Kisatchie NF (Grant Parish) and Camp Beauregard WMA (Rapides Parish) -- 8/24/2019

(starting in front) Barred Yellow, Little Yellow, and Spicebush Swallowtail -- Kisatchie NF, South Tower Rd at Hughart Rd

Related Posts
 butterfly garden, Stuart Lake Rd, etc. (Kisatchie NF Grant):
https://falloutbird2014.blogspot.com/2019/06/back-to-kisatchie-national-forest-grant.html

 NCWMP (Kisatchie NF Grant, Winn):
7/27 - https://falloutbird2014.blogspot.com/2019/08/national-catahoula-wildlife-management.html
8/9 - https://falloutbird2014.blogspot.com/2019/08/national-catahoula-wildlife-management_11.html
***************************
   On August 24 I went looking for butterflies, and birding, in parts of Grant Parish, including locations in Kisatchie National Forest Catahoula Ranger District. I ended the day's activities by going to Camp Beauregard WMA in Rapides Parish.
   I began at Catahoula Hummingbird & Butterfly Garden on Work Center Rd in Kisatchie NF east of Bentley.

Catahoula Hummingbird and Butterfly Garden

...

...

...

   Butterfly activity was decent there, with lots of swallowtails and Cloudless Sulphurs flying. The highlight for this location was a Barred Yellow. Bird activity was modest.

Palamedes Swallowtail on Lantana -- butterfly garden

Lantana flower bed with swallowtails

Barred Yellow at butterfly garden

   Connie Guillory was also birding and photographing butterflies at the garden on this morning and found some species that I didn't.

Silver-spotted Skipper -- photo by Connie Guillory

juvenile Chipping Sparrow -- photo by Connie Guillory

   After that I drove along South Tower Road, making numerous stops and taking walks along the road. This road runs for three miles between LA-8 just across from Work Center Rd and Dyson Creek Road. South Tower Rd is primarily in Kisatchie NF, but does pass some private land and by some houses.

South Tower Road

...

South Tower Rd

...

...

...

...

...

north end of So. Tower Rd at Dyson Creek Rd and Big Creek Church Rd

   Butterfly watching was good here. I found 16 Barred Yellows and dozens of Little Yellows and Cloudless Sulphurs.

Barred Yellow

Swallowtails were active, and singles and small numbers of several skipper species were found including Hoary Edge, Northern Cloudywing, Southern Cloudywing, and Swarthy Skipper. Butterflies were present all up and down the road, whether nectaring on flowers, puddling in the road, or patroling, but there were a couple of "best" spots. One was the area around where Hughart Rd meets So. Tower Rd, especially the dirt NF road across from the end of Hughart Rd.

Barred Yellow, Little Yellow, Spicebush Swallowtail -- corner of So. Tower and Hughart Rds

Barred Yellow in flight on left

   A popular nectar source for butterflies along So. Tower Rd, and elsewhere throughout the day, was Liatris (I believe it might be Liatris aspera -- Tall Blazing Star). Ditto Vernonia (ironweed sp.), though these were not as common as the Liatris. Wild sunflower sp., Diodia sp. (I think D. teres -- Poor Joe), and Chamaecrista sp. were also being used by the butterflies.
   Birds along So. Tower Rd included Red-cockaded Woodpecker, American Kestrel, and an assortment of the expected piney-woods passerines.

   Then I drove Dyson Creek Rd (with a couple of stops) back to US-165.

Dyson Creek Road (right)

...

Dyson Creek Road

   An American Kestrel was seen along Dyson Creek Rd.

American Kestrel

   The next location I birded and butterfly-watched was FS Rd 197 (Big Creek Camp Rd) in the Kisatchie NF east of Fishville. This road runs about 1.3 miles from Hardwater Lake Rd, north to the Big Creek bottoms.

FS Rd 197

...

   The highlight here was finding a Silvery Checkerspot, a first for my personal Grant Parish list.

Silvery Checkerspot

Silvery Checkerspot

   I decided to make my way to Camp Beauregard after that, and took the following roads through SE Grant Parish to get there: Hardwater Lake Cutoff, Perry Loop, Walker Ferry Rd, and Clinton Branch Rd.

C0806 at highline in Kisatchie NF off Perry Loop

    Along these roads I mostly just took my time driving, with an eye out for butterflies and an ear open for birds. I made a few stops to listen. At C0806 I took a walk around the highline and found a few butterflies. A walk along the road at one spot on Clinton Branch Rd showed that a pale yellow that I had spotted was a female Little Yellow, not Barred Yellow.

   In Rapides Parish I drove Cotton Island Road through Camp Beauregard WMA. While I was reading the regulations at the north self-clearing kiosk, the wind whipped up and it began to rain. I went ahead and drove the road all the way through to the south/east kiosk, but saw little wildlife active in the drizzle. I waited a few minutes at the south/east kiosk and the rain stopped. With the rain over and the sun out I was able to do a decent effort of birding and butterflying on the drive back north through the WMA on Cotton Island Rd. I walked the road in spots in the hilly piney woods section north/west of the creek bottoms.

south/east entrance to Camp Beauregard WMA when the rain finally petered out

Flagon Creek from Cotton Island Rd bridge

hilly pine woods section -- pretty good butterfly area along the stretch of road from here through the curve

   There was an area on the hillside in the open pine woods approximately 0.8 or 0.9 miles south of the north kiosk with a fair amount of Liatris growing near the road. I walked the road here to find butterflies.

Long-tailed Skipper nectaring on Liatris

Long-tailed Skipper

Palamedes Swallowtail nectaring on Liatris

   While on foot here I spotted a duskywing that looked odd to me. My first impression was that it was smaller than usual (smaller than the Horace's and other DWs that I'm used to seeing). I managed to take two photos before it flew but I was unable to relocate it despite spending a while searching in that area. After looking in the Butterflies of Louisiana book and at BAMONA online, I thought this might be a Mottled Duskywing, though that would be an unusual species to find in this area. The nearest confirmed population is in Kisatchie NF in Natchitoches Parish, with other populations in the Florida Parishes (southeast Louisiana).
   However, after consulting with Craig Marks, I have strong doubts about the duskywing being Mottled Duskywing after all. For one thing, their two flights in Louisiana are in the spring and in June-July, so finding one on the wing in late August seems unlikely. Also, with the photos I only got ventral wing views, and without being able to look at the dorsal surface as well its more difficult to determine which DW it might be. Also, though I was sure it was quite small for a DW, which the Mottled is, I could have simply misjudged its size in the field. I think the DW may be a Horace's Duskywing after all, a common species in this area. Anyway, photos are below.

duskywing sp. (At first I suspected it might be Mottled Duskywing, but now I doubt that)

duskywing sp. (At first I suspected it might be Mottled Duskywing, but now I doubt that)

   Below are the lists of birds and butterflies from each of the locations visited this day. There was little other wildlife stirring.

Catahoula Hummingbird & Butterfly Garden (Grant Parish)
8:54 a.m. - 9:54 a.m.
~80 F.; variable sky

Birds
Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 1
Turkey Vulture - 3
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1
American Kestrel - 1
Eastern Wood-Pewee - 1
Blue Jay - 2
Brown-headed Nuthatch - 1
Carolina Wren - 3

Carolina Wren -- photo by Connie Guillory

Northern Mockingbird - 1
Eastern Bluebird - 4
Northern Cardinal - 4
Blue Grosbeak - 3
Indigo Bunting - 1

additional species detected by Connie Guillory:
Red-cockaded Woodpecker - 1, Chipping Sparrow - 1. She also had 8 Blue Grosbeaks; I had 3.

male Blue Grosbeak -- photo by Connie Guillory

Blue Grosbeaks -- photo by Connie Guillory

Butterflies
Clouded Skipper - 2
Pipevine Swallowtail - 6

Pipevine Swallowtail on Lantana

Spicebush Swallowtail - 18

female Spicebush Swallowtail on Lantana

Palamedes Swallowtail - 3

Palamedes Swallowtail

Cloudless Sulphur - 10
Barred Yellow - 1
Little Yellow - 1
Red-banded Hairstreak - 2
Pearl Crescent - 1

Pearl Crescent -- photo by Connie Guillory

Carolina Satyr - 20

Connie's additional species: Silver-spotted Skipper

****
South Tower Road (Grant Parish)
9:56 a.m.; 2 hrs 7 mins; 3.1 miles
80s F.; mostly sunny; light breeze

Birds
Mourning Dove - 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1
Red-cockaded Woodpecker - 1
American Kestrel - 1
Eastern Wood-Pewee - 1
White-eyed Vireo - 2
Blue Jay - 3
American Crow - 1
Carolina Chickadee - 1
Tufted Titmouse - 3
Brown-headed Nuthatch - 2
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 1
Carolina Wren - 10
Eastern Towhee - 2
Hooded Warbler - 3
Pine Warbler - 1
Summer Tanager - 1
Northern Cardinal - 8
Blue Grosbeak - 2

Butterflies
Hoary Edge - 1

Hoary Edge

Northern Cloudywing - 1

Northern Cloudywing

Southern Cloudywing - 1

Southern Cloudywing

Horace's Duskywing - 1

female Horace's Duskywing

Common Checkered-Skipper - 2

female Common Checkered-Skipper

Tropical Checkered-Skipper - 7

male Tropical Checkered-Skipper

checkered-skipper sp. - 7
Swarthy Skipper - 1

Swarthy Skipper

skipper sp. (orange-ish; flew before I got a good look) - 1
Pipevine Swallowtail - 3
Spicebush Swallowtail - 11

Spicebush Swallowtails -- South Tower Rd at Hughart Rd

Palamedes Swallowtail - 2
Cloudless Sulphur - 30
Barred Yellow - 16

Barred Yellow

Barred Yellow in flight, showing namesake black bars on dorsal surface of forewings -- So. Tower Rd at Dyson Creek Rd

male Barred Yellow (center; same individual in dorsal view in above pic) and male Little Yellow (right) -- So. Tower Rd at Dyson Creek Rd

Little Yellow - 34

female Little Yellow -- struck by a passing car

yellow sp. - 5
Red-banded Hairstreak - 1
Gray Hairstreak - 1
Gulf Fritillary - 3

Gulf Fritillary

Pearl Crescent - 1
Carolina Satyr - 3

****
Dyson Creek Rd (Grant)
12:04 p.m.; 31 mins; 3.6 miles
hot and sunny

Birds
Turkey Vulture - 1
American Kestrel - 1
Eastern Wood-Pewee - 1
Eastern Kingbird - 1
Blue Jay - 2
American Crow - 2
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 1
Carolina Wren - 3
Northern Mockingbird - 1
Hooded Warbler - 1
Pine Warbler - 1
Northern Cardinal - 10

Butterflies
Spicebush Swallowtail - 2
Cloudless Sulphur - 4
Gulf Fritillary - 2
Common Buckeye - 1

****
FS Rd 197 "Big Creek Camp Road" (Grant)
12:47 p.m.; 1 hr 3 mins; 1.3 miles
90-91 F.; sunny

Birds
Yellow-billed Cuckoo - 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1
Northern Mockingbird - 1
Acadian Flycatcher - 1
White-eyed Vireo - 3
American Crow - 1
Carolina Chickadee - 1
Carolina Wren - 3
Hooded Warbler - 3
Pine Warbler - 2
Northern Cardinal - 4

Butterflies
Silver-spotted Skipper - 1

Silver-spotted Skipper

Horace's Duskywing - 3
Fiery Skipper - 1

male Fiery Skipper

Spicebush Swallowtail - 1
Cloudless Sulphur - 3
Little Yellow - 5
Gulf Fritillary - 1
'Astyanax' Red-spotted Purple - 1
Silvery Checkerspot - 1

Silvery Checkerspot

Carolina Satyr - 1

****
Grant Parish back roads heading toward Camp Beauregard -- Hardwater Lake Cutoff, Perry Loop, Walker Ferry Road, Clinton Branch Road
1:51 p.m. - 2:45 p.m.; driving  ~9 miles -- incidentals while driving, few brief stops; also couple of short walks to look for butterflies or ID something spotted from truck (NF C0806 off Perry Loop and roadside at Clinton Branch Rd)

Birds
White-eyed Vireo - 2
Carolina Chickadee - 4
Carolina Wren - 4
Swainson's Warbler - 2 calling in woods at same location, a little ways east of Grant Fire Station 4 on Walker Ferry Rd
Hooded Warbler - 1
Pine Warbler - 3
Northern Cardinal - 13

Butterflies
checkered-skipper sp. - 1
Fiery Skipper - 1
Palamedes Swallowtail - 1
Cloudless Sulphur - 11
Little Yellow - 5
Common Buckeye - 1

****
Camp Beauregard WMA (Rapides Parish)
2:46 p.m.; 1 hr 29 mins; 2.2 miles on Cotton Island Road
began with gust of wind, followed by rain shower; then rain stopped, sun came out, light wind

Birds
Mourning Dove - 1
Little Blue Heron - 1
White Ibis - 1
Downy Woodpecker - 1
Pileated Woodpecker - 1
Blue Jay - 1
Carolina Chickadee - 2
Carolina Wren - 3
Eastern Towhee - 1
Hooded Warbler - 1
Northern Cardinal - 5

Butterflies
Silver-spotted Skipper - 1
Long-tailed Skipper - 1

Long-tailed Skipper

Horace's Duskywing - 1

Horace's Duskywing nectaring on Coreopsis

*duskywing sp.* - 1 - originally suspected to be Mottled DW, but now feel that's unlikely (could it be the Horace's DW?)

duskywing sp.

DW sp.

DW sp.

checkered-skipper sp. - 1
Spicebush Swallowtail - 2
Palamedes Swallowtail - 1

Palamedes Swallowtail

*possibly 1 or 2 Cloudless Sulphur if memory serves me right, but I neglected to write them down
Little Yellow - 8
Common Buckeye - 1
Carolina Satyr - 6

   As always, if you spot any incorrect IDs or have suggestions for those that I'm unsure about, feel free to let me know.

Barred Yellow, Little Yellow, and Spicebush Swallowtail

********************************