Catahoula NWR Headquarters and Willow Lake Units (La Salle Parish), July 2016

a peek at the first Wood Stork of the summer, Catahoula NWR Headquarters Unit

   This is starting to get into that ho-hum season for woodland birding, the season when many birds are singing less and thus less likely to be noticed. A July 8 visit to the Headquarters Unit was still pretty productive, though. I concentrated on the mostly wooded east and south/southwest part of the refuge loop and the short side road Mosquito Bend Road. Swainson's Warbler was singing, though approx. 0.2 mile south of the position where I usually heard it on visits this breeding season. A Kentucky Warbler was also singing. (video: heard, but not seen -- Red-eyed Vireo, Tufted Titmouse, Swainson's Warbler, American Crow, Kentucky Warbler, Northern Cardinal.)

Northern Rough-winged Swallow

    I encountered a fellow in a truck who let me know that he'd just seen a Wild Turkey hen on the refuge that morning. I did not see the bird, but was glad for the news. Water was still a bit too high to attract large concentrations of wading birds, and so there were modest numbers of herons, egrets, and ibises. A small congregation of Northern Rough-winged Swallows was seen -- groups of NRW Swallows are common this time of year, post-breeding season.

part of a flock of Northern Rough-winged Swallows, Catathoula NWR Hq Unit

wing from a Luna Moth, Mosquito Bend Rd.

   Butterflies and moths were the usual assortment, including Little Yellow, Pearl Crescent, Question Mark, Cloudless Sulphur, for the butterflies; Lychnosia intermicata and Timandra amaturaria for the moths. A small number of Monarchs were seen. Tropical Checkered-Skippers were out along Mosquito Bend Rd, where I also found the wing of a long-gone Luna Moth. Phaon Crescents were working the Frogfruit (Phyla) along the south/southeast part of the refuge loop.

male Tropical Checkered-Skipper, near Cowpen Bayou

Pearl Crescent, Mosquito Bend Rd, Catahoula NWR Hq Unit

Phaon Crescent nectaring on Frogfruit, Catahoula NWR Rd

Question Mark (Polygonia interrogationis), Catahoula NWR HQ Unit

Cowpen Bayou on Catahoula NWR Headquarters Unit

Anhinga at Duck Lake

   I drove the entire 9-mile refuge loop on 7/19. Though Duck Lake was still not low enough to concentrate wading birds, conditions had improved somewhat and I did see more waders including Roseate Spoonbill and my FOS Wood Stork. Two Spotted Sandpipers were seen. Flocking Northern Rough-winged Swallows were present. Unfortunately, I heard neither Swainson's nor Kentucky Warbler on that trip, though that isn't surprising as the territorial singing of breeding season gives way to the summer doldrums. A few Prothonotary Warblers and Northern Parulas were heard, and Painted and Indigo Buntings continued to be very vocal, many were heard singing.

two Anhingas, Duck Lake, Catahoula NWR HQ Unit

wading birds near Duck Lake (Great Egrets, White Ibises, Wood Stork, Great Blue Heron, Little Blue Herons)

male Painted Bunting, C NWR

Hackberry Emperor, Catahoula NWR HQ Unit

   Butterflies included Variegated Fritillary (which I commonly see on Bushley Bayou Unit, but not Headquarters Unit), Orange Sulphur, and Hackberry Emperor, among others (mostly same species as previous visit).
   Cross-lined Waved (Timandra amaturaria) continue to be common moths at this location.

Orange Sulphur, C NWR HQ Unit

Variegated Fritillary, Catahoula NWR Headquarters Unit

north end of Duck Lake, Catahoula NWR Headquarters Unit

morning at Willow Lake Unit of Catahoula NWR

   I went by the Willow Lake Unit on 7/20. Mowing of the weedy east section of the big meadow/field earlier this summer meant that numbers of some species were off from what might have been expected: no Prairie Warblers were heard or seen and only one Yellow-breasted Chat. Four Common Yellowthroats were heard, though. A Hooded Warbler was heard in the young hardwoods where it had been heard repeatedly this breeding season, but unfortunately no Swainson's Warbler this time.

top to bottom: Cross-lined Waved (moth), Phaon Crescent (butterfly), and possible Corn Earworm Moth (though I have serious reservations about that third (placeholder) i.d.)

   Lepidoptera were out in good numbers. Some of the moths were new to me and identifying them was tricky. The i.d.'s (see: pics below) may or may not be correct, but will be corrected in the future, if need be (http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/ and http://mothphotographersgroup.msstate.edu/Plates.shtml  and http://jtrahan.com/moths/index.htm are excellent resources for moth identification).

TENTATIVE i.d.: could be Inkblot Palpita (Palpita illibalis) or could be Freeman's Palpita (Palpita freemanalis), C NWR Willow Lake Unit

TENTATIVE i.d.: Corn Earworm Moth (Helicoverpa zea). ...though after seeing a *definite* H. zea on HQ Unit in August, I question this i.d., as I feel the two looked too dissimilar. (Moths are hard, y'all!). Any suggestions on i.d.s of my moth photos are always welcomed! This one will likely be changed.

   More familiar moths included the Cross-lined Waved (Timandra amaturaria) and Vetch Looper Moth (Caenurgia chloropha). At this point, I believe that all three of the following photos are of the variable Vetch Looper Moth. ...could be mistaken, though.

tentative i.d.: Vetch Looper

tentative i.d.: Vetch Looper

tentative i.d.: Vetch Looper

    A Dolichos Armyworm Moth caterpillar (Spodoptera dolichos) was seen.

caterpillar of the Dolichos Armyworm Moth, Catahoula NWR Willow Lake Unit

Butterflies included numerous Phaon and Pearl Crescents at the Frogfruit (Phyla) patches along the west side of the first north-south stretch of the road after the entrance, Little Yellow, Common/White Checkered Skipper, and (Horace's?) Duskywing.

Pearl Crescent, Catahoula NWR Willow Lake Unit

American Alligator, Cowpen Bayou, 7/19/16

   Some of the herps detected on these parts of the NWR during July included Blanchard's Cricket Frog, Green Treefrog, Cope's Gray Treefrog, American Alligator, Pond Slider. Green Treefrogs can be heard singing in the video below (taken near Duck Lake and Cowpen Bayou on the Headquarter Unit, 7/19/2016).

   Mammals didn't come in great variety this month -- Eastern Cottontail, Eastern Fox Squirrel, White-tailed Deer.

Eastern Cottontail, Willow Lake Unit

Maypop (Passiflora incarnata) vine, Catahoula NWR HQ Unit, 7/19/16

   Wildflowers during July on Hq and Willow Lake Units included (to name a few, and in no particular order): Maypop or Purple Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata),

Maypop, HQ Unit, 7/19

Germander (Teucrium canadense), Frogfruit (Phyla),

Frogfruit, HQ Unit, 7/19

Carolina Nightshade (Solanum),

Solanum, Willow Lake Unit, 7/20/16

Swamp Marshmallow/Rosemallow (Hibiscus moscheutos),

Swamp Marshmallow, HQ Unit, 7/19

Halbeardleaf Rosemallow (Hibiscus laevis),

Halbeardleaf Rosemallow, HQ Unit, 7/19

Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias -- A. perennis and/or A. incarnata?),

Swamp Milkweed, Willow Lake Unit, 7/20

American Lotus (Nelumbo lutea),

American Lotus, HQ Unit, 7/8

and American Waterlily (Nymphaea odorata).

   Had I visited the Headquarters Unit at the end of the month, I would have seen that the waters were down enough by then for the area around Duck Lake to be a draw for large numbers of wading birds. Below are a few pics from my visit on 8/1/2016 to show what I might have been missing on 7/31/2016!

wading birds (mostly Great Egret and Wood Stork), Catahoula NWR HQ Unit, 8/1/16

Roseate Spoonbills, Wood Stork, and Black-necked Stilt, Catahoula NWR HQ Unit, 8/1/16

wading birds on Catahoula NWR HQ Unit, 8/1/16 -- mostly Great Egret and Wood Stork, with a few Snowy Egrets and White Ibises

   But alas, I didn't go during the final week of July. More about how things shaped up for August on Catahoula NWR will be in a blog post at the end of the month.
   Following the current entry will be one covering Bushley Bayou Unit during this past July. I spent a good amount of time out there this July and am still trying to organize that material into a not-too-long-winded post which will be up soon. That one will include, among other things, a good bit of info on fishes found in the streams there.

American Lotus (with Honey Bee), Catahoula NWR Hq Unit, 7/8/2016

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