Catahoula NWR HQ Unit, 10/16/14

Orchard Orbweaver

Tom and Brenda Pollock and I went to the Headquarters Unit of Catahoula NWR on October 16. Despite arriving at almost 9 o'clock, we still managed to get nearly 3 hours of good birding. Here are some details of the trip, photos, and the complete species count.
   We didn't get very much bird activity between the entrance and our first get-out-of-the-car stop at the north end of Duck Lake. However, we lucked up at the edge of the woods just before reaching the lake and got two FOS Ruby-crowned Kinglets. The list started to really grow by the lake -- a pair of American Kestrels, a Tricolored Heron, a Neotropic Cormorant, to name a few. We, however, didn't see any of the American White Pelicans at this particular spot, though they were here in the hundreds on the 14th. However, a hunter driving past stopped to chat briefly and said that he had seen large numbers of pelicans earlier.

North end of Duck Lake

We found a single American Coot in the cove that extends from the NW corner of the lake, going toward Cowpen Bayou.
   We continued west and south along the section of the refuge loop that parallels Cowpen Bayou. We made numerous stops, sometimes getting out for a short while. At one such stop, shadows of something large flying overhead while we were attempting to get decent photos of spiders/spider webs brought our attention skyward. 6 American White Pelicans! Well, its no 463, but that at least got them on the day's list. Among birds heard and seen along this section of the loop that were detected from the vehicle were a calling Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and a silent Eastern Wood-Pewee perched on a dead branch. Enthusiastic for Empidonax, we misidentified it as an Acadian Flycatcher when it got agitated and flew when it heard Acadian audio playback. Shameful, not knowing a Pewee when I see it, I know! haha. But, thanks to Dr. Remsen for correcting the mistake by looking at the photos and also pointing out that Empids aren't likely to be seen in the exposed perch hunting mode that the Pewee was in.

Eastern Wood-Pewee
 

Cowpen Bayou

   At another stop in this area Tom pointed out what would be our FOS Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. We also got Anhinga in Cowpen Bayou. Though very tough to find wintering in this area of the state in general, they can be found on practically every trip along Cowpen Bayou during the winter half of the year, if you keep your eyes open. Sometimes they'll be spotted on other parts of HQ during the wintering period as well. Of course, the species is very common during the summer half of the year.

Trail to the observation tower

   A walk down the trail to the observation tower at the SW corner of Duck Lake was rewarding. Along the trail we saw and photographed a number of Blanchard's Cricket Frogs. I have noticed that on some autumn days on the refuge, they can be seen, often in great numbers, hopping out of the way along the HQ unit's walking-only trails.

Blanchard's Cricket Frog, showing how effective their coloring
is at camouflaging them against the forest floor.

   There wasn't a lot of bird activity on the lake visible from the tower, but we did have an adult Bald Eagle circling almost directly above the tower itself. Swallows were flying about out over the lake and a couple of more pelicans were tallied.
   After that, we drove back the way we came, and found a decent sized American Alligator in the bayou, offering a nice photo op.
   All in all, a nice trip.

Complete bird species list for the day is below.

Blanchard's Cricket Frog, this one with a green pattern on its
back showing some of the variability in coloring found in this
common species.

American Alligator

Species list for 10/16/14
8:54 am to 11:51 am
Conditions: mild, clear, calm.
Birding driving approx. 5 miles of the 9 mile refuge loop, numerous stops, some stand around periods and short walks.

Wood Duck - 7
Northern Shoveler - 6

Neotropic Cormorant - 1
Double-crested Cormorant - 3
cormorant sp. - 2
Anhinga - 1
American White Pelican - 8

Great Blue Heron - 10
Great Egret - 6
Snowy Egret - 3
Tricolored Heron - 1
White Ibis - 2

Black Vulture - 1
Turkey Vulture - 10
Bald Eagle - 1 adult
Red-shouldered Hawk - 2

American Coot - 1

Killdeer - 4
Greater Yellowlegs - 3

Belted Kingfisher - 1

Red-bellied Woodpecker - 4
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - 1
Downy Woodpecker - 1
Northern Flicker - 3
Pileated Woodpecker - 4

American Kestrel - 2 , a female and a male seen together

Eastern Wood-Pewee - 1
Eastern Phoebe - 7

White-eyed Vireo - 1

Blue Jay - 3
American Crow - 9

Northern Rough-winged Swallow - 1
Barn Swallow - 14
swallow sp. - 40

Carolina Chickadee - 20
Tufted Titmouse - 4

Carolina Wren - 8

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 1

Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 2

Northern Mockingbird - 1

Northern Cardinal - 14
Indigo Bunting - 4

Red-winged Blackbird - 30

passerine sp. - 1

   Recently, I've been focusing on Catahoula NWR on the blog, but I have some trips to other areas in this part of Cenla planned for the next few days or so. I look forward to blogging the results of those excursions, and hope to have some interesting finds, more First Of Season birds to report, and describing some unlikely but worth while places for birding and other nature-appreciation related activities.

Happy Birding!
Jonathan Clark

p.s.
Beware of Sky Spiders!
lol