-and-white, and Swainson's Warblers were present with the B-&-W being seen, the Swainson's heard, and the Hooded heard and seen. These species are very sparse breeders on the refuge, in my experience. The only one I feel pretty sure does breed on the HQ unit, at least in accessible areas, is Hooded, and then only an occasional pair. So, these were presumably birds dispersing from their breeding areas or possibly (?) early southbound migrants.
The area around the road by the north end of Duck Lake has been partially mowed, but thankfully they have abstained from mowing it all as that tends to leave little for the birds that prefer weedy habitats. The Black-necked Stilts were finally present at the lake, so the world is as it should be. Along with the stilts were Killdeer, Least Sandpiper, Greater Yellowlegs, and Spotted Sandpiper. So, definitely not a wide assortment, but this is a fairly "normal" picture of what should be at that spot at this moment in the season. So, things are looking good now.
One of the nice things about birding is seeing an "old chum" that's showed up when they are expected, even if you forgot to expect them. That's the case today when I clapped eyes on a handsome adult Bald Eagle perched in one of the big Bald Cypresses out in Duck Lake. These birds are fixtures at the lake during fall and winter and sometimes put in appearances at other times as well. Like clockwork, a family will show up when the water starts to drop and prey becomes concentrated. I only saw the one today, but year after year what's presumably the same family will show up with an adult pair and some number of younger "brown" birds.
The Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks were present, standing on the muddy shore of the northeast corner of the lake. Multiple Tricolored Herons is always nice, and reminds me of a few years ago when they were more common at this locale than they've been recently. Decent numbers of Great Blue and Little Blue Herons, Great and Snowy and Cattle Egrets, a juvenile Black-crowned Night-Heron, Roseate Spoonbills, and both White and presumably White-faced (plegadis species) Ibis were present. However, Wood Storks were not noted on this trip. Both Double-crested and Neotropic Cormorants were seen.
Painted Buntings were suddenly quite few compared to the last trip, though Indigo Buntings were still quite conspicuous and a good many males were still singing somewhat regularly.
After my usual stand-around at the north end of Duck Lake I turned around and drove back to the fork by the office area. I took the south fork as far as the right-of-way that leads to the lake (about 0.8 mile from fork). This time I got out and walked the length of the right-of-way, which ends by the edge of the lakebed, about 0.3 to 0.5 of a mile from the main refuge loop road. The foray to this side of the loop proved quite fruitful, as I picked up Mississippi Kite and a good many Red-eyed Vireo and Acadian Flycatcher on this side and walking the right-of-way gave me a better look at the birds present on this side of the lake. Lesser Yellowlegs were added to the list of shorebirds, plus additional Killdeers, Black-necked Stilts, Least and Spotted Sandpipers. Terns seen cruising up and down the lake, far out over the water, proved tricky to identify because of the great distance. Eventually, after some attempts at scrutiny, I settled on what happened to have been my first hunch, which was Caspian Tern.
Other wildlife found on this trip include Fowler's Toad - 1 juv., Green Treefrog - many chorusing around north end of Duck Lake, Cope's Gray Treefrog -2, Green Frog (Bronze) -2, White-tailed Deer -large buck with approx. 10-point antlers, and a family group of wild hogs.
So, things are looking to be shaping up for a decent late summer / early fall waterbird season on the HQ Unit of Catahoula NWR. Hopefully the coming weeks bring even more goodies!
Below is the complete list of the birds found on this trip.
7:03 am to 9:16 am. Traveled 2.3 miles. Conditions: 76 to 84 degrees f., light breeze, sunny. Water level marker at north end of Duck Lake showed approx. 34.5 feet. Water level down from 8/2/14 visit.
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck - 2
Wood Duck - 1 female
Neotropic Cormorant - 1
Double-crested Cormorant - 2
Anhinga - 5
Great Blue Heron - 5
Great Egret - 10
Snowy Egret - 5
Little Blue Heron - 9
Tricolored Heron - 4
Cattle Egret - 78
Black-crowned Night-Heron - 1 juvenile
White Ibis - 40
pleg. sp. (? White-faced Ibis? ) - 12
Roseate Spoonbill - 12
Mississippi Kite - 1
Bald Eagle - 1 adult
Red-shouldered Hawk - 3: 1 adult and 2 juveniles
Black-necked Stilt - 23
Killdeer - 7
Spotted Sandpiper - 3
Greater Yellowlegs - 1
Lesser Yellowlegs - 10
Least Sandpiper - 16
Caspian Tern - 3
Mourning Dove - 5
Yellow-billed Cuckoo - 6
Belted Kingfisher - 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 4
Downy Woodpecker - 2
Pileated Woodpecker - 1
Eastern Wood-Pewee - 1
Acadian Flycatcher - 6
Eastern Kingbird - 3
White-eyed Vireo - 8
Red-eyed Vireo - 6
Blue Jay - 5
American Crow - 7
Barn Swallow - 2
Carolina Chickadee - 6
Tufted Titmouse - 7
Carolina Wren - 13
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 2
Northern Mockingbird - 3
Black-and-white Warbler - 1 female or juv./immature type plumage (white throat)
Prothonotary Warbler - 1 seen
Swainson's Warbler - 1 singing once or twice
Hooded Warbler - 1 adult male
Northern Parula - 2 heard singing
Summer Tanager - 1
Northern Cardinal - 16
Indigo Bunting - 14
Painted Bunting - 2
Red-winged Blackbird - 10
Common Grackle - 15
* My camera has been 'being uncooperative' lately, so I wasn't able to get any pics from this day's trip. However, I included this photo of a Tricolored Heron that I took a few years ago, as the species was found on this trip and, in fact, some were foraging by the very tree that the bird in the photo was in.
Happy Birding!
Jonathan Clark
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