Kisatchie National Forest / Catahoula Hummingbird and Butterfly Garden, Grant Parish, 4/22/2016

Eastern Bluebird, Catahoula Hummingbird and Butterfly Garden, Grant Parish, Louisiana

   One of the most enjoyable things about getting out in nature is sharing the experience with someone. This time I was joined by my very dear long-time friend Keisha Johnson. This was her first time birding, but being the intelligent and inquisitive person she is, she'd been curious about it for some time.


Baltimore Oriole, Catahoula Hummingbird and
Butterfly Garden, Grant Parish

   Before visiting the Catahoula Hummingbird and Butterfly Garden and Work Center Road area of Kisatchie National Forest, in the Catahoula Ranger District in Grant Parish, we made a quick visit to Sparrow Street near Jena in La Salle Parish. The Swainson's Warbler observed there by myself and Tom Pollock on 4/15 was singing again this morning, as was another one near the south end of the road. Lots of other songbirds, including Yellow-breasted Chat, Prairie Warbler, Red-eyed Vireo, and Indigo Bunting, were also singing. Oddly, we didn't get Hooded Warbler -- one of our region's most common summer woodland birds -- on this trip.
   When we arrived at the butterfly garden, there was a group of both Baltimore Oriole and Orchard Oriole present, along with several Gray Catbirds. Red-headed Woodpecker was calling nearby, but no sign of the resident Red-cockaded Woodpeckers who have a colony adjacent to the garden.

tentative i.d.: Northern Cloudywing (Thorybes pylades), Catahoula Hummingbird and Butterfly Garden, Grant Parish

Broad-headed Skink at Butterfly Garden

   There were limited flowers in bloom at the garden at this time (it's still a bit early) and the only butterfly we got there was a presumed Northern Cloudywing (tricky, confirmation of i.d. pending.). We did see an impressive Broad-headed Skink and colorful Common Five-lined Skink as well as a Green Anole. Green Treefrog and Cope's Gray Treefrog were heard.

Common Five-lined Skink at Butterfly Garden

   We walked the old road or trail that surrounds the northern part of the block of woods southwest of the garden. Here's a good example of the type of pine forest found in the Kisatchie NF. Among the bird species singing and presumably on breeding territories in the woods were Bachman's Sparrow and Pine Warbler. Brown-headed Nuthatches were especially common. Chipping Sparrows and Mourning Doves were also regularly seen and heard.

Northern Mockingbird, Kisatchie National Forest, Grant Parish

Mourning Dove, Kisatchie NF, Grant Parish

   The woods are surrounded by a wide band of open, meadow-type habitat where species that prefer weedy and brushy habitats are found. Prairie Warblers were common, as were Yellow-breasted Chat and Blue Grosbeak.
   Along the path are a number of bluebird nest boxes, many apparently occupied.
   Three Anhingas were seen gliding west, high overhead. Presumably they were passing from appropriate wetland/swamp habitat near Little River or Catahoula Lake to appropriate habitat around Iatt Lake or Red River. Or, who knows where?
   Raptors present included a pair of Red-tailed Hawks, three Broad-winged Hawks soaring quite high, and, alongside the BWHA, a Mississippi Kite. Keisha was the first to notice all of these species.

tentative i.d.: Swarthy Skipper (Nastra lherminier), Kisatchie National Forest west of Work Center Rd.
I'm not 100% on this i.d.

   We encountered a few Lepidoptera species on this approximately two-mile walk. Several (tentative i.d.) Swarthy Skippers were seen. I encountered this species here last year and it appears they may be quite common here. We had good looks at three larger butterflies: the American Lady, ...


American Lady (Vanessa virginiensis) nectaring on Coreopsis, west of Work Center Road

 ...the Question Mark, ...

Question Mark (Polygonia interrogationis) feeding on scat

 ...and the Common Buckeye.

Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia), Kisatchie NF

A couple of times, we also had poor looks at yellow sulphur-type butterflies as well. Several small moths were seen, but the only easily i.d.-ed one was The Wedgling.

The Wedgling (Galgula partita), Kisatchie NF west of Work Center Road

tentative i.d.: Curtiss' Milkwort, Kisatchie NF west of Work Center Rd.
I find this i.d. questionable, but it's the closest match I've found so far.

 

   Wildflowers were fairly impressive. Coreopsis (possibly Lobed Tickseed -- Coreopsis auriculata?), Phlox (possibly Hairy Phlox -- P. amoene?) and Spiderwort (Tradescantia) were among the most frequently encountered.

Coreopsis sp., west of Work Center Rd.

Phlox species, west of Work Center Road

Spiderwort species, west of Work Center Road, Kisatchie NF, Grant Parish

tentative i.d.: Helmet Flower

Helmet Flower (tentative i.d. Scutellaria integrifolia), with their purple-blue, white-marked flowers were noticed a few times.
There were a good many Venus's Looking-Glass (Triodanis perfoliata) plants seen without blooms, but a few with the lovely purple flowers were eventually found. Both Yellow Woodsorrel (Oxalis stricta, tentative i.d.) and Violet Woodsorrel (Oxalis violacea, tentative i.d.) were found to be pretty common, as was Blue-eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium).

tentative i.d.: Violet Woodsorrel, Kisatchie NF

A Lobelia (possibly Lobelia appendiculata -- Pale Lobelia??) was spotted.

Lobelia species, Kisatchie NF near the butterfly garden

Tentatively i.d.-ed Curtiss' Milkwort (Polygala curtissii), Cutleaf Geranium (Geranium dissectum), and Sicklepod Coffeeweed (Senna obtusifolia) were also encountered. Introduced species that have joined the native flora included Japanese Honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica), Crimson Clover (Trifolium incarnatum), and tentatively-identified Ligustrum privet species.

tentative i.d.: Cutleaf Geranium in foreground, w/ Yellow Woodsorrell in background

   It should be noted that I'm a novice at wildflower identification, so there could certainly be some misidentified plants on the list (http://southeasternflora.com/ and http://www.wildflower.org/plants/ are good online resources to check i.d.'s for yourself, should you be interested.).
   This was an excellent Earth Day spent in the field. By the end of our birding, Keisha (Miss never-been-birding) was independently identifying some birds and exhibiting skills at picking out birds, animal tracks, and other things of interest that many people more acquainted with the outdoors would usually overlook. My advice to any birders (or herpers, or butterflyers, etc.) reading this is to take a non-birder(etc.) friend in the field with you sometime. They might just be a natural, and you might just get them hooked on the outdoors!
   Complete bird list for the B-fly Garden and Kisatchie NF location is below.

Brown-headed Cowbird, near butterfly garden

........................................................................................
8:42 am to 12:33 pm
67 to 81 degrees f., sunny, light breeze
walked approx. 2 miles

Anhinga - 3

Turkey Vulture - 2
Mississippi Kite - 1
Broad-winged Hawk - 3
Red-tailed Hawk - 2

Mourning Dove - 5

Chimney Swift - 2

Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 2

Red-headed Woodpecker - 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1
Downy Woodpecker - 1
Northern Flicker - 1

Eastern Wood-Pewee - 3
Eastern Kingbird - 2

Red-eyed Vireo - 1

Blue Jay - 3

Purple Martin - 8
Barn Swallow - 1

Carolina Chickadee - 3
Tufted Titmouse - 1

Brown-headed Nuthatch - 9

Carolina Wren - 4

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 2

Eastern Bluebird - 5

Gray Catbird - 5
Brown Thrasher - 1
Northern Mockingbird - 3

Cedar Waxwing - 10

Common Yellowthroat - 2
Pine Warbler - 2 (probably more)
Prairie Warbler - 5
Yellow-breasted Chat - 6

Bachman's Sparrow - 1 (probably more)
Chipping Sparrow - 7
Savannah Sparrow - 2

Summer Tanager - 1
Northern Cardinal - 2
Blue Grosbeak - 5
Indigo Bunting - 2

Brown-headed Cowbird - 2
Orchard Oriole - 9
Baltimore Oriole - 4

American Goldfinch - 2
..............................................................................................................