Central Louisiana Birding & Wildlife: Catahoula NWR -- December, 2018

female Canvasback -- 12/21 -- Headquarters Unit

Related Posts:
link to fall 2018 CNWR post, which has links to other 2018 CNWR posts: https://falloutbird2014.blogspot.com/2018/12/catahoula-nwr-autumn-2018.html

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During this December the only part of Catahoula National Wildlife Refuge that I birded was the Headquarters Unit. Below is the list of birds from those visits, with numbers of individuals from each date. First, some habitat shots and details for each date.

entrance area

woods along refuge loop

woods along north part of loop approaching lake

north end of Duck Lake

Cowpen Bayou and west leg of refuge loop

woods along west leg of loop

near one of the big culverts along south section of loop

gated road to east side of Duck Lake / woods along east leg of refuge loop

east side of Duck Lake

looking south along east leg of refuge loop where it runs along parish line south of sign-in board

Headquarters Unit

December 14
8:41 a.m.; 6 hrs 11 minutes; 9.4 miles
49-51 degrees F.; sky mixed/variable, then overcast; light SW wind; water level marker at N end of Duck Lake showed 36.2 feet
FOS: Canvasback, Redhead, Lesser Scaup, Field Sparrow

December 21
9:14 a.m.; 4 hrs 16 min; 2.8 miles
47-55 degrees F.; windy, NW wind; clear; water level marker 36.8' and rising

December 24
12:20 p.m.; 3 hrs 37 mins; 2.3 miles
56-62 degrees F.; clear; light breeze; water level marker 37.4' and rising

'x' = present, but number of individuals not determined/recorded

Snow Goose - 0, 971, x
Greater White-fronted Goose - 0, 17, x
Wood Duck - 0, 2, 2
Blue-winged Teal - 0, 3, 0
Northern Shoveler - 0, 0, 5
Gadwall - 22, 9, 0
Mallard - 15, 300, x
Northern Pintail - 7, 500, x

Northern Pintails (mostly) - 12/21

Green-winged Teal - 0, 50, 0
Canvasback - 13, 6, 2
(video: female Canvasback foraging - 12/21)

female Canvasback - 12/21

...

male Canvasback - 12/14

Redhead - 1, 0, 0
Ring-necked Duck - 2, 20, 0
Lesser Scaup - 1, 0, 0
duck sp. - 235, 2000, 2000
Mourning Dove - 0, 1, 1
Double-crested Cormorant - 64, 55, 1
Great Blue Heron - 3, 2, 0

Great Blue Heron -- 12/21

Great Blue Heron - 12/21

Great Egret - 5, 1, 0
Black Vulture - 1, 4, 6
Turkey Vulture - 25, 7, 33

Turkey Vultures - 12/14

Turkey Vulture - 12/14

(videos: Turkey Vultures - 12/14)

(Turkey Vultures and Black Vultures -- 12/24)

Northern Harrier - 0, 1, 0
Bald Eagle - 0, 2, 0
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1, 0, 0
Red-shouldered Hawk - 1, 0, 0
Red-tailed Hawk - 3, 1, 1
Belted Kingfisher - 3, 0, 1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - 3, 0, 3
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 18, 7, 7
Downy Woodpecker - 12, 2, 5
Pileated Woodpecker - 4, 1, 1
Northern Flicker - 7, 1, 2
Peregrine Falcon - 0, 1, 0

Peregrine Falcon - 12/21

Peregrine Falcon

Eastern Phoebe - 11, 5, 6

Eastern Phoebe - 12/24

Eastern Phoebe - 12/21

Blue-headed Vireo - 4, 0, 0
Blue Jay - 6, 2, 2
American Crow - 17, 6, 17
Carolina Chickadee - 20, 8, 8
Tufted Titmouse - 12, 1, 4
Winter Wren - 1, 0, 0
Brown Creeper - 0, 0, 2
(video: Brown Creeper -- 12/24)

Brown Creeper

Carolina Wren - 23, 12, 7
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 4, 0, 1
Golden-crowned Kinglet - 11, 2, 4
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 23, 7, 6

Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 12/14

Eastern Bluebird - 0, 2, 2
Hermit Thrush - 8, 1, 5
American Robin - 10, 0, 10
Northern Mockingbird - 1, 0, 0
Cedar Waxwing - 135, x, 0
Purple Finch - 5, 0, 7

female Purple Finch - 12/14

Purple Finches foraging on ground - 12/14

male Purple Finch in ash tree - 12/24

(videos: Purple Finches feeding on seeds of ash tree (Fraxinus sp.) - 12/24)

male Purple Finch foraging in ash tree, part of a flock of at least seven - 3 male and 4 female -- 12/24

...

female and male Purple Finch - 12/24

Pine Siskin - 0, 0, 2

American Goldfinch - 25, 9, 4

American Goldfinch - 12/21

Chipping Sparrow - 35, 45, 5
Field Sparrow - 1, 0, 0
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) - 4, 6, 2

Dark-eyed Junco -- 12/21

White-throated Sparrow - 40, 14, 20
Savannah Sparrow - 6, 7, 13

Savannah Sparrow - 12/24

Song Sparrow - 8, 5, 3
Swamp Sparrow - 4, 4, 1
Eastern Towhee - 0, 1, 0
Common Grackle - 0, 0, 1
Orange-crowned Warbler - 1, 0, 2
Common Yellowthroat - 1, 0, 0
Pine Warbler - 1, 2, 3

male Pine Warbler - 12/21

Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) - 62, 20, 21

Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) - 12/14

Northern Cardinal - 25, 9, 11

Late in the afternoon of December 31 I made a run to the refuge to check on water levels and to see if the roads were closed. The water was over the road at the entrance to Willow Lake Unit, but there's still a couple of feet to go before it threatens the refuge loop on the HQ Unit. I kept a casual list of birds detected on this visit, but didn't stop to really bird and found nothing unusual.
I had a fruitful birding outing to HQ Unit on January 1, 2019, but that'll be covered in a post for January or Jan.-Feb. The big take away was that there was "suddenly" tens of thousands (my very loose estimate was about 30,000) ducks on Duck Lake, after finding no more than a few thousand on previous visits this season.
The water is rising pretty quickly, pouring into Duck Lake from the Catahoula Lake system. Duck Lake's gauge showed about 39.1 feet on 12/31/18 and 39.25 feet on 1/1/19. The water level for Catahoula Lake was something like 42.2 feet on 12/31, and rising, so there's more water on the way. Naturally, parts of the woods are flooded, and so some ducks (it seems Mallards particularly) are spending time in the flooded timber.

water entering Duck Lake -- 12/31

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The refuge was pretty birdy during December, but there's not a whole lot to report concerning other wildlife. Mammals included White-tailed Deer and Eastern Fox Squirrel. Amphibians: Spring Peeper and Cajun Chorus Frog. Reptiles: Pond Sliders. Butterflies were understandably scarce compared to the relative abundance found during Sept.-Nov. December butterflies included Common/White Checkered-Skipper, Little Yellow, Sleepy Orange, Cloudless Sulphur, Common Buckeye, and Red Admiral.