Catahoula Parish Birding - Harrisonburg, Wallace Ridge, and Jonesville Areas -- 10/26/18

Ouachita River at Harrisonburg Landing Recreation Area

Related Posts:
   many of the same locations, on October 10 - https://falloutbird2014.blogspot.com/2018/10/parks-rec-catahoula-parish-10102018.html
 
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   On October 26, Beth Willis and I set out to bird a series of locations, essentially along the Ouachita River, in central Catahoula Parish. We started with a couple of sites around Harrisonburg and made our way through locations along LA-124, south to Jonesville. Though temperatures were pleasant it was generally too windy for happy birding, but we managed to make it work.
   We started birding at Harrisonburg Landing Recreation Area at 7:25 a.m. This locale is situated at the NW end of LA-922, on the east bank of the Ouachita River, just across and upstream from downtown Harrisonburg.

Ouachita River at Harrisonburg Landing

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Harrisonburg Landing Rec. Area

   This was the birdiest spot of the day: we tallied 35 species while walking around a few acres during an hour and forty-five minutes. The highlight was a slightly early Dark-eyed Junco. The bird was heard and glimpsed several times before we finally got a decent look at it.

Dark-eyed Junco

   Other signs of the season were our mutual FOS Swamp Sparrow (heard-only), a flock of Greater White-fronted Geese flying up the river, and a flyover flock of Long-billed Dowitchers (presumably Long-billed, based on how late it would be in the season to expect Short-billed).
   A couple of trends that we'd notice over the course of the day began here. There were swallows on the move, in this case Barn and Tree Swallows. We'd find Barn Swallows at all but one of the locations for which we made lists on this outing. There were two American Kestrels at this location -- the species would turn out to be a common sight this day.

two American Kestrels flying over the river

male American Kestrel perched on power line over the river

   Below is our complete bird list for this location. After that, we go across the river to Fort Beauregard.

Harrisonburg Landing Recreation Area:
7:25; 1 hr 45 min
estimated 5 acres
Conditions: 55 degrees F.; cloudy at start, sky becoming variable; light to moderate wind.

Greater White-fronted Goose - 25
Wood Duck - 1
Eurasian Collared-Dove - 3
Long-billed Dowitcher - ~15
Double-crested Cormorant - 2
Great Egret - 1
Turkey Vulture - 11
Red-shouldered Hawk - 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Downy Woodpecker - 1
Pileated Woodpecker - 1
Northern Flicker - 3
American Kestrel - 2
Eastern Phoebe - 2
Blue Jay - 11
American Crow - 2
Tree Swallow - 1
Barn Swallow - 3
swallow sp. - 8
Carolina Chickadee - 2
Carolina Wren - 6

Carolina Wren

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 1
Eastern Bluebird - 4
Brown Thrasher - 3
Northern Mockingbird - 5

Northern Mockingbirds

Northern Mockingbird

Chipping Sparrow - 1
Dark-eyed Junco (presumably Slate-colored) - 1
White-throated Sparrow - 4
Swamp Sparrow - 1
Eastern Towhee - 3
Red-winged Blackbird - 1
Pine Warbler - 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler - 4
Northern Cardinal - 6
Indigo Bunting - 1

   Fort Beauregard Historical Park is located off the north side of LA-124 at the north edge of Harrisonburg. The terrain is pine-covered hills rising up from the town. We spent over an hour walking along Memorial Drive and off among the open pines.

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looking SE over Harrisonburg to the Ouachita River alluvial plain

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   Small arboreal/land bird detection by sight was getting difficult as the wind picked up. We were hoping to find Red-breasted Nuthatch here, so I played the audio of their call several times. We got a response from one that called back several times from pretty close, but we were unable to spot it in the trees. It (assuming it was the same bird) was heard later, having moved on to our southeast.
   While at this location I spotted a Red-tailed Hawk circling overhead that looked to be a "dark morph" individual -- all dark brown body, above and below, but with reddish tail. The bird was pretty high up and the light angle not great, but I looked it over with binoculars as best as I could and snapped a few poor quality photos.

the dark Red-tailed Hawk -- While watching it circle, the sun would sometimes hit it's underside and you could see that the coloring below appeared to be brown, not white or white with brown markings. With the POSSIBLE exception of this image, you can't really tell this in the photos, where the bird just looks like a dark silhouette.  

apparent dark morph Red-tailed Hawk

   I wish I were more knowledgeable about the Red-tailed Hawk's variable appearance!
Also at this location I spotted the first of the day's two Chimney Swifts -- it's starting to get late in the season for them.
   Below is our complete bird list for this location. After that, we go south to Meyers Bend Road.

Fort Beauregard Historical Park:
9:17 a.m.; 1 hr 17 min
~0.2 miles on foot
Conditions: cool; sky variable; windy

Chimney Swift - 1
Black Vulture - 2
Turkey Vulture - 2
Red-tailed Hawk (apparent dark morph - "Harlan's"??) - 1
Red-headed Woodpecker - 2

Red-headed Woodpecker

Pileated Woodpecker - 1
Eastern Phoebe - 1
Blue Jay - 2
American Crow - 2
Barn Swallow - 1
Red-breasted Nuthatch - 1
Brown-headed Nuthatch - 1
Carolina Wren - 3
Golden-crowned Kinglet - 1
Brown Thrasher - 1
Northern Mockingbird - 2
White-throated Sparrow - 5
Eastern Towhee - 2
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) - 1
Northern Cardinal - 2

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   After Harrisonburg, we headed south toward Jonesville on LA-124. This takes us through river plain farm country. The first of several side roads that we birded along the way was Meyers Bend Road. This, like all the others we'd go down, runs east from the highway, and like all the other except Tew Lake Road, it goes to the Ouachita River, and turns to follow the river.
   There weren't a whole lot of birds out, except for a good many Barn Swallows and a flock of European Starlings. We did note, however, that the habit just begs to be birded later in the fall-winter season (and in easier conditions for bird detection) -- it looks very promising for a variety of sparrows, as well as pipits and other winter goodies.

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Meyer's Bend Road runs along the south side of Bushley Bayou...

...and then along the Ouachita River

there's a lot of pasture and field habitat and the expected weedy ditches and wooded property boundaries

Ouachita River

We went as far as the church, before turning around and returning to the highway. Here's the bird list for this location, then its down the highway to Routon Road.

Meyers Bend Road:
10:41 a.m.; 44 minutes
2.4 miles by vehicle, with a few stops
Conditions: mild; partly cloudy; windy

Chimney Swift - 1
Anhinga - 1
Great Egret - 2
Cattle Egret - 2
Turkey Vulture - 4
Red-tailed Hawk - 1
American Kestrel - 1
Blue Jay - 2
American Crow - 30
Barn Swallow - 30
Carolina Chickadee - 2
Carolina Wren - 3
Eastern Bluebird - 3
European Starling - 80
Common Grackle - 10
Northern Cardinal - 6

    At Wallace Ridge, Routon Road turns east, and we birded along the first mile-and-a-third, taking us to where the road forks by the river. Ditto on this being promising winter birding habitat.

There are three low "Indian Mounds" on private property beside the road.

a little bayou that connects to Tew Lake

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Here's the bird list for this location, then its on to the other side of the lake for Tew Lake Road.

Routon Road:
11:29 a.m.; 25 minutes
1.3 miles by vehicle, with a few stops
Conditions: mild; partly cloudy; windy

Mourning Dove - 1
Turkey Vulture - 8
Red-shouldered Hawk - 1

Red-shouldered Hawk

Belted Kingfisher - 1
Red-headed Woodpecker - 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1
American Kestrel - 1

American Kestrel

Eastern Phoebe - 1
Blue Jay - 1
American Crow - 1
Barn Swallow - 4
Carolina Chickadee - 1
Carolina Wren - 3
Eastern Bluebird - 5
European Starling - 50
White-throated Sparrow - 1
Northern Cardinal - 4

   There just about aren't any places to stop along Tew Lake Road that aren't too close to homes or camps, so we just made a casual run down there to see what was around.

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Here's the list of what we could detect. After that, its south to Jonesville Landing Recreation Area.

Tew Lake Road:
11:57 a.m.; 12 minutes
0.9 miles
Conditions: mild; partly cloudy; windy

Great Egret - 3
Loggerhead Shrike - 1
American Crow - 1
Carolina Wren - 2
Northern Mockingbird - 2
White-throated Sparrow - 3
Northern Cardinal - 1

   Jonesville Landing Recreation Area is situated on the north bank of Little River, beside the LA-124 bridge. Turn east off of LA-124 onto LA-3264 and the entrance to the rec. area is on the right.

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   Between wind and human activity (vehicles coming and going) we didn't detect many birds. Here's the list of what we found. After that, its back up LA-124 a little ways to the day's final birding locale, Patton Road.

Jonesville Landing Recreation Area:
12:14 p.m.; 18 minutes
~2 acres
Conditions: mild; partly cloudy; windy

White Ibis - 4 - group of adults flying east/northeast
Black Vulture - 1
Turkey Vulture - 2
Red-tailed Hawk - 1

Red-tailed Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

crow sp. - 1
Barn Swallow - 2
Northern Mockingbird - 1
European Starling - 1

   Patton Road (shown on some maps as "Patten Church Road"), runs from LA-124 east to the church by the river, where the road splits, Patton continuing left/north. We only birded this first mile between highway and church. Though it was the middle of the day, windy, and we didn't have much time to poke around, we think this would be another great locale for winter birding (really any time the wind is calmer!). Beth birded here a few years ago, and found it to be quite birdy. Though the habitat has changed in some spots, it should be good.

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   On the power line along the highway, a few poles south of Patton Road, was a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher. There was a Loggerhead Shrike and yet another Am. Kestrel along the first stretch of the road.

Loggerhead Shrike

We heard a Song Sparrow and saw Wood Ducks at the tree-lined coulee/canal/ditch/thingy. There were more swallows swooping and swarming in the fields by the church and out over the river beyond the trees.
   Below is our list for this location. After that, there's a run down of some of the other things found on this outing.

Patton Road ("Patten Church Road"):
12:42 p.m.; 48 minutes
1 mile
Conditions: mild; partly cloudy; windy

Wood Duck - 6

Wood Ducks

Turkey Vulture - 2
American Kestrel - 1
Eastern Phoebe - 2
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher - 1
Loggerhead Shrike - 1

Loggerhead Shrike

Tree Swallow - 2
Barn Swallow - 15
swallow sp. - ~10, possibly including Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Carolina Wren - 1
European Starling - 1
Song Sparrow - 1

   Butterflies...
   Checkered White was the butterfly highlight of the day, and a new addition to my butterfly life list. It was seen at Patton Road by junction with LA-124. Unfortunately I was only able to get this one poor quality photo and we didn't have a chance to admire the butterfly.

That's an okay picture of those grass stalks...

     Butterflies were actually fairly numerous, but most of them were not out flying around in the open. With the wind like it was, many were hunkered down in weedy areas with lots of flowers, nectaring or just hanging on.

Gulf Fritillaries and Common Buckeyes -- Routon Road

An exception were the migrating Monarchs. We saw several, which were all on the move. All but one, I believe, were up high, and looking more like far-away hawks than butterflies, at first glance.
  Butterfly species seen that day included Common/White Checkered Skipper...

Common/White Checkered-Skipper -- Fort Beauregard Historical Park

...Checkered White, Sleepy Orange, Cloudless Sulphur, Little Yellow, Monarch, Gulf Fritillary (which were probably the most numerous butterfly of the day), 'Astyanax' Red-spotted Purple, and Common Buckeye (and maybe others).

   Additional bird species: Great Blue Heron. Between leaving Jonesville Landing and going to Patton Rd, we took a quick cruise through the Trinity community, by the confluence of the Little and Ouachita/Black Rivers north of Jonesville.

looking up the Ouachita River at Trinity, just before it's joined by the Tensas and Little and becomes the Black River

A couple of Great Blue Herons and a Great Egret chased each other from the far shore and flew up river.

   Mammals were few and far between (a few Eastern Fox Squirrels, I believe were all) as were Herps (Blanchard's Cricket Frog seen; Pond Slider). Wildflowers were of a narrow assortment -- Brazilian Verbena, "boneset" of some sort, Cotton Morning-Glory, White Morning-Glory, goldenrod sp. (Solidago), groundcherry sp. (), False Garlic, Blue Mistflower, were among those seen.

   It was an enjoyable day of birding - wind and all - and we agreed that we should revisit these locations again as the fall and winter season progresses.
   As always, be careful when birding along the road - don't be a road hazard! And, of course, avoid birding close to homes or on private property. Always good to keep these things in mind when birding along public roadways.

Peace;
Jonathan
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Loose Alliance Field Trip to Kisatchie NF / Other Grant Parish Observations -- 10/20/2018

Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) at the Catahoula Hummingbird and Butterfly Garden, Kisatchie NF, Grant Parish

Related Posts:
- Loose Alliance trip to same location in May - http://falloutbird2014.blogspot.com/2018/05/loose-alliance-field-trip-to-kisatchie.html

- Loose Alliance September trip to KNF in Natchitoches Parish w/ links to previous trips - https://falloutbird2014.blogspot.com/2018/10/loose-alliance-field-trip-to-kisatchie.html

- some other visits to same location - https://falloutbird2014.blogspot.com/2017/12/kisatchie-nf-and-catahoula-hummingbird.html

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   The Loose Alliance bird club of Cenla October field trip was to the Catahoula Hummingbird and Butterfly Garden and environs along Work Center Road in Kisatchie National Forest. This is located just south of LA-8, east of Bentley. The four participants were Connie Guillory, Jay Huner, Arthur Liles, and Jonathan Clark. Conditions were overcast, light breeze, temperatures in the upper 60's Fahrenheit.
   We began by walking the garden.

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At the garden, there was a nice mix of winter arrivals, transient migrants or lingering summer birds, and year-round residents. There were, however, no hummingbirds. Pine Warblers were in foraging flock mode. The local Red-cockaded Woodpeckers were in the pines bordering the garden.

Red-cockaded Woodpecker at Work Center Road

   After that we walked the trail along the edge of the open pine woods SW of the garden, then crossed the grassy swath and birded back up Work Center Road to the garden, for a total of a little less than half a mile.

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   Below is the bird list for this location. After the group parted ways, I made a couple of other stops in Grant Parish, which will be covered after the list for this location.

Catahoula Hummingbird & Butterfly Garden and Work Center Road Area:
October 20, 2018
7:30 a.m. - 9:40 a.m.
4 observers
~0.4 miles

Chimney Swift - 1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1
Downy Woodpecker - 2
Red-cockaded Woodpecker - 3
Pileated Woodpecker - 1
Northern Flicker - 2
American Kestrel - 1
Eastern Wood-Pewee - 1
Eastern Phoebe - 1
Blue Jay - 1
Carolina Chickadee - 1
Brown-headed Nuthatch - 4
House Wren - 1

House Wren

Carolina Wren - 4
Eastern Bluebird - 3
Brown Thrasher - 2
Northern Mockingbird - 1
House Finch - 1
Bachman's Sparrow - 1
Chipping Sparrow - 6
Eastern Towhee - 2
Pine Warbler - 10
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) - 10

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Northern Cardinal - 3
Indigo Bunting - 1
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After leaving the hummingbird garden, I paid a visit to the Ward 8 Recreation complex at the west edge of Pollock. I've driven past this location many times, but this was my first time to stop there.

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Though not very birdy at the time I was there (blame the weather) I lucked into a couple of the day's highlights.
   While standing around on the gravel drive at the ball fields I heard the wild cries of a Greater Yellowlegs. Looking up, I saw the bird flying overhead, going west, calling a couple of more times as it went by. A common enough bird, but not something I was expecting to see at a park surrounded by piney woods. Maybe there are some suitable ponds nearby. Shortly after that I spotted my FOS Northern Harrier. The hawk was headed southwest.

Northern Harrier - FOS

   Below is the complete list for my visit to this location. After that is an account of my final Grant Parish stop of the day, which was back in the Kisatchie NF.

Ward 8 Recreation Complex (Pollock):
10/20/18
9:51 a.m; 53 minutes
0.3 miles on foot

Chimney Swift - 4

Chimney Swift

Greater Yellowlegs - 1
Northern Harrier - 1
Red-tailed Hawk - 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1
Northern Flicker - 2
Blue Jay - 3
American Crow - 4
Carolina Chickadee - 3
Brown-headed Nuthatch - 2
Carolina Wren - 2
Northern Mockingbird - 1
European Starling - 3
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) - 2
Northern Cardinal - 3
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   After leaving Pollock I decided to head down Hardwater Lake Road, which turns east off LA-8 at Fishville. I was undecided as to whether I wanted to seriously try birding along the road, go down to the lake to see what birds might be around the muddy boat launch, or maybe try birding a side road that I'd thought about doing before but never got around to. I chose option C, and birded National Forest Road 197.
   NF-197 runs for just over a mile, starting at Hardwater Lake Road approximately a mile east of Fishville and going north to a dead end just past the Big Creek primitive camping site. I don't believe there's a sign naming the road (NF-197), so check out a map if you plan to visit the location.

NF-197 just after turning off Hardwater Lake Road

   The habitat is various stages of piney woods in hilly terrain, ending down at the edge of the hardwood creek bottoms of Big Creek. This turned out to be the birdiest locale of the day.
   I parked on the side of the road shortly after turning onto the road and walked about 0.15 miles down to the bottom of the hill. Along this stretch I got my FOS Hermit Thrush and my FOS Blue-headed Vireo and found a nice woodland mixed flock of warblers, chickadees, titmice, etc. An Eastern Screech-Owl responded to my imitations of it's call while I was trying to coax the thrush into view.

Hermit Thrush - FOS

   I drove down to where the pipeline crosses NF-197 and got out for another short walk along the road.

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In the distance I heard the faint 'yant-yant' of a Red-breasted Nuthatch. This is shaping up to be an epic "irruption year" for this species, so I wasn't too surprised. However, their call is sometimes imitated by mimics, such as Blue Jay, so I played a recording of the Red-breasted Nuthatch call to see how the bird responded. The birds -- it turns out there were two of them together -- showed up at the road in short order. I stopped the audio and got good binocular looks at each of them and snapped a few (poor quality) photos of one before they moved on through the woods.

Red-breasted Nuthatch

   A couple of more stops along the road yielded the usual stuff -- Tufted Titmice, RC Kinglet, Pileated Woodpecker, and so on.

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Pileated Woodpecker

  Then, at one stop I lucked into a good concentration of birds again, including another apparent mixed flock of foraging warblers, chickadees, and titmice. My screech-owl imitations to try to get the birds into view elicited responses from two more actual Eastern Screech-Owls. A Sharp-shinned Hawk came circling over at one point, apparently checking on what all the fuss was about in hopes of snagging a meal.

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While at this location, in the middle of all these birds, I heard a flyover calling that sounded to me like the Pine Siskin's "skee-aw" call. Now, it's early in the season for this species, I'm rusty not having heard one since the spring, and there were lots of other birds around, so I could easily have been mistaken.
   My final stop was near the turn off to the camp site, approaching the end of the road.

camp site, turn left; end of road, dead ahead

I walked the campground and the road's dead end at the bottom of the hill. The campground itself is simply a little area cleared of underbrush under majestic oaks just before the drop off to the creek bottoms. From here I heard a Barred Owl calling off in the hardwoods.

camp site

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   Below is the complete list for this location. After that is a rundown of some of the non-avian stuff observed throughout these Grant Parish ramblings.

NF-197 / Big Creek Campground:
10/20/18
10:58 a.m; 2 hrs and 18 min
1.2 miles (including about 0.25 miles on foot)

duck sp. - 30
Turkey Vulture - 3
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1
Eastern Screech-Owl - 3
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - 1

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Red-bellied Woodpecker - 2
Downy Woodpecker - 2
Pileated Woodpecker - 1

Northern Flicker - 1
Eastern Phoebe - 1
Blue-headed Vireo - 1
Blue Jay - 4
American Crow - 9
Carolina Chickadee - 5
Tufted Titmouse - 5
Red-breasted Nuthatch - 2

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Brown-headed Nuthatch - 1
Carolina Wren - 10
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 2
Hermit Thrush - 2

Hermit Thrush

Brown Thrasher - 2
Pine Warbler - 19

male Pine Warbler

male Pine Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) - 3
Northern Cardinal - 7
passerine sp. - 1

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   A few things besides birds...

Butterflies:
   It was a cool, cloudy day, so of course there weren't may butterflies out and about. By late morning, there were a few stirring, though. Species included Common/White Checkered Skipper, Clouded Skipper, Little Yellow, Gulf Fritillary, Common Buckeye, Pearl Crescent.

Clouded Skipper -- NF-197

Common Buckeye -- NF-197

   ...a couple of moth pics...

moth sp. TBD -- butterfly garden 

moth sp. TBD -- NF-197

 ...some wildflowers...

blue sage sp. (Salvia) -- near Work Center Road

beeblossom sp. (Gaura/Oenothera) -- near Work Center Road

beeblossom sp. (Gaura/Oenothera) -- NF-197

beeblossom (Gaura/Oenothera) -- NF-197

false foxglove sp. (Agalinis) -- NF-197

some type of "St. John's Wort" or "St. Andrew's Cross" sp. (Hypericum) -- NF-197

Lobelia sp. (L. puberula?)  -- NF-197

Lobelia sp. (L. puberula?) -- NF-197

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   On subsequent visits to Catahoula Hummingbird and Butterfly Garden since October 20, Connie Guillory reports finding multiple Red-breasted Nuthatches, a Winter Wren, and passing Palm Warblers at that location.
   Both Ward 8 Rec. and NF-197 -- my new birding spots from this trip -- are worth revisiting, and I'm especially looking forward to checking out NF-197 during the Spring and early Summer. That area looks like a great place to find most of our breeding neotropical wood warblers and many other neotrop "summer birds", as well as the kind of place one can find a variety of interesting wildflowers, do some butterflying or herping, etc.

...the end...

Peace;
Jonathan
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