Catahoula NWR HQ Unit, 10/16/14

Orchard Orbweaver

Tom and Brenda Pollock and I went to the Headquarters Unit of Catahoula NWR on October 16. Despite arriving at almost 9 o'clock, we still managed to get nearly 3 hours of good birding. Here are some details of the trip, photos, and the complete species count.
   We didn't get very much bird activity between the entrance and our first get-out-of-the-car stop at the north end of Duck Lake. However, we lucked up at the edge of the woods just before reaching the lake and got two FOS Ruby-crowned Kinglets. The list started to really grow by the lake -- a pair of American Kestrels, a Tricolored Heron, a Neotropic Cormorant, to name a few. We, however, didn't see any of the American White Pelicans at this particular spot, though they were here in the hundreds on the 14th. However, a hunter driving past stopped to chat briefly and said that he had seen large numbers of pelicans earlier.

North end of Duck Lake

We found a single American Coot in the cove that extends from the NW corner of the lake, going toward Cowpen Bayou.
   We continued west and south along the section of the refuge loop that parallels Cowpen Bayou. We made numerous stops, sometimes getting out for a short while. At one such stop, shadows of something large flying overhead while we were attempting to get decent photos of spiders/spider webs brought our attention skyward. 6 American White Pelicans! Well, its no 463, but that at least got them on the day's list. Among birds heard and seen along this section of the loop that were detected from the vehicle were a calling Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and a silent Eastern Wood-Pewee perched on a dead branch. Enthusiastic for Empidonax, we misidentified it as an Acadian Flycatcher when it got agitated and flew when it heard Acadian audio playback. Shameful, not knowing a Pewee when I see it, I know! haha. But, thanks to Dr. Remsen for correcting the mistake by looking at the photos and also pointing out that Empids aren't likely to be seen in the exposed perch hunting mode that the Pewee was in.

Eastern Wood-Pewee
 

Cowpen Bayou

   At another stop in this area Tom pointed out what would be our FOS Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. We also got Anhinga in Cowpen Bayou. Though very tough to find wintering in this area of the state in general, they can be found on practically every trip along Cowpen Bayou during the winter half of the year, if you keep your eyes open. Sometimes they'll be spotted on other parts of HQ during the wintering period as well. Of course, the species is very common during the summer half of the year.

Trail to the observation tower

   A walk down the trail to the observation tower at the SW corner of Duck Lake was rewarding. Along the trail we saw and photographed a number of Blanchard's Cricket Frogs. I have noticed that on some autumn days on the refuge, they can be seen, often in great numbers, hopping out of the way along the HQ unit's walking-only trails.

Blanchard's Cricket Frog, showing how effective their coloring
is at camouflaging them against the forest floor.

   There wasn't a lot of bird activity on the lake visible from the tower, but we did have an adult Bald Eagle circling almost directly above the tower itself. Swallows were flying about out over the lake and a couple of more pelicans were tallied.
   After that, we drove back the way we came, and found a decent sized American Alligator in the bayou, offering a nice photo op.
   All in all, a nice trip.

Complete bird species list for the day is below.

Blanchard's Cricket Frog, this one with a green pattern on its
back showing some of the variability in coloring found in this
common species.

American Alligator

Species list for 10/16/14
8:54 am to 11:51 am
Conditions: mild, clear, calm.
Birding driving approx. 5 miles of the 9 mile refuge loop, numerous stops, some stand around periods and short walks.

Wood Duck - 7
Northern Shoveler - 6

Neotropic Cormorant - 1
Double-crested Cormorant - 3
cormorant sp. - 2
Anhinga - 1
American White Pelican - 8

Great Blue Heron - 10
Great Egret - 6
Snowy Egret - 3
Tricolored Heron - 1
White Ibis - 2

Black Vulture - 1
Turkey Vulture - 10
Bald Eagle - 1 adult
Red-shouldered Hawk - 2

American Coot - 1

Killdeer - 4
Greater Yellowlegs - 3

Belted Kingfisher - 1

Red-bellied Woodpecker - 4
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - 1
Downy Woodpecker - 1
Northern Flicker - 3
Pileated Woodpecker - 4

American Kestrel - 2 , a female and a male seen together

Eastern Wood-Pewee - 1
Eastern Phoebe - 7

White-eyed Vireo - 1

Blue Jay - 3
American Crow - 9

Northern Rough-winged Swallow - 1
Barn Swallow - 14
swallow sp. - 40

Carolina Chickadee - 20
Tufted Titmouse - 4

Carolina Wren - 8

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 1

Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 2

Northern Mockingbird - 1

Northern Cardinal - 14
Indigo Bunting - 4

Red-winged Blackbird - 30

passerine sp. - 1

   Recently, I've been focusing on Catahoula NWR on the blog, but I have some trips to other areas in this part of Cenla planned for the next few days or so. I look forward to blogging the results of those excursions, and hope to have some interesting finds, more First Of Season birds to report, and describing some unlikely but worth while places for birding and other nature-appreciation related activities.

Happy Birding!
Jonathan Clark

p.s.
Beware of Sky Spiders!
lol




 

Catahoula NWR, First Half of October 2014

North end of Duck Lake

Its been a while since my last post, and there's a number of things that I'd like to get caught up on, but I think that first I should cover the trips to Catahoula NWR, HQ Unit for the first two weeks of October. October is a great time to bird this location, especially the month taken as a whole as one can see the shift from summer to winter avifauna quite dramatically over those particular 4 weeks or so.
   The trip for the first week of the month and the second will be handled separately within this blog entry, and each will have my species list from that day and a few photos. Here goes....

   10/3/14
   The air felt more-or-less like autumn, which is an encouraging sign. One expects to find new arrivals, FOS's, when birding a fall-like early October morning. I birded the nearer sections of the refuge loop, driving first on the north side as far as the corner by Cowpen Bayou and including a long time standing around by the north end of Duck Lake. After that I backtracked and took the east leg south and turned around at the right-of-way that turns off the west side of the road, showing Duck Lake in the distance.
   Some summer birds still holding strong, and evidence of southward migration by neotrops was in evidence. Also, though, a few FOS winter species had finally arrived.


Eastern Fox Squirrel foraging on the ground.

   This was also the day before the opening day of squirrel season, and the abundant Eastern Fox 
Squirrels (Eastern Gray Squirrels seem not to inhabit the woods of the HQ unit) seen that day would be undetected on the next week's trip. The beginnings of last year's squirrel season fell during the government shutdown, and as a result the extremely high numbers of hunters that normally flock to this locale for the opening weekend weren't able to hunt it. This has lead to a robust squirrel population at this location over this past year. I should clarify that I am not anit-hunting in general, but it is very interesting to note that the excessive hunting pressure that marks most early Octobers on the HQ unit does have an unduly strong effect on the resident squirrel population, making it often seem somewhat small relative to the truly excellent quality of the habitat.

Eastern Fox Squirrel

Species list for 10/3/14:
8:50 am to 10:02 am.
Conditions were 72 to 74 degrees f., light breeze to near calm, cloudy. Water level marker at north end of Duck Lake showed 34.2 feet.
Traveled 2.4 miles with numerous stops, long stand-around period at north end of Duck Lake.

Blue-winged Teal - 23
Northern Shoveler - 7
duck sp. - 30

White Ibis

Pied-billed Grebe - 1

cormorant sp. - 1

Great Blue Heron - 3
Great Egret - 5
Snowy Egret - 1
Little Blue Heron - 2
Tricolored Heron - 4
White Ibis - 21
Roseate Spoonbill - 1

Black Vulture - 2
Turkey Vulture - 5
Cooper's Hawk - 1 (FOS)
Bald Eagle - 1
Red-shouldered Hawk - 2

peep sp. - 4

Yellow-billed Cuckoo

Yellow-billed Cuckoo - 1

Red-bellied Woodpecker - 6
Downy Woodpecker - 2
Northern Flicker - 2
Pileated Woodpecker - 2

Downy Woodpecker

American Kestrel - 1


Eastern Wood-Pewee - 1
Eastern Phoebe - 1 (FOS)











Eastern Wood-Pewee (previously misidentified as Empidonax sp.)

White-eyed Vireo - 6

Blue Jay - 5
American Crow - 2
crow sp. - 3

Carolina Chickadee - 6
Tufted Titmouse - 2

Carolina Wren - 9

Easter Bluebird - 2



A closer look at the Eastern Wood-Pewee

Gray Catbird - 1


Northern Cardinal

Brown Thrasher - 1

Nashville Warbler - 1 (FOS)
Common Yellowthroat - 3
Hooded Warbler - 2
American Redstart - 3
Northern Parula - 3

Northern Cardinal - 12
Blue Grosbeak - 1
Indigo Bunting - 5

Indigo Bunting

Red-winged Blackbird - 50

passerine sp. - 2


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

10/14/14

North end of Duck Lake, showing some of the pelicans present.

  It was one of those cool, crisp mornings when you just know that its autumn. Bird activity was fairly good. The only non-avian wildlife observed (not counting the fish activity on the lake) was a young American Alligator in the slough that flows into / out of Duck Lake. No squirrels seen or heard along the road. I birded driving a short section of the refuge loop from entrance to my usual parking spot by the north end of Duck Lake (about 1.1 mile). A number of short stops, and a long stand around period at north end of the lake.
   The hoard of American White Pelicans that greeted me when I got near the lake was quite a sight. There were significantly more than I am used to at this locale. Also nice was a first year Lark Sparrow spotted along the road at the north end of the lake and a Sharp-shinned Hawk cruising the wood line by the NW corner of the lake. Both of those were FOS.

American White Pelican

Species list for 10/14/14:
7:16 am to 9:01 am
Conditions were 55 to 59 degrees f., clear, near calm to light breeze. Water level marker at north end of Duck Lake showed 34.3 feet.
Traveled 1.1 mile.

Wood Duck - 7
Northern Shoveler - 3
Blue-winged Teal - 7
duck sp. - 1

Neotropic Cormorant - 1
Double-crested Cormorant - 2
cormorant sp. - 1
American White Pelican - 463

American White Pelicans

Great Blue Heron - 4
Great Egret - 23
Snowy Egret - 4
Little Blue - 1
Tricolored Heron - 3

Great Blue Heron

White Ibis - 2
Roseate Spoonbill - 29



Black Vulture - 15
Turkey Vulture - 2
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1 (FOS)
Red-shouldered Hawk - 3

Killdeer - 1
Greater Yellowlegs - 3
peep sp. - 4
Dowitcher sp. - 90
shorebird sp. - 12

Mourning Dove - 1

Red-bellied Woodpecker - 2
Downy Woodpecker - 1
Northern Flicker - 2
Pileated Woodpecker - 2

Eastern Phoebe - 1

Blue Jay - 3
American Crow - 3
Fish Crow - 1

Northern Rough-winged Swallow - 2
Tree Swallow - 9
Barn Swallow - 12
Swallow sp. - 50

Carolina Chickadee - 9

Eastern Meadowlark

Carolina Wren - 3

Eastern Bluebird - 1

Common Yellowthroat - 2

Lark Sparrow - 1 (FOS)

Northern Cardinal - 6
Indigo Bunting - 5

Red-winged Blackbird - 55
Eastern Meadowlark - 1

American White Pelicans

Coming up over the course of the next few days I'll be putting up several new blog posts, catching up to the present and including some material from the last couple of months that I've neglected to cover. Included will be one for the trip that Tom and Brenda Pollock and I took to the Catahoula NWR HQ Unit on 10/16/14.

Happy Birding!
Jonathan