Sicily Island Hills & Harrisonburg Area -- 1/11/19

Red-breasted Nuthatch at the Rock Falls trail in the Sicily Island Hills

Some Related Posts:
Same locations on...
 - August 3, 2018: https://falloutbird2014.blogspot.com/2018/08/sicily-island-hills-catahoula-parish.html
 - Loose Alliance trip April 28, 2018: https://falloutbird2014.blogspot.com/2018/05/loose-alliance-field-trip-to-sicily.html
 - March 27, 2018: https://falloutbird2014.blogspot.com/2018/04/hills-and-high-water-catahoula-parish.html
 - w/ butterflying group, March 17: https://falloutbird2014.blogspot.com/2018/03/sicily-island-hills-harrisonburg.html
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   Judging from the weather forecast for January 11, 2019, it looked like it would be a beautiful morning to bird, so I made a trip to the JC "Sonny" Gilbert WMA (aka Sicily Island Hills WMA) in the Sicily Island Hills of northern Catahoula Parish. This is one of my favorite places to get outdoors, and under a bluebird sky with the air nice and chill, I was not disappointed.
   I birded in the southern part of the WMA, accessed from LA-8 a few miles NE of Harrisonburg. I birded along the main road, going north as far as the Rock Falls trail head. I made numerous stops along the way, and took short walks along the road.

some habitat shots...

a side road that I stopped at and picked up a few birds -- There's a section along the route that was partly logged a few years ago. 

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Rock Falls trail head

The steep descent begins...

I finished with a walk down the Rock Falls Trail as far as the eponymous waterfall.

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Rock Falls

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foot bridge and Rock Creek upstream from the falls

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   In the past I've always visited the SI Hills in the spring and summer so it was nice to sample the winter birdlife here. I was hoping I'd find a few species that I'd not found at this location before. Two that I specifically sought were Purple Finch and Red-breasted Nuthatch, as it is an irruption year for these winter visitors. A short ways in, once the road levels out on the first high ridge, I stopped and found a flock of four Purple Finches -- two female and two male.

Purple Finch location

As one of the species I specifically wanted to find, I had the playback for Purple Finch queued, so when I heard the call of a flyover, I played the audio. Soon not one, but four had settled into the trees over my head -- beautiful to look at, even if the angle was cruddy for getting pictures.

female Purple Finch

male Purple Finch

After a few minutes without the audio, they moved on through the understory.
   Another species I hoped to find was Red-breasted Nuthatch. At the sign-in kiosk I played Red-breasted Nuthatch audio while I was filling out the form, and one of the birds came in calling. I got good looks at him, but not pictures. At another spot further along the road I'd see three more of these nuthatches together, associated with a nice mixed flock.

the spot where the three RB Nuthatches were

There were two more RB Nuthatches at yet another locale. Those two were responding to playback, and were heard but not seen.

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Finally, using playback again at the Rock Falls Trail I saw two more RB Nuthatches appear with a mixed flock, excitedly searching for the source of the call. I also did some screech-owl imitations that brought the other little birds in for a look. Below is video of one of the Red-breasted Nuthatches at the trail.

   Personally, I try not to overuse playback so as not to harass the birds more than necessary. It is, however, a useful tool when searching for specific species of birds or bringing them in to be documented or more accurately counted.
   Other winter birds I'd not seen in the Sicily Island Hills before that I found this day were Winter Wren, Brown Creeper, Eastern Phoebe, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, and Greater White-fronted Goose (flyover flock).

   Below is the list of birds for Sicily Island Hills that morning. After that are accounts of a couple of other locations I visited in the Harrisonburg area that day.

Sicily Island Hills (JC "Sonny" Gilbert WMA)
7:55 a.m.; 4 hrs 24 mins; 2.6 miles
Conditions: 37 - 47 degrees F.; sunny; light breeze

Greater White-fronted Goose - 54
Black Vulture - 2
Turkey Vulture - 4
Red-shouldered Hawk - 1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - 3
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 9
Downy Woodpecker - 4
Pileated Woodpecker - 4
Northern Flicker - 1
Eastern Phoebe - 3
Blue Jay - 5
American Crow - 6
Carolina Chickadee - 16
Tufted Titmouse - 20

Tufted Titmouse -- Rock Falls Trail

Red-breasted Nuthatch - 8

Red-breasted Nuthatch -- Rock Falls Trail

Brown Creeper - 1
Winter Wren - 1
Carolina Wren - 17
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 7
Eastern Bluebird - 2
Hermit Thrush - 7

Hermit Thrush -- Rock Falls Trail

American Robin - 2
Cedar Waxwing - 16
Purple Finch - 4

female Purple Finch

male Purple Finch, same for video below

American Goldfinch - 6
White-throated Sparrow - 3
Pine Warbler - 4
Yellow-rumped Warbler - 3
Northern Cardinal - 6

   After departing Sicily Island Hills, I made a stop at the boat launch on Bayou Louis ("Louie"), situated just down the road that turns south at the east end of the LA-8 bridge over said bayou.

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This is southwest of the entrance to Sicily Island Hills, and northeast of Harrisonburg. This proved to be a pretty birdy little spot, with 23 species detected in 45 minutes while walking around at the boat launch sight and the short (0.1 mile or so) stretch of dirt road back to the highway.
   Below is the bird list for this stop.

Bayou Louis Boat Launch
12:24 p.m.; 45 minutes; 0.1 mile on foot
Conditions: 56 degrees F.; sunny; light breeze

Great Egret - 1
Turkey Vulture - 1
Red-tailed Hawk - 2
Belted Kingfisher - 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 2
Downy Woodpecker - 1
Pileated Woodpecker - 1
Eastern Phoebe - 1
Blue Jay - 4
Fish Crow - 1
Carolina Chickadee - 1
Tufted Titmouse - 1
House Wren - 1
Carolina Wren - 2
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 1
Northern Mockingbird - 1
Cedar Waxwing - x
American Goldfinch - 1
White-throated Sparrow - 4
Orange-crowned Warbler - 1
Pine Warbler - 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) - 2
Northern Cardinal - 3

   After Bayou Louis I made one more birding stop. I can't pass through the area without stopping at the Harrisonburg Landing Recreation Area. This is located at the NW end of LA-922, a fraction of a mile north of LA-8. The rec. area sits along the east bank of the Ouachita River, across and just upstream from Harrisonburg.

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The river was high, though not quite as high as I saw it during the spring 2018 flood.

Ouachita River, 1/11/19

   Below is the list of birds for this stop.

Harrisonburg Landing Recreation Area
1:14 p.m.; 55 mins; ~5 acres
Conditions: 56 - 57 degrees F.; sunny; light breeze

Turkey Vulture - 4
Red-tailed Hawk - 1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - 1
Red-headed Woodpecker - 1

Red-headed Woodpecker

Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1
Pileated Woodpecker - 2
Eastern Phoebe - 3
Blue Jay - 4
Carolina Chickadee - 1
Carolina Wren - 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 3
Northern Mockingbird - 3
White-throated Sparrow - 13
Song Sparrow - 1
Swamp Sparrow - 1
Eastern Towhee - 3
Orange-crowned Warbler - 2
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) - 2
Northern Cardinal - 2

   Also...
   While passing through Harrisonburg about 7:46 that morning I saw a flock of roughly a dozen blackbirds that I felt confident at the time were Rusty Blackbirds. They were flying beside the west end of the LA-8 Ouachita River bridge. However, because of the fleeting nature of the sighing, because I was driving, and the possibility that their perceived coloring involved a trick of the light, I now have some doubt as to their i.d. The were definitely blackbirds though, and my impression was that they were Euphagus-types, based on shape, so Rusty seems likely.

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