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| New Jersey Tea (Ceanothus americanus) - Kisatchie National Forest |
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Related Posts:
. KNF, March 2023:
. largely same route in KNF, Oct. 2022:
. KNF, April-May 2022:
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I had a pretty good time birding the eastern part of National Catahoula Wildlife Management Preserve (part of Kisatchie National Forest Winn and Catahoula Ranger Districts) and other nearby parts of Kisatchie NF Catahoula Ranger District in Grant Parish on March 30th, 2023. I drove, making numerous stops and taking some short walks on the road, Bear Creek Road and FS Rd. 102 in NCWMP, and FS Rds. 169 and 128.
Some habitat shots before continuing...
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| Bear Creek bottoms at NWP boundary |
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| Bear Creek Road (prescribed burn on right side) |
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| Bear Creek Rd. |
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| FS Rd 102 - thinned timber |
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| thinned timber along FS Rd 102 |
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| FS Rd. 102 - Swainson's Warbler spot |
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| small creek (tributary of Indian Creek) at FS Rd 102 - Louisiana Waterthrush spot |
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| small creek (tributary of Indian Creek) at FS 102 - Louisiana Waterthrush spot |
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| woods along FS Rd 102 near small creek (tributary of Indian Creek) - White-breasted Nuthatch and Louisiana Waterthrush spot |
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| woods along FS Rd 102 |
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| woods along FS Rd 102 |
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| woods along FS Rd 102 at/near Indian Creek bottoms |
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| woods along FS Rd 102 at/near Indian Creek bottoms - Barred Owl and White-breasted Nuthatch spot |
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| woods along FS Rd 102 at/near Indian Creek bottoms |
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| Indian Creek at FS Rd 102 |
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| Indian Creek |
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| ditto |
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| swampy area/pond along FS 102 in the Indian Creek bottoms |
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| swampy area/pond along FS 102 in the Indian Creek bottoms |
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| swampy area/pond along FS 102 in the Indian Creek bottoms |
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| swampy area/pond along FS 102 in the Indian Creek bottoms |
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| FS Rd 102 - looking back from WMP boundary west of Indian Creek bottoms |
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| FS Rd. 169 north of FS 128 |
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| FS Rd. 169 north of FS 128 |
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| FS Rd. 169 north of FS 128 |
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| one of the little spring-water gullies that head-up near FS Rd. 128 in the John's Hills - this is one of the headwaters of Sandy Branch (a tributary of Fish Creek) |
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| FS Rd. 128 in the John's Hills |
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| FS Rd. 128 through the John's Hills area |
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| John's Hills area - FS Rd. 128 |
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| John's Hills area |
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I had a good assortment of warblers, including a couple of transient migrant species (Chestnut-sided Warbler and Tennessee Warbler), and several that breed in the area, including Hooded, Swainson's, Worm-eating, and Prairie Warblers, and Louisiana Waterthrush and Northern Parula.
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(video: song of Louisiana Waterthrush - FS Rd 102)
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Swainson's and Worm-eating Warblers are both sort of scattered in NCWMP and not always easy to find, as large parts of the woods just aren't the right habitat (forest floor and undergrowth too open, for example). This time I found one of each of those two species singing at new locations.
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(video: song of Swainson's Warbler - FS Rd 102)
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(video: song of Northern Parula - FS Rd 102 at Indian Creek)
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(video: song of Prairie Warbler - FS Rd 169)
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At a spot on FS Rd. 169 I had two rival Yellow-throated Vireos singing back and forth and occasionally chasing one another.
(video: Yellow-throated Vireos singing - FS Rd 169)
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Scanning the sky, I spotted a group of four Broad-winged Hawks high above FS Rd. 102, moving from SW to NE--presumably migrants on the move.
In the open piney woods of the John's Hills I heard a Red-cockaded Woodpecker, but once again failed to find Bachman's Sparrows, despite the species being present in the location a few years ago (hadn't heard them there since summer of 2020; species has been much harder to find in Grant Par. since the Feb. 2021 ice storm and ~5-day freeze--I've been under the assumption that this exceptional weather event is to blame for a drop in Bachman's Sparrow numbers).
Butterfly numbers were disappointingly low, with just a few individuals of some common species being seen.
Below are the bird lists and lists of some of the other wildlife detected on this outing.
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National Catahoula Wildlife Management Preserve
4/30/2023
9:40am; 2 hr, 10 min; 3.3 miles
mild; clear; light breeze
Birds
Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 2
Little Blue Heron - 2 (FS Rd. 102 - swampy pond near Indian Creek)
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| Little Blue Heron - FS 102 |
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Black Vulture - 2
Turkey Vulture - 2
Red-shouldered Hawk - 1
Broad-winged Hawk - 4
Barred Owl - 2 (pair vocalizing at Indian Creek bottoms)
Red-headed Woodpecker - 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 3
Downy Woodpecker - 4
Pileated Woodpecker - 4
Eastern Wood-Pewee - 2
Acadian Flycatcher - 3
Great Crested Flycatcher - 2
White-eyed Vireo - 9
Yellow-throated Vireo - 1
Red-eyed Vireo - 9
Blue Jay - 3
American Crow - 4
Carolina Chickadee - 2
Tufted Titmouse - 13
Barn Swallow - 3
swallow sp. - 4
White-breasted Nuthatch - 2 (separate spots along FS Rd. 102)
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 9
Carolina Wren - 11
Gray Catbird - 1
Cedar Waxwing - 2
Yellow-breasted Chat - 3
Brown-headed Cowbird - 1
Worm-eating Warbler - 1 (FS Rd. 102)
Louisiana Waterthrush - 1 (FS Rd. 102)
Swainson's Warbler - 1 (FS Rd. 102)
Tennessee Warbler - 3
Kentucky Warbler - 3
Hooded Warbler - 12
Northern Parula - 2
Chestnut-sided Warbler - 1 (WMP boundary south of Bear Creek)
Pine Warbler - 9
warbler sp. - 1
Summer Tanager - 4
Northern Cardinal - 13
Indigo Bunting - 5
passerine sp. - 8
KNF - FS Rds. 169 and 128
4/30/2023
FS Rd. 169 - 11:54am; 35mins; 1.8miles
FS Rd. 128 - 12:29pm; 35mins; 1.8miles (funny how that worked out)
Warm; sunny; light breeze
Birds
Morning Dove - 0, 1
Chimney Swift - 0, 1
Turkey Vulture - 1, 0
Mississippi Kite - 1, 0
Red-shouldered Hawk - 1, 1
Broad-winged Hawk - 1, 1
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| Broad-winged Hawk - FS Rd. 169 |
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Downy Woodpecker - 3, 0
Red-cockaded Woodpecker - 0, 1
Pileated Woodpecker - 1, 0
Eastern Wood-Pewee - 1, 1
Great Crested Flycatcher - 1, 0
White-eyed Vireo - 3, 1
Yellow-throated Vireo - 2, 0
Red-eyed Vireo - 2, 4
Blue Jay - 1, 1
American Crow - 3, 2
Carolina Chickadee - 3, 3
Tufted Titmouse - 6, 3
Brown-headed Nuthatch - 2, 0
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 1, 1
Carolina Wren - 5, 4
Yellow-breasted Chat - 2, 1
Brown-headed Cowbird - 1, 0
Kentucky Warbler - 1, 0
Hooded Warbler - 6, 5
Pine Warbler - 14, 6
Prairie Warbler - 2, 3
Summer Tanager - 2, 1
Northern Cardinal - 6, 3
Indigo Bunting - 7, 3
passerine sp. - 3, 1
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Other wildlife...
Mammals (all locations, 4/30): Eastern Gray Squirrel
Herps (all locations, 4/30): Cope's Gray Treefrog, Blanchard's Cricket Frog, American Bullfrog, Green (Bronze) Frog; Green Anole
Butterflies (all locations, 4/30):
Dun Skipper - 1
Cloudless Sulphur - 2
Little Yellow - 1
Eastern Tailed-Blue - 1
'Astyanax' Red-spotted Purple - 1
Pearl Crescent - 5
Red Admiral - 4
Question Mark - 5
butterfly sp. - 2
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A few plant/wildflower photos...
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| Bigleaf Magnolia - FS Rd 102 |
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| Scutellaria sp., possibly Helmet Skullcap (S. integrifolia) - FS Rd. 102 |
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| New Jersey Tea (Ceanothus americanus) - John's Hills area |
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| Goat's Rue (Tephrosia virginiana) - FS Rd. 128 |
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| Venus's looking-Glass sp. (Triodanis) - FS Rd. 128 |
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| Oklahoma Clubtail (Phanogomphus oklahomensis) - Bear Creek Road, just south of the creek |
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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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Exellent blog as usual. I need to check this area out some day.
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