Catahoula NWR 10/23/15

American White Pelicans at Duck Lake, Catahoula NWR HQ Unit, La Salle Parish

Observation platform, looking S/SW along Duck Lake

Observation platform, looking N/NW along Duck Lake

   Tom Pollock and I made a trip to the headquarters unit of Catahoula National Wildlife Refuge on October 23. Despite generally dry, drought conditions recently and mild, unexceptional weather that day, the wildlife viewing was pretty good. We drove the nine-mile refuge loop "clockwise" with numerous stops and stand-around periods and two significant walks -- the east-west walk-in only road between the east leg of the refuge loop and the east edge of Duck Lake and a little further along at the nature trail to the observation platform.
   Birds were not in impressive numbers or diversity, but it was nice to have a few winter species present. Among them were Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warbler, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, and Eastern Phoebe. We had our First of Season Swamp Sparrows that day, skulking in waterside vegetation along Cowpen Bayou and FOS Ring-billed Gulls flyover near north end of Duck Lake. However, we were missing some winter species that would have been expected at this date and location, most notably White-throated Sparrow.
   Waterbirds were not in great concentrations as the lake level was not lowered this summer-fall season as it would normally be, but the drought had exposed a band of open muddy shoreline and some shorebirds were making use of it and the nearby shallows. We saw several small groups of American Avocet and a couple of Black-necked Stilts as well as flocks of Long-billed Dowitcher, Least Sandpiper, a couple of Western Sandpipers, and a few of both Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs.


Lesser Yellowlegs (left) and Greater Yellowlegs (right), Catahoula NWR HQ Unit, La Salle Parish

tentative i.d.: Symphyotricum sp.

Wading waterbirds, such as herons and ibises, were pretty sparse. A few ducks were present: Blue-winged Teal, a pair of Wood Ducks, a Northern Shoveler. Bald Eagle is always a fun bird to see: we had an adult flyover at Duck Lake.   There may have been a couple of individuals of a rare species for this part of the state-- Yellow-headed Blackbird -- seen in a flock of the commonplace Red-winged Blackbirds, but I'll withhold including them on the checklist until/if the distant/blurry photos can prove it.

   Wildflowers were defying the dusty, dry conditions, if looking a bit rough and stunted. Large numbers of Sida sp. (tentative i.d.) were present and Symphyotricum (tentative i.d.) were a common sight along the road and walk-in road. Butterflies of several species were utilizing these two types of flowers especially.

tentative i.d.: Sida species (Prickly Fanpetals, Sida spinosa?)

Halbeardleaf Rosemallow
(Hibiscus laevis)

Hibiscus mallow species -- the ones that I looked closely at appeared to all be Halberdleaf Rosemallow -- were blooming along the fringes of the lake. At the lake end or the walk-in road I noticed what I think are Fourspike Heliotrope. A single Indian Heliotrope was noticed along the walk.

Indian Heliotrope (Heliotropus indicum), an introduced, naturalized species

Fourspike Heliotrope (Heliotropium procumbens, presumed i.d.), a native species of Heliotrope

a younger/smaller specimen of Fourspike Heliotrope (again, tentative i.d.)

White Morning-Glory (Ipomoea lacunose)

Among the other wildflowers noted that day were Blue Mistflower, some sort of Lamiaceae (mint family) species (i.d. pending), smartweed species (Polygonaceae), White Morning-Glory, Arrowhead, and Goldenrod (Solidago). See images below. I believe these identifications are correct, but I am still a novice at wildflower identification (as I am with Lepidoptera), so don't take this as gospel! I'll edit/correct for mistakes if any should come to light. (see end of post for suggestions for wildflower i.d. websites.)

Blue Mistflower (Conoclinium coelestinum)

Lamiaceae species (i.d. pending). These little plants were common along wooded parts of refuge loop.
Up-close, you could smell the somewhat minty fragrance.

"smartweed" species (Polygonaceae family), i.d. pending

Common Arrowhead (Sagittaria latifolia)

Little Yellow (Pyrisitia lisa)

   We saw a good variety of butterflies and a few moth species, some of which I managed to get passable photos of. Little Yellow and (Common) Checkered-Skipper were the two most frequently seen butterflies, with the yellows being present almost everywhere (tallied 59 individuals), and the skippers (36) being found in nice concentrations in a number of roadside locations, both while driving and on foot on the walk-in road.

female Common Checkered-Skipper (Pyrgus)

Pearl Crescent (Pyciodes tharos)

Carolina Satyr (Hermeuptychia)

Smaller but respectable numbers of Pearl Crescent (about 8) and Carolina Satyr (about 4) were seen as well. The later two species were seen several times on the nature trail between the refuge loop and the observation platform as well as elsewhere. I was not expecting to find Sleepy Oranges as frequently as we did during the course of the trip (about 8).

Sleepy Orange (Abaeis nicippe) nectaring on presumed Sida

At the end of the walk-in road mentioned above I spotted the first Dainty Yellow that I've been able to photograph and document. Also along the walk-in road were a couple of Clouded Skippers and an Eastern Tailed-Blue.

Dainty Yellow (Nathalis iole)

Dainty Yellow (Nathalis iole)

Clouded Skipper (Lerema accius)

Eastern Tailed-Blue (Cupido comyntas).
A very worn-looking individual that was confusing until I took a closer look.

   Driving around the refuge loop we saw several Gulf Fritillary (6), Common Buckeye (3), and a Monarch (1). Several Sulphurs -- Cloudless or maybe Clouded Sulphur -- were spotted along the drive as well (about 4).
   Just east of the NW corner of the loop (just east of Cowpen Bayou, beside ditch to Duck Lake) we found a productive patch of flowers for butterflies, adding Phaon Crescent (1), Gray Hairstreak (2), and Fiery Skipper (1) to the day's Lepidoptera list at that one spot.

Phaon Crescent (Phyciodes phaon)

Gray Hairstreak (Strymon melinus)

Fiery Skipper (Hylephila phyleus)

   Moths -- which, for the most part, I have a lot of trouble identifying -- included the five species pictured below.


moth sp. (i.d. pending)

moth species (i.d. pending)

tentative i.d.: Smoky Tetanolita (Tetanolita mynesalis)

moth species (i.d.: pending)

tentative i.d.: Velvetbean Caterpillar Moth (Anticarsia gemmatalis)

Fowler's Toad

The two that I have fairly confident i.d.'s for are the Tetanolita Moth and the Velvetbean Caterpillar Moth. The former was found on the nature trail, the later I came across amid deadfall down in the woods while trying to get in position to photograph an armadillo (see below) near Cowpen Bayou. Hopefully, with a little research, I can get a positive i.d. on all five species.

   Other arthropods seen out and about included Golden Silk Orbweaver Spiders (Nephila) and Orchard Orbweavers (Leucauge).

Green Anole, in rather camouflaged brown mode

   Amphibians included Fowler's Toad, Blanchard's Cricket Frog, and Cope's Gray Treefrog. The toad was seen and the treefrog heard along the nature trail, and the cricket frogs were mostly seen at the dry, cracked former shallow pool at the end of the walking road near the edge of the lake. Reptiles included American Alligator, Little Brown Skink, Green Anole, and River Cooter.

River Cooter (Pseudemys concinna) in Cowpen Bayou. Tom, with an eye for reptiles, i.d.-ed it in the field at some distance.

Nine-banded Armadillo

   The day's mammal list was short -- only Eastern Fox Squirrel and Nine-banded Armadillo. However, we did stop to spend a few minutes trying to get some photos of the armadillo.
   It was an excellent several hours out in the woods, and thankfully, as heralded by a few sparse sprinkled raindrops felt during that trip, the weeks without much rain came to an end soon after. Thanks to the rain, another possible trip to this location in the coming days will hopefully show the plantlife -- and animal life reliant on it -- in good form for one last hurrah before the colder parts of the year.

(edited to add in this paragraph.... sorry, forgot about this part when I published the post)... For good places to look up wildflower i.d.'s, at least if you live in this part of the country, I'd suggest southeasternflora.com and wildflower.org as a couple of strong options. As for butterflies and moths, butterfliesandmoths.org has good material, especially for learning what species might be present in one's region. These are just a few of many good sites out there; a few that I think are helpful for relative novices like myself.

Complete bird list from the trip is below.......

American Alligator and Halberdleaf Rosemallow on the banks of Duck Lake Slough

***************************************
Date: October 23, 2015
Time: 8:43 am to 2:38 pm
Location: Catahoula NWR Headquarters Unit
Conditions: Cloudy, on-and-off light breeze, start temp. 72 degrees f., water level marker at north end of Duck Lake showed approx. 34.5 feet.
Protocol: Field birding, approx. 10.5 miles total: drove the 9-ish mile loop w/ numerous stops, plus walking roughly 1.5 miles.

Wood Duck - 2
Blue-winged Teal - 11

Blue-winged Teals and White-faced Ibis

Northern Shoveler - 1
duck sp. - 5

Pied-billed Grebe - 2

Double-crested Cormorant - 24
Anhinga - 4
American White Pelican - 90

Great Blue Heron - 11
Great Egret - 15
Snowy Egret - 1
White Ibis - 14
White-faced Ibis - 7
Roseate Spoonbill - 2

Turkey Vulture - 1
Bald Eagle - 1
hawk sp. - 2

Black-necked Stilt - 2
American Avocet - 35
Killdeer - 3
Greater Yellowlegs - 6
Lesser Yellowlegs - 2
yellowlegs sp. - 10
Least Sandpiper - 80
Western Sandpiper - 2
peep sp. - 50
Long-billed Dowitcher - 55

Least Sandpipers

Ring-billed Gull - 7

Mourning Dove - 12

Belted Kingfisher - 1

Red-bellied Woodpecker - 22
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - 1
Downy Woodpecker - 3
Northern Flicker - 7
Pileated Woodpecker - 4

Eastern Phoebe - 18

Blue Jay - 2
American Crow - 10

Northern Rough-winged Swallow - x
Tree Swallow - 100
Barn Swallow - 20
swallow sp. - 300

Carolina Chickadee - 22
Tufted Titmouse - 2

Carolina Wren - 6

Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 3

Eastern Bluebird - 1

Gray Catbird - 1
Brown Thrasher - 1
Northern Mockingbird -  1

Yellow-rumped Warbler - 12

Swamp Sparrow - 2
Eastern Towhee - 1

Northern Cardinal - 20
Indigo Bunting - 5

Red-winged Blackbird flock

Red-winged Blackbird - 130
blackbird species - 10

Golden Silk Orbweaver spider on the raised walkway leading up to the observation platform on the nature trail