Farther Afield: 8/14/14 Trip To Cameron Parish Including Birds Along The Way.

Royal Terns and Least Tern, Holly Beach, Cameron Parish.

   On August 14, Tom Pollock, Jay Huner, and myself embarked on a trip to the birding wonderland that is Cameron Parish, Louisiana. Ok, so that's the southwest corner of the state and not Cenla, but its hard to resist doing a blog on a trip to such an excellent birding location. Besides, we traveled through parts of central Louisiana on the way there and back and a few mentionables were picked up here in Cenla.

   One of the first few species of the day were a flyover flock of Wood Storks spied along highway 121 between I-49 and highway 1200 in northwestern Rapides Parish. Minutes later (admittedly after missing our turn and continuing on on 121/1200) Tom Pollock and I spotted an adult Scissor-tailed Flycatcher on highway 1200/121 south of their junction.

   The drive down to Cameron had a host of species as roadside birds, but all were more-or-less what's normal in their areas. It is interesting to note, however, how what 'normal' is shifts as we move further south and out of the woodland zone and into the prairie region, and then into the coastal marshes.

   ***A stop by the exit at Sulphur at Lebleu's for the traditional boudin and cracklins.***
and now back to the show...

Swamp Rabbit (juvenile), Sabine NWR.

   Shortly after entering the marshes on hwy 27 south of Sulphur, one enters Cameron Parish. Widely recognized as one of the best birding areas, if not the best birding area in the state in terms of sheer diversity possible on a given day and in terms of quantity of individuals of some species, and in the likelihood of encountering a rarity or five. One of the first birds of note that day was a flyover Least Bittern in the marshes along highway 27. Admittedly, that was a lifer for me, and (if meticulous Tom chooses to count it) a lifer for Tom as well. We stopped for a short while at the Sabine NWR wetland walkway and I got a look through binoculars at another Least Bittern that flew up from cover and disappeared around the bend of the channel. Unfortunately, Tom didn't get to see it. When out birding, keep an eye out for the other wildlife around. By the parking lot at the wetland walkway were an adult and juvenile Swamp Rabbit that were unusually tame and allowed for a few nice photos.



   As we approached the fork in the road at Holly Beach, the excitement builds. Will there be a rare gull on the beach? A pelagic species visible over the water? We drove the vehicles-permitted part of the beach starting near the east side of Holly Beach, and working our way west of the village. No true rarities, but a Snowy Plover almost right off the bat was nice. Also, there was a nice variety of terns, at least from my inland point of view. The requisite Royal Terns were the most abundant, but there were also a small number of Caspians. The tiny Least Terns were in good numbers, looking like ragdoll versions of their much larger cousins. Among the small terns was also a nice presence of Black Terns. A few Gull-billed Terns were a nice spice to the gumbo, as were a small number of Forster's Terns. All gulls in this area were the ubiquitous Laughing Gulls, and there were p-len-ty of them! Oh yeah, and careful not to run over any of the Sand Crabs running hither-and-thither across the beach!



Reddish Egret, west of Holly Beach, Cameron Parish

   From there, it was westward ho! along Highway 82 to Peveto Woods Sanctuary. Along the way there were lots of gulls, terns, Brown Pelicans, Sanderlings, Willets, and a few other expected species along the beach. We scanned the birds around a distant fishing boat, but no unusual pelagic species could be sussed out, just the usual Brown Pelicans and a few "gull sp.". We did, however, find a lot of terns, Laughing Gulls, Brown Pelicans, and the expected shorebirds along the beach. Along side them were two Reddish Egrets, a life list first for me. When we arrived at Peveto Woods Dave Patton was there doing trail maintenance and other work. This would be a good place to express some thanks to Mr. Patton for the work he does there. Thanks! Also worth a thank you, he filled us in on the birds he'd found that morning. One, the Olive-sided Flycatcher, would be a lifer for me and he lead us directly to it before parting ways to return to his work. The Olive-sided was cooperative enough that we got a few pictures and a good, clear look at the bird. Mr. Patton also mentioned "Trail's" Flycatchers and Yellow Warbler as having been there that morning, but we didn't relocate them on our walk around the trails of the sanctuary around midday. We did, however, pick

Olive-sided Flycatcher, Peveto Woods Sanctuary, near Johnson's Bayou, Cameron Parish

up the Painted Buntings, Orchard Orioles, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, and Eastern Kingbirds that he had mentioned. Also among woodland birds present on the chenier was a Downy Woodpecker. Two wing feathers from an owl; presumably Great Horned, but MAYBE Barn, were found on the ground. Among the more interesting finds to me was the Six-lined Racerunner that I spotted. I'm used to encountering this lizard species on sandy roads through piney woods and cutovers back in cenla. It was interesting to me to see them in this setting, within earshot of the waves on the gulf beach. Also on the reptile front, Dave had seen a Cottonmouth while working. So, watch your step, folks!
  
   ***From there, it was westward on highway 82 to the gas station/store/restaurant by the school in Johnson's Bayou. The burgers are so good!***

   Then westward along Highway 82 to the waters east of the Sabine Pass bridge to hopefully get American Oystercatcher. No such luck, but we did get Herring Gull. We turned around and headed back east on hwy 82 toward Holly Beach. Along the way, we spotted a Mottled Duck in a pond or marshy patch on the north side of the road. Tom spotted a Common Nighthawk in flight, which I missed (don't recall if Jay saw it or not). Fortunately that was not the last of the Nighthawks. At a couple of spots close to one another a little east of the flying bird, we saw several nighthawks, all presumably Common, perched on the posts of the wooden fence that parallels the highway between the highway and the beach. Either we missed them on our earlier pass or they'd arrived in the interim.

Juvenile Laughing Gull "guarding entrance to Cameron Ferry"



Reddish Egret, East Jetty, Cameron Parish

   Holly Beach to the Cameron Ferry on Highway 82/27 didn't give us anything unusual. While waiting for the ferry, at least two different Northern Cardinals were seen a number of times flying across the road from one group of trees/bushes to the other. Dolphins in the Calcasieu and the usual terns, Laughing Gulls, and Brown Pelicans flying above, and the comical Boat-tailed Grackles at either shore made the wait and crossing enjoyable.



Green Heron, East Jetty, Cameron Parish

   Davis Road between the village of Cameron and the East Jetty Park didn't yield up anything unusual, but there's still plenty of birdage to be had. East Jetty Park itself, including the beach, was as always a strong birding experience. Reddish Egret, Green Heron, and Ruddy Turnstone were very

Ruddy Turnstones, East Jetty, Cameron Parish

cooperate when it came to taking photos. I flushed a Clapper Rail and heard another calling in the small area of tall grass near the jetty rocks north of the beach. The beach itself was a pleasant sight to behold. Barn Swallows swooped and swarmed, sometimes passing nearly within arms reach. This year's young terns, Least and Royal, called on the beach as mom and dad came and went on their quest to supply their progeny with fresh fish. Brown Pelicans and Laughing Gulls
glided overhead and landed on the beach. Herons and egrets danced in the surf and porpoises breached here and there in the mouth of the Calcasieu River. Other than the, *ahem*, aroma of the organic mater that one finds rotting on such beaches, it was a very enjoyable experience. The kind of thing that this birder gets a kick out of.
  

Terns, gull and plover at East Jetty Beach, Cameron Parish.
(Upper left and center right) Laughing Gull; (center) Royal,
Black, and Least Terns; and (lower right) Wilson's Plover.

   Back in Cameron itself, we had Eurasian-Collared Dove and White-winged Dove. From there, we continued east on hwy 82/27, took the north fork at the split, and then north on highway 27 through the marshes and over the intercoastal waterway.

Common Gallinule (adult), Pintail Loop, Cameron Prairie
NWR, Cameron Parish

   We made the loop at Pintail Loop on Cameron Prairie NWR. As always, this was full of wonderful, up-close birding. Family after family of Common Gallinules could be found, often quite tame. Several Fulvous Whistling-Ducks, including an adult with young juveniles were seen. Ibises, Black-necked Stilts, Tricolored Herons, and other wading birds and shorebirds dotted the impoundments. American Alligator was present in abundance, and one was seen dangerously close to Common Gallinules until they scattered as we drove past. The adult Purple Gallinule with two fluffy, all-black juveniles gave us a challenging photographic experience as they bobbed and weaved through the grass at the water's edge near the road. Several more Purples were seen after that. At least one American Coot and a small number of Pied-billed Grebe were seen in the water and a Mottled Duck or two as flyovers.


Purple Gallinule (adult), Pintail Loop, Cameron Prairie
NWR, Cameron Parish
 

   After Pintail Loop, it was north on hwy 27 to the headquarters area of Cameron Prairie NWR. At least three Red-bellied Woodpeckers were present in the trees on the south side of the parking area, Common Gallinules and American Alligators were hanging out in an accustomed-to-humans sort of way in the little pond by the parking lot and office building, and a Red-tailed Hawk was seen from the observation tower/boardwalk area.



Juvenile Purple Gallinule "walking on water", Pintail Loop,
Cameron Prairie NWR, Cameron Parish.

   We continued north on hwy 27, then east on Chalkley Road where there was a sudden flurry of Scissor-tailed Flycatchers, adult and juvenile, present along the road side fences and power lines. There were enough for two or three family groups. We continued the route, taking Arceneaux Road north where rice harvesting was underway. Lots of House Sparrows, Common Grackles, and others were gathered here. Then east on Pine Pasture Road which runs along the Cameron-Calcasieu Parish line. No Crested Caracaras. Well, we can't have everything, can we?

   We left Cameron Parish going north on Fruge Road (Eastern Meadowlark, lots of Brown-headed Cowbirds) and made our way to the town or Iowa, then north on highway 165, taking us, after a good while, back to cenla.  Along the way I spotted a pair of Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks fly over highway 165 north of Fenton.

   Though this was not the most bird-packed of my meagre three trips to Cameron, all of them this year, there seems to be no bad time to go to this place. Always something to see, often something really exciting (from a birder's perspective, at least) to be found. I highly recommend that any Louisiana birder who hasn't made the pilgrimage to good ol' Cameron-by-the-Sea, do so. Research on ebird or elsewhere, ask around among birders who know the area well, and check out things like parish checklists. A well planned and well timed trip to Cameron Parish should yield a memorable birding experience, and you'll probably find yourself looking forward to your next trip there.

Wind-sculpted Live Oaks near Peveto Woods Sanctuary.

...Me personally, I miss the Great-tailed and Boad-tailed Grackles. Those things are everywhere down in that part of the state! : )

A complete list of species from our time in Cameron Parish on 8/14/14 is below.



Fulvous Whistling-Duck adult with young, Pintail Loop,
Cameron Prairie NWR, Cameron Parish.

Fulvous Whistling-Duck

Mottled Duck

Pied-billed Grebe

Wood Stork

 

Brown Pelicans, Double-crested Cormorant, Ruddy Turnstone,
Laughing Gulls, and Royal Terns.
 East Jetty Beach, Cameron Parish

Neotropic Cormorant

Double-crested Cormorant

Anhinga

Brown Pelican

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Least Bittern

Great Blue Heron

Great Egret

Snowy Egret

Little Blue Heron

Tricolored Heron

Reddish Egret

Cattle Egret

Green Heron

White Ibis

Juvenile Common Gallinule, by boardwalk behind headquarters
Cameron Prairie NWR, Cameron Parish.

pleg. sp.

Roseate Spoonbill

Black Vulture

Turkey Vulture

Clapper Rail

Purple Gallinule

Common Gallinule

American Coot

 

Black-necked Stilt

Snowy Plover

Wilson's Plover, west of Holly Beach, Cameron Parish.

Wilson's Plover       

Killdeer

Spotted Sandpiper

Willet

Ruddy Turnstone

Sanderling

Laughing Gull

Herring Gull

Least Tern

Gull-billed Tern

Caspian Tern

Black Tern

Forster's Tern

Royal Tern

Gull-billed Tern, Holly Beach, Cameron Parish.

 

Eurasian Collared-Dove

Inca Dove

White-winged Dove

Mourning Dove

Common Nighthawk

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Downy Woodpecker

 

Downy Woodpecker, Peveto Woods Sanctuary,
Cameron Parish.

Olive-sided Flycatcher

Eastern Kingbird

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

Loggerhead Shrike

Blue Jay

Fish Crow

crow sp.

 

Purple Martin

Barn Swallow

Marsh Wren

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Northern Mockingbird

European Starling

Common Yellowthroat

Common Yellowthroat, Sabine NWR, Cameron Parish.

 

 

Northern Cardinal

Painted Bunting

Red-winged Blackbird, Sabine NWR, Cameron Parish

Red-winged Blackbird

Common Grackle

Boat-tailed Grackle

Great-tailed Grackle

Orchard Oriole

House Sparrow

Other Wildlife Encountered:

Blanchard's Cricket Frog
Pig Frog

American Alligator, Pintail Loop, Cameron Prairie NWR.

American Alligator
Six-lined Racerunner

Swamp Rabbit (adult), Sabine NWR, Cameron Parish.

Pond Slider

Swamp Rabbit 
dolphin sp.
porpoise sp.

Juvenile Common Gallinules, Pintail
Loop, Cameron Prairie NWR.

American Alligator, Cameron Prairie
NWR Headquarters. Cameron Parish.

Thanks for reading! A new series of posts focusing on some of the cenla quads covered in the Louisiana Bird Atlas will be coming soon......










Happy Birding!
Jonathan Clark
  

Catahoula NWR, 8/8/14

The Shorebirds Are Coming! The Shorebirds Are Coming! also, passerine dispersals, waterbirds in good diversity.

* Tricolored Heron, Duck Lake, Catahoula NWR HQ Unit

   This morning's trip to the Headquarters Unit of Catahoula National Wildlife Refuge almost didn't happen. Or rather, I was leaning more towards the Willow Lake Unit, planning to withhold this week's HQ Unit trip until a few days down the road. I'm glad I didn't. Despite some recent rains, the seasonal lowering of Duck Lake's water levels is progressing nicely and there's sufficient enough mud flat and exposed shoreline now to attract some decent numbers of shorebirds.
   As is typical, I headed to the north end of Duck Lake first. Along the way I added some of the usual woodland birds, but also a few surprises. At the area where the woods close in around the road due west of the office buildings I heard a Hooded Warbler singing. I stopped, got out, and was rewarded with a nice little cluster of wood warbler spp. Hooded, Black-and-white, and Swainson's Warblers were present with the B-&-W being seen, the Swainson's heard, and the Hooded heard and seen. These species are very sparse breeders on the refuge, in my experience. The only one I feel pretty sure does breed on the HQ unit, at least in accessible areas, is Hooded, and then only an occasional pair. So, these were presumably birds dispersing from their breeding areas or possibly (?) early southbound migrants.
   The area around the road by the north end of Duck Lake has been partially mowed, but thankfully they have abstained from mowing it all as that tends to leave little for the birds that prefer weedy habitats. The Black-necked Stilts were finally present at the lake, so the world is as it should be. Along with the stilts were Killdeer, Least Sandpiper, Greater Yellowlegs, and Spotted Sandpiper. So, definitely not a wide assortment, but this is a fairly "normal" picture of what should be at that spot at this moment in the season. So, things are looking good now.
   One of the nice things about birding is seeing an "old chum" that's showed up when they are expected, even if you forgot to expect them. That's the case today when I clapped eyes on a handsome adult Bald Eagle perched in one of the big Bald Cypresses out in Duck Lake. These birds are fixtures at the lake during fall and winter and sometimes put in appearances at other times as well. Like clockwork, a family will show up when the water starts to drop and prey becomes concentrated. I only saw the one today, but year after year what's presumably the same family will show up with an adult pair and some number of younger "brown" birds.
   The Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks were present, standing on the muddy shore of the northeast corner of the lake. Multiple Tricolored Herons is always nice, and reminds me of a few years ago when they were more common at this locale than they've been recently. Decent numbers of Great Blue and Little Blue Herons, Great and Snowy and Cattle Egrets, a juvenile Black-crowned Night-Heron, Roseate Spoonbills, and both White and presumably White-faced (plegadis species) Ibis were present. However, Wood Storks were not noted on this trip. Both Double-crested and Neotropic Cormorants were seen.
   Painted Buntings were suddenly quite few compared to the last trip, though Indigo Buntings were still quite conspicuous and a good many males were still singing somewhat regularly.
   After my usual stand-around at the north end of Duck Lake I turned around and drove back to the fork by the office area. I took the south fork as far as the right-of-way that leads to the lake (about 0.8 mile from fork). This time I got out and walked the length of the right-of-way, which ends by the edge of the lakebed, about 0.3 to 0.5 of a mile from the main refuge loop road. The foray to this side of the loop proved quite fruitful, as I picked up Mississippi Kite and a good many Red-eyed Vireo and Acadian Flycatcher on this side and walking the right-of-way gave me a better look at the birds present on this side of the lake. Lesser Yellowlegs were added to the list of shorebirds, plus additional Killdeers, Black-necked Stilts, Least and Spotted Sandpipers. Terns seen cruising up and down the lake, far out over the water, proved tricky to identify because of the great distance. Eventually, after some attempts at scrutiny, I settled on what happened to have been my first hunch, which was Caspian Tern.
   Other wildlife found on this trip include Fowler's Toad - 1 juv., Green Treefrog - many chorusing around north end of Duck Lake, Cope's Gray Treefrog -2, Green Frog (Bronze) -2, White-tailed Deer -large buck with approx. 10-point antlers, and a family group of wild hogs.
   So, things are looking to be shaping up for a decent late summer / early fall waterbird season on the HQ Unit of Catahoula NWR. Hopefully the coming weeks bring even more goodies!

Below is the complete list of the birds found on this trip.
7:03 am to 9:16 am. Traveled 2.3 miles. Conditions: 76 to 84 degrees f., light breeze, sunny. Water level marker at north end of Duck Lake showed approx. 34.5 feet. Water level down from 8/2/14 visit.
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck - 2
Wood Duck - 1 female

Neotropic Cormorant - 1
Double-crested Cormorant - 2
Anhinga - 5

Great Blue Heron - 5
Great Egret - 10
Snowy Egret - 5
Little Blue Heron - 9
Tricolored Heron - 4
Cattle Egret - 78
Black-crowned Night-Heron - 1 juvenile
White Ibis - 40
pleg. sp. (? White-faced Ibis? ) - 12
Roseate Spoonbill - 12

Mississippi Kite - 1
Bald Eagle - 1 adult
Red-shouldered Hawk - 3: 1 adult and 2 juveniles

Black-necked Stilt - 23
Killdeer - 7
Spotted Sandpiper - 3
Greater Yellowlegs - 1
Lesser Yellowlegs - 10
Least Sandpiper - 16

Caspian Tern - 3

Mourning Dove - 5

Yellow-billed Cuckoo - 6

Belted Kingfisher - 1

Red-bellied Woodpecker - 4
Downy Woodpecker - 2
Pileated Woodpecker - 1

Eastern Wood-Pewee - 1
Acadian Flycatcher - 6
Eastern Kingbird - 3

White-eyed Vireo - 8
Red-eyed Vireo - 6

Blue Jay - 5
American Crow - 7

Barn Swallow - 2

Carolina Chickadee - 6
Tufted Titmouse - 7

Carolina Wren - 13

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 2

Northern Mockingbird - 3

Black-and-white Warbler - 1 female or juv./immature type plumage (white throat)
Prothonotary Warbler - 1 seen
Swainson's Warbler - 1 singing once or twice
Hooded Warbler - 1 adult male
Northern Parula - 2 heard singing

Summer Tanager - 1
Northern Cardinal - 16
Indigo Bunting - 14
Painted Bunting - 2

Red-winged Blackbird - 10
Common Grackle - 15

* My camera has been 'being uncooperative' lately, so I wasn't able to get any pics from this day's trip. However, I included this photo of a Tricolored Heron that I took a few years ago, as the species was found on this trip and, in fact, some were foraging by the very tree that the bird in the photo was in.

Happy Birding!
Jonathan Clark


  

The Woodland Vole

Woodland Vole

Microtus pinetorum

Dead Woodland Vole (killed by Blue Jays?).

 

   The diminutive Woodland Vole has to be, it must be said, one of the cuter residents of our forests. Yes, I did say cute. In overall form they are a fat little mouse with a large head, a round, plump, compact body, very short ears, and a short tail. The eyes are small. The color of the fur is a warm medium-to-dark brown overall with gray tones in the under-pelage.

   These voles are denizens of the forest floor where they burrow in the moist/soft soil under leaf litter and pine straw. I have had the good fortune of finding their tunnels present for a time in the area of my yard adjacent to a wooded fence row. The ground there was covered with a mat of pine straw which the little mammals appeared to tunnel through and in the ground underneath. Some exposed tunnels extended beyond the straw and leaf litter. The tunnel entrances were typically near where I'd often put out birdseed. Of course.

   One of the more memorable little wildlife experiences that I've had in recent years involved rescuing a Woodland Vole from a swimming pool. This afforded an excellent and all-too-rare chance to view one up close and alive. I have also found a freshly dead individual on the lawn after going to investigate what several Blue Jays were aggressively vocalizing about. I half expected to find a hawk or an owl or possibly a snake; something that Blue Jays might be expected to be mobbing. The only thing out of the ordinary was the sad little form of the dead vole out on the exposed short grass lawn between the fencerow mentioned above and a little plum tree with some scant cover around it's base.

Dead Woodland Vole (killed by Blue Jays?).

   If you keep bird feeders, especially near hedges or other cover, take a look around and see if there are any tell-tale little mole-tunnel like disturbances nearby. The fallen bird seed may just entice these shy and easily overlooked little critters to make your yard part of their home. Please do not poison or otherwise attempt to eradicate them, as Woodland Voles are essentially harmless, never infest homes or other buildings, and are not likely to become exceptionally common and therefore are unlikely to become destructive to your plants. Be glad that you have these awfully nifty little mammals among your yard's wildlife.

Best;

Jonathan Clark

Catahoula NWR HQ Unit, 8/2/14

Some days you just gotta take what they give ya.

   This morning's trip to the Headquarters Unit of Catahoula National Wildlife was not one of great spectacles or special rarities, but that doesn't mean there weren't things worth the short drive. The water, probably mostly due to recent significant rainfall events, was just too high in Duck Lake to allow for much shorebird habitat. Likewise, wading birds weren't offered the concentrated fish-in-barrel feeding opportunities that the late summer / early fall drawdown typically brings. However waders were present in appreciable numbers and there was decent bird activities from other groups, especially passerine family groups, that made for an interesting enough trip.

 

  This most recent ongoing rainfall event must have brought a real gully-washer to the refuge last night. The corn field adjacent to the entrance had water backed up all through the rows, the ditches flowing into the refuge were rolling merrily (and muddily) along, and the gravel road of the refuge loop, a good quality and well maintained gravel road, was just about as slushy as I've ever seen it.

 

   I headed to the north end of Duck Lake first to do my usual long stand-around period there, picking up a few of the usual woodland birds along the way, and was pleased to see a decent showing of wading birds when I got to the lake. Among the species present were Wood Stork, Great Blue and Little Blue Herons, Great and Snowy Egrets, White Ibis, and the always awesome pretty-in-pink Roseate Spoonbills. Spoonbills were unexpectedly missing from my previous trip to this locale, so it was doubly nice to see them here in relatively good numbers as should be. Some flyover Cattle Egrets and, later, a flyover pleg. sp. ibis (probably White-faced Ibis) were seen. Notice, though, that the list of waders is missing some of the usuals such as Green and Tricolored Herons and at least one of the two night-heron species.

 

   The only shorebird was a Spotted Sandpiper seen in flight out over the lake. Normally there's at least one or two Spotteds around, often foraging at the edge by the levee or hanging out at the boat ramp. This has been a really weak year for shorebirds at this locale so far. Typically at this time in the season there'd always be a flock of Black-necked Stilts around, yipping and yapping and putting on a show, and at least some small rag-tag assortment of southbound sandpipers plus the obligatory Killdeer. Not this mid-late summer, though. Not so far, anyway. Fingers crossed for the water to finally go down! 

 

  A pair of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks came flying in and circled the northeast corner of the lake as though they were going to land, but then flew on northward beyond the road. Not all that uncommon in this area these days, but its still a nice little boost to see these guys. Though I've not seen obviously young birds of this species around that I can recall, their regular presence in spring and summer in the Catahoula NWR and Catahoula Lake area in recent years surely suggests a breeding population. Maybe this couple just left the kids at home?

 

   Others, however, brought the whole family out. The Painted Buntings in the weedy/brushy strip along the levee at the north end of the lake included multiple juveniles. A family group could be seen together, youngsters following adults around. Likewise, Northern Cardinal juveniles were seen out and about with the adults. The Indigo Bunting males were still singing quite frequently, but the Painted Bunting males seemed to have completely stopped territorial singing.

Male Painted Bunting, refuge loop atop the levee at north end of Duck Lake.

 

 

   After turning around at the northwest corner of the loop by Cowpen Bayou, I retraced my path back to the fork by the sign-in area and took the south fork along the eastern edge of the refuge. This area offers some good forest songbird opportunities without having to drive the entire loop and go through the heart of the big woods. I only went as far as the gated right-of-way (which I saw has just been turned into a gravel road, lets hope they DO NOT open it to vehicles as that will really mess with the fall and winter waterfowl on the lake) about 0.8 mile from the fork. Though, of course, the post-breeding doldrums are in full swing and the birds aren't singing nearly so much, I was still able to hear a few Red-eyed Vireos and Acadian Flycatchers. The Kentucky and Hooded Warblers that had been in that area earlier this breeding season were not in evidence.

 

   Among the other wildlife encountered were two White-tailed Deer bucks. Young-looking, not appearing very large for male White-tailed, one had antlers that looked about right for a small 6-point or 4 point, the other one maybe spikes. The foggy conditions meant that I couldn't see them too terribly clearly. Other non-avian wildlife includes Blanchard's Cricket Frog - very small chorus by north end of lake, Green Treefrog - significant chorusing at north end of lake area, Cope's Gray Treefrog - 2 heard, Fowler's Toad -2 heard, and a Swamp Rabbit.

   All-in-all, this was not the hundreds-of-egrets-and-a-half-dozen-shorebird-sp. morning that it could have been, but it was nice to have an August morning that was CLOUDY and vaguely COOL and just down right PLEASANT. I will gladly take such a morning, go birding, and be thankful for what I find!

 

Complete (but meager compared to many for this location!) bird list for this morning on HQ unit or Catahoula NWR is below.

8/2/14, 6:43 am to 8:46 am, 2.4 miles. Conditions: 73 to 74 degrees f., cloudy/light fog, near calm/light breeze. Water level marker at north end of Duck Lake showed 34.8 feet. Birded driving a section of the refuge loop with numerous stops and a long stand-around period at north end of Duck Lake.

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck - 2

 

Wood Stork - 11

 

cormorant sp. (Neotropic?) - 1

Anhinga - 6

 

Great Blue Heron - 6

Great Egret - 38

Snowy Egret - 6

Little Blue Heron - 9 - 3 adult, 6 juvenile.

Cattle Egret - 14

White Ibis - 31 - 30 adult,  1 juvenile.

pleg. sp. - 1

Roseate Spoonbill - 30, adults and young birds

 

Red-shouldered Hawk - 1

 

Spotted Sandpiper - 1

 

Morning Dove - 18

 

Yellow-billed Cuckoo - 3

 

Chimney Swift - 1

 

Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 1

 

Red-bellied Woodpecker - 3

Pileated Woodpecker - 1

 

Eastern Wood-Pewee - 1

Acadian Flycatcher - 3

Eastern Kingbird - 1

 

White-eyed Vireo - 3

Red-eyed Vireo - 2

 

Blue Jay - 3

American Crow - 1

 

Northern Rough-winged Swallow - 7

Cliff Swallow - 3

sw. sp. - a few out over lake in the distance that could not definitely be assigned a species.

 

Carolina Chickadee - 6

Tufted Titmouse - 1

 

Carolina Wren - 9

 

European Starling - 13. Flyover at Duck Lake early, headed east.

 

Northern Parula - 1

 

Summer Tanager - 1

Northern Cardinal - 19. Includes at least a couple of juv., probably more.

Indigo Bunting - 14: 9 singing (male), 1 male, 1 female, 3 age/sex unknown.

Painted Bunting - 6: 1 adult male, 1 adult female, 4 juv.

 

Red-winged Blackbird - 10

Common Grackle - 190. In post-breeding flocks.

Orchard Oriole - 3

 

And that's about it for now.

Happy Birding!

Jonathan Clark

An Introduction

Barred Owl, Catahoula NWR HQ Unit, La Salle Parish

   So, before any 'real' posts are posted, I'd very much like to lay out what this blog is about, what I hope to accomplish with it, who will be contributing info, photos, and stories from the field, and give a "thank you" or two where they are very much due.

 

   Firstly, I want to express my gratitude to my dear friend Keisha Johnson for encouraging me to start this blog. Without a few nudges and shoves, I'd likely never have actually done something like start a blog. Thank You! To my friends, fellow Cenla birders, and comrades in mosquito-swatting and shoe be-muddening Beth Willis, Jay Huner, and Tom Pollock; thank you for your enthusiasm for this project and the observations, suggestions, and other contributions to this blog which have already started coming in. Thanks guys!

 

Why Blog About It?

 

Cowpen Bayou, Catahoula NWR HQ Unit, La Salle Parish.

Kisatchie National Forest, Hardwater Lake Rd., Grant Parish

   Well, to those who call this area home or who have made themselves acquainted with it, its no secret that Cenla is a wonderful place for birding, outdoor photography, and any other excuse to get outdoors and seek out the extraordinary wildlife and plant life that call this region of The Bayou State home. Though perhaps not quite as celebrated (and fairly so, I must admit) as some of the more southerly parts of our state, Cenla does none the less support some fascinating biological communities. Uplands and bottomlands and wetlands and all in between, there's something interesting creeping and crawling or swimming or flying that can be found there, you just have to look and listen and discover.

  Hopefully, the posts in this blog will allow myself and the other birders/outdoors enthusiasts mentioned above to share our experiences and observations concerning birding and other nature-related activities in a casual but meaningful way. Discussions on various aspects of these topics are also sure to come up. If you are interested in birding, studying wildlife (and, if things go as planned, maybe wildflowers and other plant life as well), and probably hunting and fishing for that matter, then I hope that this blog will be informative and spark your curiosity. Grab your binoculars and pencil and paper and come on over to our neck of the woods!

 

Happy Birding-and-such!

Jonathan Clark