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| Mourning Dove - Trout Route, stop 23 |
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Related Posts:
- BBS 2022 -
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A USGS Breeding Bird Survey route consists of 50 stops at half-mile intervals along a fixed route. Birds are counted during a three-minute window at each stop, and only those go on the BBS report. The route is run close to the same date each year during a window of time in late May and early June, and the same exact stops are surveyed each year, building up a picture of bird population fluctuations/trends over the years/decades. In addition to those birds that make it onto the official report, I also keep separate lists of all other birds detected while running the route. The lists I give below for each of my three routes are of all birds that I detected while running the route this year, not just those at the official stops.
I survey three BBS routes: Enterprise, Frogmore, and Trout.
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Trout BBS, 2023
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The Trout BBS Route runs roughly northeast-to-southwest through the often hilly uplands of central La Salle Parish, beginning at the junction of LA-503 and LA-126. From here, it follows LA-503 southwest, eventually going though the Summerville community, from where it then follows Zimmer Creek Road, going south to US-84 at Searcy. The route has a detour here, going east, and picks back up at the junction of US-84 and LA-772 in Trout. From here it follows LA-772 south to LA-8, and LA-8 east to Appleby Road near Midway. The route then returns to the backroads, following parts of Appleby, Tingle, Hangar, Emma, and Firetower Roads, before coming out onto the Nebo-Belah Road in the Belah-Fellowship community. The route heads south, passing into the pine-plantation-and-oil-well country south of the inhabited areas, ending on Nebo-Belah Road partway between the namesake communities.
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| stop 2 - LA-503 at west end of Bayou Funny Louis Loop |
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| stop 3 - LA-503 |
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| stop 10 - LA-503 |
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| stop 15 - LA-503 near Summerville |
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| stop 19 - north end of Zimmer Creek Rd. in Summerville |
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| stop 20 - Zimmer Creek Rd. |
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| stop 23 - near Zimmer Creek |
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| stop 25 - Zimmer Creek Rd. |
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| stop 29 - junction of US-84 and LA-772 in Trout |
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| stop 34 - LA-8 |
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| stop 42 - Emma Road |
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| stop 44 - Emma Rd. at Firetower Rd. |
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| stop 48 - Nebo-Belah Rd. |
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| stop 50, end of route - Nebo-Belah Road |
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Trout BBS Bird List (La Salle Parish)
May 27, 2023
5:36am - 10:15am
62-80F.; sky clear; wind 0 Beaufort for majority of time, 2-3 Beaufort for last 6 or so stops.
*Eurasian Collared-Dove - 2 (during detour on US-84)
Mourning Dove - 57
Yellow-billed Cuckoo - 10
Chuck-will's-widow - 2
Chimney Swift - 6
Cattle Egret - 5
Turkey Vulture - 3
Mississippi Kite - 1
Red-shouldered Hawk - 2
Broad-winged Hawk - 1
Barred Owl - 3
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 15
Downy Woodpecker - 3
Pileated Woodpecker - 7
Northern Flicker - 1
Eastern Wood-Pewee - 8
Acadian Flycatcher - 4
Great Crested Flycatcher - 8
Eastern Kingbird - 7
White-eyed Vireo - 42
Yellow-throated Vireo - 6
Red-eyed Vireo - 13
Loggerhead Shrike - 1
Blue Jay - 30
American Crow - 64
Carolina Chickadee - 22
Tufted Titmouse - 16
Purple Martin - 3
Barn Swallow - 1
Brown-headed Nuthatch - 2
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 19
Carolina Wren - 37
European Starling - 4
Gray Catbird - 1
Brown Thrasher - 6
Northern Mockingbird - 30
Eastern Bluebird - 4
Wood Thrush - 7
House Sparrow - 2
Chipping Sparrow - 11
Eastern Towhee - 22
Yellow-breasted Chat - 64
Orchard Oriole - 20
Red-winged Blackbird - 2
Brown-headed Cowbird - 14
Louisiana Waterthrush - 3
Black-and-white Warbler - 3
Swainson's Warbler - 9
Kentucky Warbler - 3
Common Yellowthroat - 5
Hooded Warbler - 45
Pine Warbler - 24
Prairie Warbler - 22
Summer Tanager - 8
Northern Cardinal - 101
Blue Grosbeak - 10
Indigo Bunting - 35
Painted Bunting - 2
passerine sp. - 19
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Frogmore BBS, 2023
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The Frogmore BBS Route runs roughly north-south through northern and east-central Concordia Parish. The route begins at the north end of Bob Rife Road at LA-566, just south of the Tensas River between Clayton and the community of Dunbarton. The route follows LA-566 west to Dunbarton, and south down LA-566 to US-84 at Frogmore. The next few stops are west along US-84. The route then turns south on LA-129 for a few stops, then west on Ames Road. The next few stops are on Ames Road, then south down Gallup Road to LA-565. The last couple of stops are south of LA-565 on Deadning Road in the Lismore community.
The Frogmore route lies in the alluvial plain of the Tensas and Black Rivers. The terrain is basically flat. The habitat is dominated by agricultural fields (corn, cotton, soybean; some small areas with wheat some years, but not this year), with areas of bottomland hardwood forest, swampy areas, and brush/secondgrowth. There are a number of small bayous, sloughs, and small lakes in the vicinity of the route or which the route crosses. There are also rural residential areas and small pastures, and stops near farm buildings, a cotton gin, and a tractor dealership.
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| stop 1 - habitat pretty typical of first few stops, with ag. field on at least one side of road and woods nearby |
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| woods along north side of LA-566 (stop 2) |
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| stop 8 - LA-566, headed west near Dunbarton |
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| stop 9 - LA-566 southbound, Dunbarton Church |
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| stop 14 - LA-566 |
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| stop 18 - LA-566 between Dunbarton and Frogmore |
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| stop 21 - LA-566 north of Frogmore |
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| stop 27 - US-84 / small bayou at Frogmore |
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| stop 29 - junction of LA-129 and US-84 |
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| stop 31 - LA-129 |
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| stop 36 - Ames Road (woods along north side of road thinned since last year's BBS) |
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| stop 37 - Ames Rd. |
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| stop 43 - Gallup Road |
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| stop 46 - Gallup Rd. |
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| Deadning Road |
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(video of bird sounds at stop 1: _)
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(video: Horned Lark song - LA-566)
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(video: Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks - LA-566)
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| Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks - stop 18 or 19, LA-566 |
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| Barn Swallow - stop 20 |
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(video: Swainson's Warbler song - Ames Rd.)
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Frogmore BBS Bird List (Concordia Parish)
May 29, 2023
5:31am - 10:07am
65-82F.; sunny; wind calm majority of the time (0 Beaufort), but picked up to 1-2 - 2-3 Beaufort towards end.
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck - 4
Eurasian Collared-Dove - 2
Mourning Dove - 68
Yellow-billed Cuckoo - 62
Common Nighthawk - 1
Chimney Swift - 1
Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 2
Killdeer - 5
Anhinga - 9
Neotropic Cormorant - 7
Great Blue Heron - 2
Great Egret - 18
Snowy Egret - 4
Little Blue Heron - 11
Tricolored Heron - 1
Cattle Egret - 25
white egret sp. - 5
Green Heron - 1
Black-crowned Night-Heron - 3
Roseate Spoonbill - 1
Black Vulture - 13
Turkey Vulture - 8
Red-shouldered Hawk - 3
Barred Owl - 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 32
Downy Woodpecker - 9
Pileated Woodpecker - 4
Eastern Wood-Pewee - 5
Acadian Flycatcher - 8
Great Crested Flycatcher - 14
Eastern Kingbird - 5
White-eyed Vireo - 23
Yellow-throated Vireo - 1
Red-eyed Vireo - 4
Loggerhead Shrike - 6
Blue Jay - 27
American Crow - 23
Carolina Chickadee - 17
Tufted Titmouse - 34
Horned Lark - 5
Cliff Swallow - 1
Barn Swallow - 32
swallow sp. - 13
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 2
Carolina Wren - 54
European Starling - 19
Brown Thrasher - 5
Northern Mockingbird - 23
Eastern Bluebird - 20
Wood Thrush - 7
House Sparrow - 11
Eastern Towhee - 9
Yellow-breasted Chat - 13
Orchard Oriole - 8
Baltimore Oriole - 1
Red-winged Blackbird - 94
Brown-headed Cowbird - 53
Common Grackle - 2
Prothonotary Warbler - 33
Swainson's Warbler - 4
Kentucky Warbler - 3
Common Yellowthroat - 1
Hooded Warbler - 1
Northern Parula - 3
Summer Tanager - 4
Northern Cardinal - 78
Blue Grosbeak - 8
Indigo Bunting - 69
Painted Bunting - 29
Dickcissel - 2
passerine sp. - 29
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Enterprise BBS, 2023
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The Enterprise BBS Route runs roughly north-to-south though parts of northern and central Catahoula Parish. The route begins at the junction of LA-124 and Catahoula Church Road just south of the Ouachita River, between the Duty Ferry and the community of Enterprise. It follows Catahoula Church Road south, rising into the hills. It turns east on Old Columbia Road, passes into the Chalk Hills, and continues on a series of gravel backroads, going south to Posey-Webb Camp Highway (actually a narrow parish blacktop). The route follows P-W C Hwy west to Posey-Webb Camp Road, and P-W C Rd. south to LA-126 near the Manifest community. The route then follows LA-126 south to LA-8, then east to take LA-126 where it turns south off LA-8, enters floodplain terrain, and passes through the Bushley Bayou Unit of Catahoula NWR. The route turns south onto LA-923 in the Sandy Lake community, and after a few miles ends in an ag. field about a half-mile north of where the highway turns into a parish road at the north bank of Little River.
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| stop 2 on Catahoula Church Rd. - woods just beyond road logged since last year |
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| stop 2 - Catahoula Church Road |
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| stop 3 - Catahoula Church Rd. |
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| stop 5 - Catahoula Church Road |
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| stop 6 - Catahoula Church Road |
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| stop 7 - Catahoula Church Rd. |
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| stop 9 - Old Columbia Road |
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| habitat at stop 10 - Old Columbia Rd. |
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| looking back from stop 11 - Sugar Creek on Old Columbia Rd. |
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| between stops 12 and 13 in the Chalk Hills - Old Columbia Road |
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| stop 15, in the Chalk Hills |
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| stop 18 - just across an upper fork of Rawson Creek |
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| stop 21 |
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| stop 24 |
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| stop 26 - split of Posey-Webb Camp Hwy and P-W C Road |
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| stop 29 - Posey-Webb Camp Road |
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| stop 32 - LA-126 near the Manifest community |
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| stop 36 - LA-126 south of LA-8 |
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| stop 39 - LA-126 at Bushley Bayou, CNWR |
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| stop 41 - LA-126 in the Sandy Lake community |
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| stop 43 - LA-923 in the Sandy Lake community |
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| stop 49 of 50 - LA-923 |
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I've been surveying the Enterprise route for over a decade now and it continues to be one of the more interesting birding routes (BBS or not) that I visit with any regularity. The relatively diverse habitats and terrain types are a big part of that. It's a good route for getting 12 of our 13 expected breeding warblers all on one list (the conspicuously-missing hold-out being Yellow-throated Warbler; I don't think I've every had that species on this route). Speaking of warblers, the upland section of the route (more specifically, several locations in the area between about stops 4 and 26) is one of the best areas that I know of to find American Redstarts in the breeding season. They are most often heard or seen near the creek bottoms that cut through the hilly regions.
The White-winged Dove heard singing at stop 43 on LA-923 in the Sandy Lake community was a personal first for the route.
(video: Worm-eating Warbler song - stop 7, Catahoula Church Rd.)
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(stop 7 birdsong video: _)
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(I brake for Swainson's Warblers: video of bird sounds at a spot between stops 7 and 8: _)
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(Swainson's Warbler song - stop 13, in the Chalk Hills - The bird was briefly seen as well.)
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(very brief video: song of American Redstart - between stops 25-26)
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Enterprise BBS Bird List (Catahoula Parish)
May 30, 2023
5:31am -
65F.; sky 0; wind 0-3 Beaufort
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck - 1
Eurasian Collared-Dove - 1
White-winged Dove - 1
Mourning Dove- 50
Yellow-billed Cuckoo - 30
Chimney Swift - 3
Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 1
Great Blue Heron - 1
Great Egret - 1
Little Blue Heron - 1
Cattle Egret - 24
Turkey Vulture - 4
Mississippi Kite - 1
Red-shouldered Hawk - 3
Broad-winged Hawk - 1
Red-tailed Hawk - 1
Barred Owl - 2
Red-headed Woodpecker - 3
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 22
Downy Woodpecker - 9
Pileated Woodpecker - 14
Eastern Wood-Pewee - 5
Acadian Flycatcher - 25
Great Crested Flycatcher - 9
Eastern Kingbird - 3
White-eyed Vireo - 49
Yellow-throated Vireo - 5
Red-eyed Vireo - 30
Blue Jay - 19
American Crow - 37
Carolina Chickadee - 23
Tufted Titmouse - 31
Purple Martin - 1
Barn Swallow - 2
swallow sp. - 1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 21
Carolina Wren - 45
European Starling - 5
Brown Thrasher - 3
Northern Mockingbird - 15
Eastern Bluebird - 1
Wood Thrush - 13
Chipping Sparrow- 1
Eastern Towhee - 8
Yellow-breasted Chat - 48
Eastern Meadowlark - 3
Orchard Oriole - 6
Red-winged Blackbird - 8
Brown-headed Cowbird - 14
Worm-eating Warbler - 9
Louisiana Waterthrush - 3
Black-and-white Warbler - 7
Prothonotary Warbler - 10
Swainson's Warbler - 4
Kentucky Warbler - 5
Common Yellowthroat - 1
Hooded Warbler - 32
American Redstart - 4
Northern Parula - 11
Pine Warbler - 13
Prairie Warbler - 13
Summer Tanager - 10
Northern Cardinal - 83
Blue Grosbeak - 10
Indigo Bunting - 36
Painted Bunting - 9
passerine sp. - 31
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...A few other things from this year's BBSs...
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...From the Trout Route...
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| Western Ratsnake - Emma Road ~ stop 43 |
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| Speckled Kingsnake - Emma Road ~ stop 43 |
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...From the Frogmore Route...
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| Clasping Coneflower (or similar sp.) - stop 31, LA-129 |
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| Scissor-tailed Flycatcher near Jonesville, Catahoula Parish - I stopped by a known Scissor-tailed Flycatcher spot on the way back from doing the Frogmore Route. |
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...From Enterprise Route...
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(video: Chuck-will's-widow singing (the bird was seen flying around low over shoulder of road after filming) - LA-124 on the way to do the Enterprise Route)
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| Eastern Cottontail - Stop 9, Old Columbia Road |
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| Roadside Geology in the Chalk Hills - If I remember correctly from something what I read many years ago, the white rock that gives the hills their name isn't chalk, but rather some kind of rock formed from deposits of volcanic ash. |
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| coneflower (Echinacea) sp. - Old Columbia Road, Chalk Hills |
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| Carolina Larkspur (Delphinium carolinianum) or similar species - stop 21 |
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| Orange Milkweed - between stops 22 and 23 |
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| poppymallow (Callirhoe) sp. - between stops 22 and 23 |
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| dewberry/blackberry (Rubus) sp. - stop 24 - Blackberries are one of my favorite foods, so of course I quickly picked and ate a few while I was there. A nice little mid-route energy boost! |
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| Golden-winged Skimmer |
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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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