Sicily Island Hills & Harrisonburg Area -- 1/11/19

Red-breasted Nuthatch at the Rock Falls trail in the Sicily Island Hills

Some Related Posts:
Same locations on...
 - August 3, 2018: https://falloutbird2014.blogspot.com/2018/08/sicily-island-hills-catahoula-parish.html
 - Loose Alliance trip April 28, 2018: https://falloutbird2014.blogspot.com/2018/05/loose-alliance-field-trip-to-sicily.html
 - March 27, 2018: https://falloutbird2014.blogspot.com/2018/04/hills-and-high-water-catahoula-parish.html
 - w/ butterflying group, March 17: https://falloutbird2014.blogspot.com/2018/03/sicily-island-hills-harrisonburg.html
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   Judging from the weather forecast for January 11, 2019, it looked like it would be a beautiful morning to bird, so I made a trip to the JC "Sonny" Gilbert WMA (aka Sicily Island Hills WMA) in the Sicily Island Hills of northern Catahoula Parish. This is one of my favorite places to get outdoors, and under a bluebird sky with the air nice and chill, I was not disappointed.
   I birded in the southern part of the WMA, accessed from LA-8 a few miles NE of Harrisonburg. I birded along the main road, going north as far as the Rock Falls trail head. I made numerous stops along the way, and took short walks along the road.

some habitat shots...

a side road that I stopped at and picked up a few birds -- There's a section along the route that was partly logged a few years ago. 

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Rock Falls trail head

The steep descent begins...

I finished with a walk down the Rock Falls Trail as far as the eponymous waterfall.

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Rock Falls

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foot bridge and Rock Creek upstream from the falls

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   In the past I've always visited the SI Hills in the spring and summer so it was nice to sample the winter birdlife here. I was hoping I'd find a few species that I'd not found at this location before. Two that I specifically sought were Purple Finch and Red-breasted Nuthatch, as it is an irruption year for these winter visitors. A short ways in, once the road levels out on the first high ridge, I stopped and found a flock of four Purple Finches -- two female and two male.

Purple Finch location

As one of the species I specifically wanted to find, I had the playback for Purple Finch queued, so when I heard the call of a flyover, I played the audio. Soon not one, but four had settled into the trees over my head -- beautiful to look at, even if the angle was cruddy for getting pictures.

female Purple Finch

male Purple Finch

After a few minutes without the audio, they moved on through the understory.
   Another species I hoped to find was Red-breasted Nuthatch. At the sign-in kiosk I played Red-breasted Nuthatch audio while I was filling out the form, and one of the birds came in calling. I got good looks at him, but not pictures. At another spot further along the road I'd see three more of these nuthatches together, associated with a nice mixed flock.

the spot where the three RB Nuthatches were

There were two more RB Nuthatches at yet another locale. Those two were responding to playback, and were heard but not seen.

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Finally, using playback again at the Rock Falls Trail I saw two more RB Nuthatches appear with a mixed flock, excitedly searching for the source of the call. I also did some screech-owl imitations that brought the other little birds in for a look. Below is video of one of the Red-breasted Nuthatches at the trail.

   Personally, I try not to overuse playback so as not to harass the birds more than necessary. It is, however, a useful tool when searching for specific species of birds or bringing them in to be documented or more accurately counted.
   Other winter birds I'd not seen in the Sicily Island Hills before that I found this day were Winter Wren, Brown Creeper, Eastern Phoebe, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, and Greater White-fronted Goose (flyover flock).

   Below is the list of birds for Sicily Island Hills that morning. After that are accounts of a couple of other locations I visited in the Harrisonburg area that day.

Sicily Island Hills (JC "Sonny" Gilbert WMA)
7:55 a.m.; 4 hrs 24 mins; 2.6 miles
Conditions: 37 - 47 degrees F.; sunny; light breeze

Greater White-fronted Goose - 54
Black Vulture - 2
Turkey Vulture - 4
Red-shouldered Hawk - 1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - 3
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 9
Downy Woodpecker - 4
Pileated Woodpecker - 4
Northern Flicker - 1
Eastern Phoebe - 3
Blue Jay - 5
American Crow - 6
Carolina Chickadee - 16
Tufted Titmouse - 20

Tufted Titmouse -- Rock Falls Trail

Red-breasted Nuthatch - 8

Red-breasted Nuthatch -- Rock Falls Trail

Brown Creeper - 1
Winter Wren - 1
Carolina Wren - 17
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 7
Eastern Bluebird - 2
Hermit Thrush - 7

Hermit Thrush -- Rock Falls Trail

American Robin - 2
Cedar Waxwing - 16
Purple Finch - 4

female Purple Finch

male Purple Finch, same for video below

American Goldfinch - 6
White-throated Sparrow - 3
Pine Warbler - 4
Yellow-rumped Warbler - 3
Northern Cardinal - 6

   After departing Sicily Island Hills, I made a stop at the boat launch on Bayou Louis ("Louie"), situated just down the road that turns south at the east end of the LA-8 bridge over said bayou.

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This is southwest of the entrance to Sicily Island Hills, and northeast of Harrisonburg. This proved to be a pretty birdy little spot, with 23 species detected in 45 minutes while walking around at the boat launch sight and the short (0.1 mile or so) stretch of dirt road back to the highway.
   Below is the bird list for this stop.

Bayou Louis Boat Launch
12:24 p.m.; 45 minutes; 0.1 mile on foot
Conditions: 56 degrees F.; sunny; light breeze

Great Egret - 1
Turkey Vulture - 1
Red-tailed Hawk - 2
Belted Kingfisher - 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 2
Downy Woodpecker - 1
Pileated Woodpecker - 1
Eastern Phoebe - 1
Blue Jay - 4
Fish Crow - 1
Carolina Chickadee - 1
Tufted Titmouse - 1
House Wren - 1
Carolina Wren - 2
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 1
Northern Mockingbird - 1
Cedar Waxwing - x
American Goldfinch - 1
White-throated Sparrow - 4
Orange-crowned Warbler - 1
Pine Warbler - 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) - 2
Northern Cardinal - 3

   After Bayou Louis I made one more birding stop. I can't pass through the area without stopping at the Harrisonburg Landing Recreation Area. This is located at the NW end of LA-922, a fraction of a mile north of LA-8. The rec. area sits along the east bank of the Ouachita River, across and just upstream from Harrisonburg.

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The river was high, though not quite as high as I saw it during the spring 2018 flood.

Ouachita River, 1/11/19

   Below is the list of birds for this stop.

Harrisonburg Landing Recreation Area
1:14 p.m.; 55 mins; ~5 acres
Conditions: 56 - 57 degrees F.; sunny; light breeze

Turkey Vulture - 4
Red-tailed Hawk - 1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - 1
Red-headed Woodpecker - 1

Red-headed Woodpecker

Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1
Pileated Woodpecker - 2
Eastern Phoebe - 3
Blue Jay - 4
Carolina Chickadee - 1
Carolina Wren - 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 3
Northern Mockingbird - 3
White-throated Sparrow - 13
Song Sparrow - 1
Swamp Sparrow - 1
Eastern Towhee - 3
Orange-crowned Warbler - 2
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) - 2
Northern Cardinal - 2

   Also...
   While passing through Harrisonburg about 7:46 that morning I saw a flock of roughly a dozen blackbirds that I felt confident at the time were Rusty Blackbirds. They were flying beside the west end of the LA-8 Ouachita River bridge. However, because of the fleeting nature of the sighing, because I was driving, and the possibility that their perceived coloring involved a trick of the light, I now have some doubt as to their i.d. The were definitely blackbirds though, and my impression was that they were Euphagus-types, based on shape, so Rusty seems likely.

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Catahoula NWR -- December, 2018

female Canvasback -- 12/21 -- Headquarters Unit

Related Posts:
link to fall 2018 CNWR post, which has links to other 2018 CNWR posts: https://falloutbird2014.blogspot.com/2018/12/catahoula-nwr-autumn-2018.html

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   During this December the only part of Catahoula National Wildlife Refuge that I birded was the Headquarters Unit. Below is the list of birds from those visits, with numbers of individuals from each date. First, some habitat shots and details for each date.

entrance area

woods along refuge loop

woods along north part of loop approaching lake

north end of Duck Lake

Cowpen Bayou and west leg of refuge loop

woods along west leg of loop

near one of the big culverts along south section of loop

gated road to east side of Duck Lake / woods along east leg of refuge loop

east side of Duck Lake

looking south along east leg of refuge loop where it runs along parish line south of sign-in board

Headquarters Unit

December 14
8:41 a.m.; 6 hrs 11 minutes; 9.4 miles
49-51 degrees F.; sky mixed/variable, then overcast; light SW wind; water level marker at N end of Duck Lake showed 36.2 feet
FOS: Canvasback, Redhead, Lesser Scaup, Field Sparrow

December 21
9:14 a.m.; 4 hrs 16 min; 2.8 miles
47-55 degrees F.; windy, NW wind; clear; water level marker 36.8' and rising

December 24
12:20 p.m.; 3 hrs 37 mins; 2.3 miles
56-62 degrees F.; clear; light breeze; water level marker 37.4' and rising

'x' = present, but number of individuals not determined/recorded

Snow Goose - 0, 971, x
Greater White-fronted Goose - 0, 17, x
Wood Duck - 0, 2, 2
Blue-winged Teal - 0, 3, 0
Northern Shoveler - 0, 0, 5
Gadwall - 22, 9, 0
Mallard - 15, 300, x
Northern Pintail - 7, 500, x

Northern Pintails (mostly) - 12/21

Green-winged Teal - 0, 50, 0
Canvasback - 13, 6, 2
   (video: female Canvasback foraging - 12/21)

female Canvasback - 12/21

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male Canvasback - 12/14

Redhead - 1, 0, 0
Ring-necked Duck - 2, 20, 0
Lesser Scaup - 1, 0, 0
duck sp. - 235, 2000, 2000
Mourning Dove - 0, 1, 1
Double-crested Cormorant - 64, 55, 1
Great Blue Heron - 3, 2, 0

Great Blue Heron -- 12/21

Great Blue Heron - 12/21

Great Egret - 5, 1, 0
Black Vulture - 1, 4, 6
Turkey Vulture - 25, 7, 33

Turkey Vultures - 12/14

Turkey Vulture - 12/14

   (videos: Turkey Vultures - 12/14)

   (Turkey Vultures and Black Vultures -- 12/24)

Northern Harrier - 0, 1, 0
Bald Eagle - 0, 2, 0
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1, 0, 0
Red-shouldered Hawk - 1, 0, 0
Red-tailed Hawk - 3, 1, 1
Belted Kingfisher - 3, 0, 1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - 3, 0, 3
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 18, 7, 7
Downy Woodpecker - 12, 2, 5
Pileated Woodpecker - 4, 1, 1
Northern Flicker - 7, 1, 2
Peregrine Falcon - 0, 1, 0

Peregrine Falcon - 12/21

Peregrine Falcon

Eastern Phoebe - 11, 5, 6

Eastern Phoebe - 12/24

Eastern Phoebe - 12/21

Blue-headed Vireo - 4, 0, 0
Blue Jay - 6, 2, 2
American Crow - 17, 6, 17
Carolina Chickadee - 20, 8, 8
Tufted Titmouse - 12, 1, 4
Winter Wren - 1, 0, 0
Brown Creeper - 0, 0, 2
   (video: Brown Creeper -- 12/24)

Brown Creeper

Carolina Wren - 23, 12, 7
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 4, 0, 1
Golden-crowned Kinglet - 11, 2, 4
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 23, 7, 6

Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 12/14

Eastern Bluebird - 0, 2, 2
Hermit Thrush - 8, 1, 5
American Robin - 10, 0, 10
Northern Mockingbird - 1, 0, 0
Cedar Waxwing - 135, x, 0
Purple Finch - 5, 0, 7

female Purple Finch - 12/14

Purple Finches foraging on ground - 12/14

male Purple Finch in ash tree - 12/24

   (videos: Purple Finches feeding on seeds of ash tree (Fraxinus sp.) - 12/24)

male Purple Finch foraging in ash tree, part of a flock of at least seven - 3 male and 4 female -- 12/24

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female and male Purple Finch - 12/24

Pine Siskin - 0, 0, 2

American Goldfinch - 25, 9, 4

American Goldfinch - 12/21

American Goldfinch - 12/21

Chipping Sparrow - 35, 45, 5
Field Sparrow - 1, 0, 0
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) - 4, 6, 2

Dark-eyed Junco -- 12/21

White-throated Sparrow - 40, 14, 20
Savannah Sparrow - 6, 7, 13

Savannah Sparrow - 12/24

Song Sparrow - 8, 5, 3
Swamp Sparrow - 4, 4, 1
Eastern Towhee - 0, 1, 0
Common Grackle - 0, 0, 1
Orange-crowned Warbler - 1, 0, 2
Common Yellowthroat - 1, 0, 0
Pine Warbler - 1, 2, 3

male Pine Warbler - 12/21

Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) - 62, 20, 21

Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) - 12/14

Northern Cardinal - 25, 9, 11

   Late in the afternoon of December 31 I made a run to the refuge to check on water levels and to see if the roads were closed. The water was over the road at the entrance to Willow Lake Unit, but there's still a couple of feet to go before it threatens the refuge loop on the HQ Unit. I kept a casual list of birds detected on this visit, but didn't stop to really bird and found nothing unusual.
   I had a fruitful birding outing to HQ Unit on January 1, 2019, but that'll be covered in a post for January or Jan.-Feb. The big take away was that there was "suddenly" tens of thousands (my very loose estimate was about 30,000) ducks on Duck Lake, after finding no more than a few thousand on previous visits this season.
   The water is rising pretty quickly, pouring into Duck Lake from the Catahoula Lake system. Duck Lake's gauge showed about 39.1 feet on 12/31/18 and 39.25 feet on 1/1/19. The water level for Catahoula Lake was something like 42.2 feet on 12/31, and rising, so there's more water on the way. Naturally, parts of the woods are flooded, and so some ducks (it seems Mallards particularly) are spending time in the flooded timber.

water entering Duck Lake -- 12/31

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   The refuge was pretty birdy during December, but there's not a whole lot to report concerning other wildlife. Mammals included White-tailed Deer and Eastern Fox Squirrel. Amphibians: Spring Peeper and Cajun Chorus Frog. Reptiles: Pond Sliders. Butterflies were understandably scarce compared to the relative abundance found during Sept.-Nov. December butterflies included Common/White Checkered-Skipper, Little Yellow, Sleepy Orange, Cloudless Sulphur, Common Buckeye, and Red Admiral.

White-tailed Deer

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Here's to a safe, productive, and birdy 2019!

Northern Pintails and Mallards at east side of Duck Lake - 12/21

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