Catahoula NWR HQ Unit, 11/18/14

North end of Duck Lake on a frosty November morning.

Chipping Sparrow seen along south part of refuge loop.

This season's theme of frosty cold mornings continues with this post. I would end up driving the entire 9-mile refuge loop, as I sometimes do, and generating a decent list and a few nice photos to boot.
   There were some woodland passerines to be seen and heard between the entrance and the lake, one mile in. Among them were American Goldfinch, FOS for the location.
   There was decent duck diversity at the north end of Duck Lake where I did my traditional stand-around/walk-around stop. Among them was the continuing Ruddy Duck, hanging out in the very northern edge of the lake as usual. While sifting though a group of Mallards, it was nice to see a few American Wigeon. These handsome ducks - the males decked out in buff, green, and white, the females more subdued but reflecting the same pattern as the male - never seem to be among the more abundant duck species, but they are fairly reliable at this location and always one of my favorites to pick out among the groups of ducks
on the lake.

Mostly Mallards, but a careful scan reveals American Wigeon, Green-winged Teal, and Ruddy Duck as well.

Mallards were likely the most abundant species of duck present, though many very distant ducks, especially those in tight rafts, were recorded simply as "duck sp.". There were likely more individuals of most of the documented duck species present among these distant groups, especially Ring-necked Duck, Northern Pintail, and Green-winged Teal. Perhaps other species such as Gadwall were overlooked in the distant groups.

Mallards and American Avocets in north end of Duck Lake

   A small flock of American Avocets, easy to spot in their elegant white-and-black winter plumage, were hanging around the north end of the lake, sometimes flying across the road to the shallow water on the north side of the levee. I never tire of watching their group foraging behavior; heads down, bills being swiped through the water, walking forward as a group, perhaps as a coordinated effort. It seems likely that the group's movements stir up the tiny aquatic organisms that are the avocets' primary food source.
   The entry of American Avocet was flagged by eBird as late for this area. They do stay around to that time and later, but likely aren't recorded in many other locations in the area this late in the season.

American Avocets in flight.

Anhinga against a backdrop of Cowpen Bayou.

   Continuing west to Cowpen Bayou, then south along the west side of the loop, which parallels the east side of the bayou, I kept my ears open for the various calls one hears from typical woodland mixed flocks. I did find some with many of the typical species such as Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned Kinglets, Blue-headed Vireo, Brown Creeper, Yellow-rumped Warbler, and woodpeckers such as Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. The overall numbers of Yellow-rumped Warbler were still low on this date.
   Whenever taking this part of the loop, I always make a point to drive slowly with one eye regularly checking out the (typically partly obscured) Cowpen Bayou for Anhinga. Though hard to find in this region of the state during the wintery parts of the year, they are reliably found each winter along this stretch of the bayou. I ended up counting two, one posing for a few photos at one of the few places with a clear view from the road.

Anhinga at Cowpen Bayou

   While stopped along this stretch of the loop I first heard then saw a nice large flock of Common Grackle winging their way east. They were coming from the direction of Catahoula Lake, which lay about a mile to my west over the bayou and through the woods. The long string of raucously calling blackbirds took some time to pass the narrow corridor of open sky along the road. I did a rough count as they flowed past like a great undulating ribbon, and came up with approximately 4,600, though I tend to aim for erring on the low side with tricky counts such as this. There must be massive roosts of not only Common Grackles, but also other blackbird species in trees and brush at Catahoula Lake as they are often seen, (sometimes counting over ten thousand) when birding in areas surrounding Catahoula Lake during the winter and can be seen going towards the lake in the late afternoon, and coming from the lake in the morning.

Chipping Sparrow,
one of a flock seen along south part of the refuge loop.

   As I headed up the east side of the loop, taking me more-or-less north toward the refuge entrance, I picked up a flock of Chipping Sparrows, a Pied-billed Grebe, and a very cooperative Red-shouldered Hawk that allowed me to take a number of photos at fairly close range.

Red-shouldered Hawk poses for photos
along south part of refuge loop.

Also a couple of Greater Yellowlegs at the slough by the northern most of what I refer to as "the three big culverts".

Greater Yellowlegs,
one of two seen at northernmost of the "three big culverts".

A glimpse of Duck Lake from the north "big culvert" area.

   Though more often than not these I do not take the entire refuge loop, its always worth the drive when I do. This morning's trip seems to have given us a pretty good sampling of the variety and relative abundance of the species found on the HQ unit at that time.
   A complete list of the species recorded that day is below.
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Ruddy Duck taking a break,
north end of Duck Lake.

eBird location name: Catahoula NWR -- Headquarters Unit

Parish: La Salle

11/18/14

6:49 am to 9:16 am

Protocol: Traveling, 9.2 miles

Conditions: 29 to 36 degrees f., cloudy and mostly cloudy then varying degrees of mixed cloud and sun, calm to light breeze.

Snow Goose (both "white" and "blue" morphs)

Ring-necked Duck (male)

Snow Goose - 130
Wood Duck - 2
American Wigeon - 18
Mallard - 125
Northern Shoveler - 22
Northern Pintail - 27
Green-winged Teal - 20
Ring-necked Duck - 11
Ruddy Duck - 1
duck sp. - 150

Pied-billed Grebe - 1

Pied-billed Grebe

Double-crested Cormorant - 1
Anhinga - 2
American White Pelican - 14

Great Blue Heron - 8
Great Egret - 6
Snowy Egret - 2
White Ibis - 1

Red-shouldered Hawk

Accipiter sp. - 1
Bald Eagle - 1 (juvenile/immature)
Red-shouldered Hawk - 2
Red-tailed Hawk - 1

Greater Yellowlegs

American Avocet - 15
Killdeer - 1
Greater Yellowlegs - 2
Long-billed Dowitcher - 1

Mourning Dove - 5

Red-bellied Woodpecker - 7
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - 2
Downy Woodpecker - 2
Northern Flicker - 5
Pileated Woodpecker - 1

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (male).

Eastern Phoebe - 13

Blue-headed Vireo - 1

American Crow - 5

Carolina Chickadee - 15
Tufted Titmouse - 6

Brown Creeper - 1

Carolina Wren - 7

Golden-crowned Kinglet - 8
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 6

Eastern Bluebird - 1
Hermit Thrush - 1
American Robin - 10

American Pipit - 2

Yellow-rumped Warbler ("Myrtle") - 8

Chipping Sparrow - 14
Savannah Sparrow - 5
Song Sparrow - 3
Swamp Sparrow - 1
White-throated Sparrow - 5
Dark-eyed Junco - 2

Northern Cardinal - 12

Red-winged Blackbird - 7
Common Grackle - 4600

American Goldfinch - 4

passerine sp. - 50 (Flock of small, apparently sparrow-like passerines seen as silhouettes in flight while driving. Stopped and found Chipping Sparrows nearby. The pass. sp. could have been more Chippers.)

Greater Yellowlegs and its reflection