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| Sunset on Christmas at north end of Duck Lake |
Related posts: http://falloutbird2014.blogspot.com/2017/12/catahoula-nwr-autumn-2017.html
and http://falloutbird2014.blogspot.com/2017/09/catahoula-nwr-spring-summer-2017.html
*****
I birded these units of the refuge on the following dates:
12/13/17 - HQ Unit
12/25/17 - HQ Unit
12/30/17 - HQ Unit
The composite bird list is below, but first...
Habitat Shots:
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| Willow Lake - La Salle Parish, 12/7 |
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| Willow Lake Unit - La Salle Parish, 12/7 |
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| refuge loop at north end of Duck Lake - HQ Unit, La Salle Parish, 12/13 |
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| refuge loop along La Salle - Catahoula Parish line -- 12/25 |
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| Cowpen Bayou - HQ Unit, La Salle Parish, 12/30 |
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| refuge loop - HQ Unit, La Salle Parish, 12/30 |
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| nature trail - HQ Unit, La Salle Parish, 12/25 |
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| observation platform at east side of Duck Lake - HQ Unit, La Salle Parish, 12/13 |
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| American Goldfinches and Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - HQ Unit, 12/13 |
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| Snow Geese - Willow Lake Unit, 12/7 |
Greater White-fronted Goose -
Wood Duck -
Northern Shoveler -
Gadwall -
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| female Gadwall - HQ Unit, 12/30 |
Northern Pintail -
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| Northern Pintails - HQ Unit, 12/30 |
Ring-necked Duck -
duck sp.-
Neotropic Cormorant -
Double-crested Cormorant -
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| Double-crested Cormorants on Willow Lake - 12/7 |
American White Pelican -
Great Blue Heron -
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| Great Blue Heron - HQ Unit, 12/30 |
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| Great Egret - HQ Unit, Christmas around sunset |
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| immature White Ibises - HQ Unit, 12/30 |
Turkey Vulture -
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| Turkey Vulture - HQ Unit, 12/13 |
Sharp-shinned Hawk -
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| Sharp-shinned Hawk (photo taken through windshield) - HQ Unit, 12/13 |
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| Bald Eagle - HQ Unit, 12/30 |
Red-tailed Hawk -
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| Red-tailed Hawk - HQ Unit, 12/25 |
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| Killdeer on ice - HQ Unit, 12/13 |
Greater Yellowlegs -
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| Greater Yellowlegs - HQ Unit, 12/30 |
Mourning Dove -
Eastern Screech-Owl -
Barred Owl -
Belted Kingfisher -
Red-bellied Woodpecker -
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker -
Downy Woodpecker -
Hairy Woodpecker -
Northern Flicker -
Pileated Woodpecker -
American Kestrel -
Eastern Phoebe -
White-eyed Vireo - 2 on 12/13; 1 on 12/30. The 12/30 individual was found at same location as one of the 12/13 birds - nature trail just beyond trail head - and presumably same individual. In all instances they were singing, and sometimes calls, getting a visual eluded me. I occasionally find this species wintering in the area (La Salle & Catahoula Parishes), but usually about one every two or three winters. Including the one Tom Pollock and I found at Bushley Bayou Unit on 11/30, that's three individuals so far this winter. For me, it's jarring (in a good way, if that makes sense) to hear the song, which is an essential part of the soundtrack to spring and summer birding, ringing through gray winter woods.
Blue-headed Vireo -
Blue Jay -
American Crow -
crow sp. -
Carolina Chickadee -
Tufted Titmouse -
Brown Creeper -
Sedge Wren -
House Wren -
Winter Wren -
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| Winter Wren - HQ Unit, 12/25 |
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| Winter Wren - HQ Unit, 12/25 |
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| Winter Wren - HQ Unit, 12/30 |
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| Carolina Wren on walkway to observation platform - HQ Unit, 12/30 |
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| Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - HQ Unit, 12/13 |
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| Golden-crowned Kinglet - HQ Unit, 12/25 |
Eastern Bluebird -
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| female Eastern Bluebird - HQ Unit, 12/25 |
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| Hermit Thrush on cypress knee - HQ Unit, 12/30 |
Brown Thrasher -
Northern Mockingbird -
American Pipit -
Cedar Waxwing -
Orange-crowned Warbler -
Common Yellowthroat -
Pine Warbler -
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) -
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| Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) - HQ Unit, 12/25 |
Fox Sparrow - FOS 12/30/17
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| Fox Sparrow - HQ Unit, 12/30 |
White-throated Sparrow -
Savannah Sparrow -
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| Savannah Sparrow - Willow Lake Unit, 12/7 |
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| Song Sparrow (Dude, your perch is totally metal! lol) - HQ Unit, 12/13 |
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| Song Sparrow - HQ Unit, 12/25 |
Eastern Towhee -
Northern Cardinal -
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| Northern Cardinal - HQ Unit, 12/25 |
Rusty Blackbird - HQ Unit - 12/13 (2 seen at north end of Duck Lake, possibly more in "blackbird sp.", FOS, video and photos below), 12/30 (2 seen foraging along backwater area beside refuge loop near opposite end of lake, 2 or 3 more heard calling along that section of the loop.)
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| Rusty Blackbird - HQ Unit, 12/13 |
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| Rusty Blackbirds - HQ Unit, 12/13 - same ones in above video, one in above pic |
blackbird sp. -
American Goldfinch -
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| American Goldfinch - HQ Unit, 12/13 |
Our cold-blooded friends weren't very active, so there's little to report there.
Mammals seen included Eastern Fox Squirrel, River Otter, White-tailed Deer... and feral hogs. The hog problem on this part of the refuge waxes and wanes, and we had been in a phase where I wasn't seeing much hog sign. Recently, however, they've hit the HQ Unit hard -- rooting just about everywhere; saw a few of the culprits themselves. It's like the hungry horde shows up, pillages the place, and then either gets hunted/trapped out or moves on to the next place that's just waiting to be rooted and looted.
Deer video and pics below...
And...
The colors of the light as the sun went down on Christmas were better than any fireworks.
**A blog entry giving my 2017 bird year list is next up, on *edited*1/13/18 (link: http://falloutbird2014.blogspot.com/2018/01/bird-year-list-2017.html). The plan is to also do a series of 2017 year list posts for each of several other groups of organisms (mammals, herps, fishes, butterflies, wildflowers), over the course of the *edited* third week of the new year.**
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