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| Question Mark -- HQ Unit, 6/16 |
Catahoula Butterfly Count Previous Years: http://falloutbird2014.blogspot.com/2017/06/catahoula-nwr-butterfly-count-2017.html
& https://falloutbird2014.blogspot.com/2016/07/catahoula-nwr-butterfly-count-2016.html
Kisatchie NF Natchitoches Count 2018: https://falloutbird2014.blogspot.com/2018/06/kisatchie-national-forest-natchitoches.html
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This year's Catahoula NWR Butterfly Count was held on June 16. This was the third year that this count has been conducted. Participants were Craig Marks (who organized the count), Rosemary Seidler, Jeff Trahan, Phillip Wallace, Brad Moon, and myself. The count circle is centered at the NWR headquarters, and includes everything within a 7.5 mile radius, both on and off the refuge. A large part of the count area is in the bottomlands, but there's a significant chunk in the uplands as well. For a map of the count circle, see this link to the NABA website (http://www.naba.org/counts/us_mx_map.html).
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| Question Marks -- HQ Unit, 6/16 |
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| north end of Duck Lake on HQ Unit -- photo taken while scouting on 6/11 |
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| woods along refuge loop on HQ Unit -- photo taken while scouting, 6/11 -- Butterflies found in this general area on count included Hackberry Emperor and Pipevine Swallowtail |
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| Mosquito Bend Road on HQ Unit -- Craig and I walked around here for a while and found a lot of butterflies, including Fiery Skippers and Tropical Checkered-Skippers, Southern Dogfaces, Orange Sulphurs, Sleepy Oranges, American Snouts, Question Marks |
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| Willow Lake Unit -- photo taken while scouting on 6/11 |
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| Willow Lake Unit, 6/16 -- Butterflies that Brad, Phillip, and I found along this trail included Gray Hairstreak, Silver-spotted Skipper, Little Yellow, and Horace's Duskywing |
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| ponds at Willow Lake Unit -- 6/16 - The Blue-fronted Dancer damselflies were nearby |
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| Blade Loop -- 6/16 - a few butterflies around this area. Birds around here included Swainson's, Hooded, Pine Warblers and Louisiana Waterthrush; Northrn Mockingbird, Indigo Bunting, Great Crested Flycatcher, ... |
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| Blade Loop -- 6/16 |
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| Blade Loop -- 6/16 |
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| Blade Loop, 6/16 -- Species found in the area shown in these three photos included: King's Hairstreak, Southern Broken-Dash, Silvery Checkerspot; Ebony Jewelwing; Hooded Warbler, Kentucky Warbler, Broad-winged Hawk; Coralbean, Beebalm, Ironweed... |
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| Muddy Bayou Road on French Fork Unit -- photo taken while scouting on 6/11. Species found here on the count on 6/16 included Black and Eastern Tiger Swallowtails, Gray Hairstreak, Question Mark, 'Astyanax' Red-spotted Purple, Fiery Skipper |
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| levee by impounments off Minnow Ponds Road on Bushley Bayou Unit -- photo taken while scouting on 6/13 |
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| Minnow Ponds Road on Bushley Bayou Unit -- photo taken while scouting on 6/13 |
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| Dry Bayou Road at Green's Creek on Bushley Bayou Unit -- photo taken while scouting on 6/13 |
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| Green's Creek -- scouting trip on 6/13 |
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| Girlinghouse and Norvin Roads. - photo from scouting on 6/13 -- A few Common Buckeye found in this general area during count and while scouting. Not many butterflies here. |
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| the skipper spot mentioned above |
Below is the complete list, compiled by Craig. There are 33 species, 520 individuals. After that will be lists for birds, mammals, herps (amphibians and reptiles), and Odonata (damselflies and dragonflies), as well as some of the wildflowers noted.
As alluded to above, I made a couple of scouting trips to locations in the circle in the days leading up to the count. The first was on June 11, when I visited the HQ, French Fork, and Willow Lake units of the NWR. On June 13 I went to Bushley Bayou Unit (Minnow Ponds Rd and Dry Bayou Road), and some hilly, piney woods, upland locations -- Oak Grove Cemetery Road, Blade Loop, Norvin Road, Girlinghouse Road and an IP road that turns off of it.
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| Oak Grove Cemetery Road -- 6/13 |
I did find numerous additional species of birds, reptiles, amphibians, damselflies, and flowering plants, which I'll include in an addendum to their respective lists below.
....
Butterflies (butterfly count tally - June 16, 2018; 6 observers; ~ 9:30 am - 4:45 pm; generally sunny, hot, occasional light breeze. Some of the photos used are from scout days; see dates below pics):
Pipevine Swallowtail - 22
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail - 3
Black Swallowtail - 2
Spicebush Swallowtail - 1
Orange Sulphur - 2
Cloudless Sulphur - 9
Southern Dogface - 8
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| Orange Sulphur -- HQ Unit, 6/16 -- I apologize for having previously labeled this one as Southern Dogface. (Makes embarrassed face.) It pays to pay attention. *edited on 8/4/18 |
Sleepy Orange - 10
Red-banded Hairstreak - 1
Gray Hairstreak - 3
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| Gray Hairstreak necaring on milkweed -- Willow Lake Unit, 6/16 |
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| Gray Hairstreak viewed from behind -- Willow Lake Unit, 6/16 |
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| Gray Hairsteak with wings open, nectaring on germander -- French Fork Unit, 6/16 |
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| Gray Hairstreak -- Willow Lake Unit, 6/16 |
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| King's Hairstreak (photo by Brad Moon) -- Blade Loop, 6/16 |
Azure sp. - 4 (new for this count)
American Snout - 12
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| American Snout -- HQ Unit, 6/16 |
Phaon Crescent - 9
Pearl Crescent - 16
Common Buckeye - 14
Red Admiral - 2
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| Red Admiral -- photo taken while scouting on 6/13 at Bushley Bayou Unit |
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| Question Mark, showing the namesake white '?' -- HQ Unit, 6/16 |
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| Question Mark -- HQ Unit, 6/16 |
'Astyanax' Red-spotted Purple - 32
Hackberry Emperor - 63
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| Hackberry Emperor -- this photo was taken while scouting on 6/11, HQ Unit - They were quite numerous then as well. |
Carolina Satyr - 24
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| Carolina Satyr -- Norvin Road, 6/16 |
Horace's Duskywing - 3
Funereal Duskywing - 1 (new species for this count, though last year 2 participants did see this species just outside the count circle while on their way home from count)
Tropical Checkered-Skipper - 14
checkered-skipper sp. - 1
Swarthy Skipper - 1 (new species for this count)
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| Swarthy Skipper nectaring on Ironweed -- side road south/east of Girlinghouse Road, 6/16 |
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| Swarthy Skipper -- 6/16 |
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| Swarthy Skipper -- 6/16 |
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| two Swarthy Skippers nectaring on Ironweed -- 6/13 -- same spot as one seen on 6/16 count |
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| 1, 2, 3 -- Swarthy Skippers, photo taken while scouting on 6/13 |
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| Swarthy Skipper -- photo taken while scouting on 6/13 |
Fiery Skipper - 179
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| Fiery Skipper -- HQ Unit, 6/16 |
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| Fiery Skipper -- French Fork Unit, 6/16 |
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| Fiery Skipper -- photo taken while scouting Bushley Bayou Unit, 6/13 |
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| Southern Broken-Dash -- Blade Loop, 6/16 |
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| Southern Broken-Dash -- Blade Loop, 6/16 |
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| Southern Broken-Dash -- Blade Loop, 6/16 |
Some species that we've found on the count during the past two years that we didn't find this year were: Long-tailed Skipper, Common/White Checkered-Skipper, Whirlabout, Clouded Skipper, Monarch, and Goatweed Leafwing. I saw what may have been a Monarch while driving to one of our stops on Blade Loop during the count, but couldn't be sure. I did see one while scouting at Minnow Ponds Road on 6/13.
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| Monarch -- Minnow Ponds Road, 6/13 |
Moths seen either during the count, or on scouting days, or both include: Milky Urola...
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| tentative i.d.: Milky Urola (Argyria lacteella) -- 6/11, HQ Unit |
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| possibly Virginian Tiger Moth (Spilosoma virginica) or something similar -- photo taken on 6/13 at Bushley Bayou Unit |
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| Cross-lined Waved (Timandra amaturaria) -- This photo was taken while scouting the HQ Unit on 6/11, but the species was common at bottomland locations on all three dates. |
Birds:
Anhinga -
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| Anhinga -- photo taken while scouting HQ Unit on 6/11 |
Great Egret -
Snowy Egret -
Little Blue Heron -
Black Vulture -
Turkey Vulture -
Mississippi Kite -
Broad-winged Hawk -
Common Gallinule -
Mourning Dove -
Yellow-billed Cuckoo -
Chimney Swift -
Ruby-throated Hummingbird -
Red-bellied Woodpecker -
Downy Woodpecker -
Pileated Woodpecker -
Acadian Flycatcher -
Great Crested Flycatcher -
Eastern Kingbird -
White-eyed Vireo -
Red-eyed Vireo -
Blue Jay -
American Crow -
Purple Martin -
Barn Swallow -
Cliff Swallow -
Carolina Chickadee -
Tufted Titmouse -
Carolina Wren -
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher -
Eastern Bluebird -
Wood Thrush -
Northern Mockingbird -
Louisiana Waterthrush -
Prothonotary Warbler -
Swainson's Warbler -
Kentucky Warbler -
Common Yellowthroat -
Hooded Warbler -
Northern Parula -
Pine Warbler -
Prairie Warbler -
Chipping Sparrow -
Eastern Towhee -
Yellow-breasted Chat -
Summer Tanager -
Northern Cardinal -
Blue Grosbeak -
Indigo Bunting -
Painted Bunting -
Orchard Oriole -
Red-winged Blackbird -
Brown-headed Cowbird -
Common Grackle -
Additional bird species detected during scouting on 6/11 (HQ, French Fork, and Willow Lake Units) and 6/13 (Bushley Bayou Unit, Oak Grove Cemetery Road, Blade Loop, Norvin Road and Girlinghouse Road area) include:
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck -
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| Black-bellied Whistling-Duck -- HQ Unit, 6/11 |
Wood Duck -
duck sp. -
Pied-billed Grebe -
Cattle Egret -
Green Heron -
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron -
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| juvenile Yellow-crowned Night-Heron -- HQ Unit, 6/11 |
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| White Ibis -- HQ Unit, 6/11 |
Osprey -
Red-shouldered Hawk -
Buteo sp. -
Eastern Wood-Pewee -
Yellow-throated Vireo -
Herps:
Blanchard's Cricket Frog, Green Treefrog, Cope's Gray Treefrog, Green (Bronze) Frog; Little Brown Skink
Additional herps detected during scouting on 6/11 and 6/13 include:
Fowler's Toad, Squirrel Treefrog, American Bullfrog; American Alligator, Western Milksnake...
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| Western Milksnake -- Bushley Bayou Unit, 6/13 |
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| Racer -- HQ Unit, 6/11 |
Mammals:
Eastern Cottontail, Swamp Rabbit, Eastern Fox Squirrel, Northern Raccoon, White-tailed Deer
Odonata:
Damselflies -- Ebony Jewelwing...
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| Ebony Jewelwing -- Blade Loop, 6/16 |
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| Ebony Jewelwing -- Blade Loop, 6/16 |
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| Ebony Jewelwing -- Blade Loop, 6/16 |
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| male Blue-fronted Dancer -- Willow Lake Unit, 6/16 |
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| female Blue-fronted Dancer -- Willow Lake Unit, 6/16 |
Dragonflies -- Swamp Darner...
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| Swamp Darner -- Willow Lake Unit, 6/16 |
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| Swamp Darner -- Willow Lake Unit, 6/16 |
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| Swamp Darner -- Willow Lake Unit, 6/16 |
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| Halloween Pennant -- photo taken while scouting Bushley Bayou Unit on 6/13 |
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| Eastern Pondhawk -- Willow Lake Unit, 6/16 |
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| female-type Little Blue Dragonlet -- photo taken while scouting Bushley Bayou Unit on 6/13 |
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| Golden-winged Skimmer -- photo taken while scouting Oak Grove Cemetery Road on 6/13 |
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| Golden-winged Skimmer -- French Fork Unit, 6/16 |
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| Carolina Saddlebags -- photo taken while scouting on 6/13, Bushley Bayou Unit |
Additional Odonata detected during scouting on 6/11 and 6/13 include:
*Familiar Bluet...
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| *tentative i.d.: Familiar Bluet (Enallagma civile) -- Bushley Bayou Unit, 6/13 |
Wildflowers in Bloom (count day and those seen on scouting trips):
in the bottomlands -- Frogfruit (Phyla), swamp milkweed sp. (Asclepias)...
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| milkweed -- Minnow Ponds Road, 6/13 |
in the uplands -- Coralbean (Erythrina herbacea)...
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| Coralbean -- Oak Grove Cemetery Road, 6/13 |
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| Coralbean -- Blade Loop, 6/16 |
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| Beebalm (Monarda) -- Blade Loop, 6/16 |
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| Ironweed -- Blade Loop, 6/16 |
in both areas -- Rudbeckia, Brazilian Verbena (Verbena brasiliensis), Carolina Nightshade or similar sp. (Solanum)
...plus numerous others, I'm sure, which I failed to record or didn't know the i.d. for
If you spot any incorrect i.d. feel free to drop a comment, let me know.
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