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| National Catahoula Wildlife Management Preserve - FS Rd 558 at US-167 |
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Related Posts:
- March observations, including this location:
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Kisatchie National Forest Catahoula Ranger District and Hardwater Lake - April 22, 2022
On April 22 I took a trip over to Kisatchie National Forest Catahoula Ranger District in Grant Parish. This was primarily to take a couple of family members fishing and sight-seeing, but of course I also kept track of the birds we detected. The route included FS Rds. 119 an 120,. We then went to an area outside of KNF for a final attempt at catching some fish before calling it a day. This was Hardwater Lake, located east of Fishville, near Little River/the La Salle Parish line. Below are habitat shots for KNF route, the bird list for that route, then the pics and bird list for Hardwater Lake. after that is the account for a May trip to KNF.
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| Socia Branch near FS 119 |
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| FS 119 |
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| beaver pond at corner of FS Rds. 103 and 120 |
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| The fish were not biting at Fish Creek. |
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| Fish Creek at FS Rd. 120 |
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| a small spring-water tributary of Sandy Branch (part of Fish Creek) along 120 |
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| one of the small streams--tributaries of upper Fish Creek--along the stretch of FS 120 west of Fs 145 and east of LA-472 |
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| upper Fish Creek along this stretch of FS 120 |
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| woods along this stretch of FS 120 |
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Kisatchie National Forest Catahoula Ranger District (FS Rds. 119 and 120)
4/22/22
9:31am - 3:00pm; about 12 miles, some of it just driving through
warm; sunny; some light breeze
Birds
Chimney swift - 1
Black Vulture - 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 2
Acadian Flycatcher - 1
Great Crested Flycatcher - 1
Eastern Kingbird - 1
White-eyed Vireo - 5
Red-eyed Vireo - 5
Blue Jay - 1
American Crow - 2
Carolina Chickadee - 4
Tufted Titmouse - 2
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 4
Carolina Wren - 7
Yellow-breasted Chat - 2
Louisiana Waterthrush - 1
Tennessee Warbler - 2
Hooded Warbler - 11
Northern Parula - 1
Pine Warbler - 4
Prairie Warbler - 5
Summer Tanager - 4
Northern Cardinal - 5
Blue Grosbeak - 1
Indigo Bunting - 6
passerine sp. - 3
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Hardwater Lake Boat Landing
4/22/22
3:37pm; 1 hr, 3 mins
80sF.; sunny; some light wind
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| approach to Hardwater Lake boat launch |
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| Hardwater Lake public boat launch off Hardwater Lake Road |
Chimney Swift - 2
Turkey Vulture - 11
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1
Eastern Kingbird - 1
White-eyed Vireo - 2
Blue Jay - 1
American Crow - 1
Tufted Titmouse - 1
Purple Martin - 4
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 1
Carolina Wren - 1
Orchard Oriole - 1
Prothonotary warbler - 1
Northern Parula - 2
Yellow-throated Warbler - 2
Prairie Warbler - 1
Summer Tanager - 1
Northern Cardinal - 1
Indigo Bunting - 1
Painted Bunting - 1
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National Catahoula Wildlife Management Preserve (Catahoula and Winn Ranger Districts) - May 23, 2022
On May 23 I made a trip to the National Catahoula Wildlife Management Preserve (part of Kisatchie National Forest Catahoula and Winn Ranger Districts) to look for King's Hairstreak butterflies and to do general birding and butterfly watching. Well, the skies remained cloudy instead of clearing up around noon as the forecast had suggested, so butterfly activity was muted. However, birding was pretty good, and although butterflies weren't out in as great of numbers as I'd have hoped, there was still some to see, including some pretty interesting ones. I did not, however, find any King's Hairstreaks (plan to make another attempt in better conditions before their May-June flight season is over).
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| Sweetleaf, the King's Hairstreak host plant |
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I traveled the following route, making numerous stops and taking a few short walks: Bear Creek Rd., Lincecum Village Road, LA-472, FS Rd. 556, US-167, FS Rd 558, FS 155 (turn around after a half mile where bridge was out), FS 558/Par. Rd. 599, FS 503 (west of Iatt Creek), which includes a piece of Winn Parish.
Before we continue, some habitat shots:
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| Bear Creek Rd at WMP boundary just south of Bear Creek |
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| Lincecum Village Road at LA-472 |
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| LA-472 campground |
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| FS Rd. 556 between LA-472 and US-167 |
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| pond by railroad tracks at FS 556 east of US-167 |
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| Fs 556, pond east of US-167 |
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| FS Rd. 558 |
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| control burn along north side of FS 558 |
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| first of several streams, tributaries of Saddle Bayou, that FS 558 crosses west of US-167 |
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| habitat along 558 |
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| FS 558 - main creek in the bottoms just east of FS 155 |
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| ditto |
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| FS 558/Parish Rd. 599 through private land in the Iatt Creek bottoms (bridge over one of the small sloughs) |
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| Iatt Creek |
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| Iatt Creek |
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| FS Rd 530 in Winn Parish |
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| Woods near FS 530 in Winn Parish - one o fthe plaes I looked for King's Hairstreak |
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Birds were pretty much the expected suite of species, but I did add two new species to the NCWMP checklist I've been keeping. These were Northern Bobwhite and Eastern Kingbird. Both are species that surely can be found here, but had been tough to find thus far. The Northern Bobwhite was calling by Lincecum Village Road. The Eastern Kingbird was a heard-only flyover at FS Rd 155. The habitat here, as on almost all of the NCWMP, is not right for Ea. Kingbird, but the species should be detected as flyovers sometimes, though I would have expected it during migration and not this late in the spring.
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(video: Northern Bobwhite call)
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In the Iatt Creek bottoms, where the road passes through a 0.7-mile section of private land before reentering the WMP, I found four singing American Redstarts. During the past two breeding seasons I would find two Redstarts singing here, in the area just east of Iatt Creek. So I was expecting the species this time, but I was not expecting so many. Sometimes three could be heard from one spot, with another out of earshot, having been passed a ways back.
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(video: singing male American Redstart)
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The butterfly highlight was finding a Dion Skipper. These skippers are pretty hard to find in Louisiana, with scattered locations around the state. This appears to be a new Grant Parish record. The Dion was found along FS Rd. 558.
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| Dion Skipper - Thanks to Craig Marks for confirming the ID. |
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| Dion Skipper |
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I don't usually come across wild mulberry trees, so I thought this was worth noting.
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| Red Mulberry |
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| Red Mulberry |
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| Red Mulberry tree |
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Lists for Birds, Butterflies, and Herps are below:
National Catahoula Wildlife Management Preserve (Grant Parish - Bear Creek Rd, Lincecum Village Rd, LA-472, FS Rds 556, 558, and 155, and part of FS 530)
6:39am - 11:50am, 12:36pm - 12:43pm; 12.7 miles
63-73F.; overcast; N wind ~5
Birds:
Wood Duck - 3
Northern Bobwhite - 1
Mourning Dove - 3
Yellow-billed Cuckoo - 4
Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 1
Turkey Vulture - 1
Red-shouldered Hawk - 1
Red-headed Woodpecker - 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 6
Downy Woodpecker - 5
Red-cockaded Woodpecker - 2
Pileated Woodpecker - 7
Eastern Wood-Pewee - 3
Acadian Flycatcher - 5
Great Crested Flycatcher - 3
Eastern Kingbird - 1
White-eyed Vireo - 22
Red-eyed Vireo - 26
Blue Jay - 13
American Crow - 16
Carolina Chickadee - 14
Tufted Titmouse - 16
White-breasted Nuthatch - 1
Brown-headed Nuthatch - 4
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 15
Carolina Wren - 40
Eastern Towhee - 5
Yellow-breasted Chat - 12
Louisiana Waterthrush - 2
Kentucky Warbler - 6
Hooded Warbler - 48
(singing male Hooded Warbler - FS Rd 558)
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Northern Parula - 1
Pine Warbler - 20
Prairie Warbler - 3
Summer Tanager - 15
Northern Cardinal - 23
Blue Grosbeak - 3
Indigo Bunting - 12
passerine sp. - 18
Iatt Creek bottoms off-NCWMP (Winn and Grant Parishes)
11:50am; 46 mins; 0.7 miles
73F., pleasant; overcast; very little wind
Yellow-billed Cuckoo - 2
Red-shouldered Hawk - 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1
Acadian Flycatcher - 2
White-eyed Vireo - 3
Red-eyed Vireo - 3
Tufted Titmouse - 3
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 4
Carolina Wren - 1
Louisiana Waterthrush - 1
Swainson's Warbler - 1
(video: song of Swainson's Warbler)
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Hooded Warbler - 5
American Redstart - 4
Northern Parula - 1
Northern Cardinal - 3
passerine sp. - 1
NCWMP (Winn Parish - part of FS Rd 530 west of Iatt Creek)
12:49pm; 1 hr, 5 mins; 2.4 miles
70sF.; overcast; not much wind
Red-headed Woodpecker - 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 2
Downy Woodpecker - 3
Pileated Woodpecker - 1
Acadian Flycatcher - 1
Great Crested Flycatcher - 1
Red-eyed Vireo - 3
Blue Jay - 2
Carolina Chickadee - 4
Tufted Titmouse - 2
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 3
Carolina Wren - 7
Worm-eating Warbler - 1
Kentucky Warbler - 1
Hooded Warbler - 5
Northern Parula - 1
Pine Warbler - 5
Summer Tanager - 4
Northern Cardinal - 3
Butterflies:
NCWMP - Grant Parish
Southern Broken-Dash - 11
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| Southern Broken-Dash - FS Rd 558 |
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| Southern Broken-Dashes - FS Rd 558 |
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Northern Broken-Dash - 3
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| Northern Broken-Dash - FS Rd 558 |
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Swarthy Skipper - 3
Dion Skipper - 1
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| male Dion Skipper - FS Rd 558 |
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Spicebush Swallowtail - 3
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| Spicebush Swallowtail - FS Rds 558 x 155 |
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Pipevine Swallowtail - 8
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| Pipevine Swallowtail - FS Rds 558 x 155 |
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dark swallowtail sp. - 3
Zebra Swallowtail - 14
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| Zebra Swallowtail - FS Rd 558 |
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Little Yellow - 1
(Summer) Azure - 7
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| (Summer) Azure - FS Rd 558 |
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Silvery Checkerspot - 1
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| Silvery Checkerspot - FS Rd 558 |
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Pearl Crescent - 5+
Carolina Satyr - 8
Little Wood-Satyr - 21
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| Little Wood-Satyr - FS Rd 558 |
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butterfly sp. - 1
Iatt Creek bottoms off-NCWMP (Winn and Grant)
(Horace's) Duskywing - 1
Southern Broken-Dash - 1
Spicebush Swallowtail - 2
(Summer) Azure - 2
Carolina Satyr - 1
NCWMP (Winn Parish)
(Horace's) Duskywing - 1
Pipevine Swallowtail - 5
Zebra Swallowtail - 1
(Summer) Azure - 3
Little Wood-Satyr - 8
Monarch - 1
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Herps (all locations):
Green Treefrog
Cope's Gray Treefrog
Blanchard's Cricketfrog
American Bullfrog
Green (Bronze) Frog
Pond Slider
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| Pond Slider digging nest hole in edge of road (FS 558) |
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Mammals:
Fox Squirrel, White-tailed Deer
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As always, if you spot an incorrect ID or have suggestions for those that I'm unsure about, feel free to comment and let me know.
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