Kisatchie National Forest in Grant Parish -- 5/18/2019

a singing Bachman's Sparrow on Stuart Lake Road

Related Posts:
   same locations on 5/27/19:
https://falloutbird2014.blogspot.com/2019/06/back-to-kisatchie-national-forest-grant.html

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   Fellow Loose Alliance bird club of Cenla member Connie Guillory and I met up at the Catahoula Hummingbird and Butterfly Garden on Work Center Road at 8:55 a.m. and birded on foot around there until 9:30 a.m.

the garden

woods adjacent to garden

trail SW of garden

Work Center Rd

Bird activity was o.k., but not great. Still, there's always a few things to see at the garden and down the adjacent trail.

Brown Thrasher - butterfly garden

   After this location, Connie had to leave, and I continued birding my way down Forest Service Road 146 and then Stuart Lake Road.

FS Rd 146

 At the large grassy field on 146 there was a singing Eastern Meadowlark, active Eastern Kingbirds, Red-headed Woodpecker, and swooping Barn Swallows. Chipping Sparrows and Orchard Orioles sang from the bordering pines.

Forest Service Rd 146

Once into the woods, where there's a mix of pine and hardwoods, there were Kentucky and Hooded Warblers and other typical forest species.

Forest Service Rd 146

In scattered spots here, and continuously along the north side of Stuart Lake Road for about half of it's length back toward LA-8, there had been a recent control burn - still smoking in spots.

  FS Rd 146

The south side of Stuart Lake Rd and both sides after a point were unburnt, though.

some Stuart Lake Road habitat shots...

the first Bachman's Sparrow spot - Stuart Lake Rd (see below)

control burn / first Bachman's Sparrow spot - Stuart Lake Rd (see below)

first Bachman's Sparrow spot (bird foraging on ground here) - Stuart Lake Rd (see below)

   At one spot on Stuart Lake Road there was a Bachman's Sparrow singing near the road. I got out and spent a long time watching him sing from various branches on either side of the road.

Bachman's Sparrow singing

A second singing male could be heard just down the road while I was at this spot.
   After I while of observing this first singer I realized that there was also a Bachman's Sparrow foraging on the ground, sneaking about among the grass just a few feet off the road while the first bird sang overhead. I am assuming that they are a pair. The foraging bird could sometimes be seen to snag a small insect or other item from a grass stalk.

At one point it captured a katydid.

Bachman's Sparrow with katydid

   It was a wonderful treat to have Bachman's Sparrows not only singing, but in view for so long. Eventually, though, I had to move on. However, there'd be two additional singing Bachman's at points farther down the road, for a total of five Bachman's Sparrows.

Stuart Lake Rd - second singing Bachman's here, within earshot of the location of the first birds

third singing Bachman's Sparrow location (I believe this is FS Rd 123 where it turns off Stuart Lake Rd)

   While walking along the road, I passed a Red-cockaded Woodpecker nest tree and could hear the young calling from inside the nest hole. After watching for a few moments, one of the adults (male or female? the male's identifying red "cockade" can be almost invisible) showed up, bringing food to the young. I left after snapping a quick photo, so as not to disturb them.

adult Red-cockaded Woodpecker at active nest

   Young Pine Warblers could be heard calling at many spots along Stuart Lake Rd, in addition to the singing of the adult males ringing through the woods anywhere you listened. Prairie Warblers, Indigo Buntings, Yellow-breasted Chats, and Hooded Warblers added their voices to the chorus.

Stuart Lake Rd near RC Woodpecker spot; final Bachman's Sparrow heard and many other birds heard and seen seen from this spot

Stuart Lake Rd

Stuart Lake Rd

At one spot there was an American Kestrel calling repeatedly.

kestrel calls came from down side road on left

   So, Stuart Lake Road turned out to be very good birding, with its strong presence of many birds common to healthy pine forests.
   Below is the combined bird list, with numbers of individuals for each of the three locations. After that are lists for mammals, herps, butterflies, and some of the wildflowers that were seen

- temperatures in the 70's Fahrenheit; sky overcast at garden, variable for much of time, light drizzle last few minutes of Stuart Lake Road

- Hummingbird Garden and Work Center Rd: 7:55 a.m.; 0.7 miles (~0.2 on foot, 0.5 by vehicle)
- Forest Service Road 146: 9:46 a.m.; 1 mile (0.9 by vehicle with several stops, 0.1 miles on foot)
- Stuart Lake Road: 10:38 a.m., 2 hrs 9 mins; 3 miles (driving, with numerous stops; ~0.2 miles on foot on road)

Mourning Dove - 1, 1, 0
Yellow-billed Cuckoo - 0, 0, 1
Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 1, 0, 1
Turkey Vulture - 1, 3, 1
Red-headed Woodpecker - 0, 1, 0
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1, 1, 3
Downy Woodpecker - 1, 0, 3
Red-cockaded Woodpecker - 0, 0, 1 adult and sounded like at least 2 young in nest hole
Pileated Woodpecker - 0, 0, 1
Northern Flicker - 1, 0, 1
Eastern Wood-Pewee - 1, 0, 1
Acadian Flycatcher - 0, 0, 1
Great Crested Flycatcher - 1, 1, 1
Eastern Kingbird - 1, 4, 0

Eastern Kingbird - road 146

White-eyed Vireo - 0, 3, 3
Red-eyed Vireo - 1, 1, 3
Blue Jay - 3, 3, 3
American Crow - 1, 2, 2
Purple Martin - 0, 1, 1
Barn Swallow - 0, 2, 0
Carolina Chickadee - 0, 2, 2
Tufted Titmouse - 0, 1, 4
Brown-headed Nuthatch - 1, 1, 4
Carolina Wren - 5, 3, 6
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 1, 2, 3
Eastern Bluebird - 4, 2, 0

male Eastern Bluebird - Work Center Rd

Wood Thrush - 0, 0, 2
Brown Thrasher - 2, 0, 0
Northern Mockingbird - 3, 0, 0
Chipping Sparrow - 2, 2, 0
Bachman's Sparrow - 0, 0, 5
Eastern Towhee - 1, 2, 5
Yellow-breasted Chat - 2, 2, 8
Eastern Meadowlark - 0, 1, 0
Orchard Oriole - 3, 1, 0
Brown-headed Cowbird - 1, 1, 0
Kentucky Warbler - 0, 2, 2
Hooded Warbler - 1, 3, 8
Pine Warbler - 4, 2, 27
PrairieWarbler - 1, 1, 6
Summer Tanager - 1, 1, 3
Northern Cardinal - 2, 4, 11
Blue Grosbeak - 1, 1, 0
Indigo Bunting - 3, 1, 8


Mammals: Eastern Fox Squirrel

Herps: Cope's Gray Treefrog, Green (Bronze) Frog; Green Anole...

Green Anole - Stuart Lake Rd

 ...North American Racer

Racer - Stuart Lake Road

...

Butterflies:
duskywing sp., Clouded Skipper, Swarthy Skipper...

Swarthy Skipper - road 146

Swarthy Skipper - Stuart Lake Rd

Pipevine Swallowtail...

Pipevine Swallowtail - butterfly garden

(Summer?) Azure...

Azure - road 146

Pearl Crescent, Carolina Satyr, Little Wood-Satyr

Little Wood-Satyr - butterfly garden

Wildflowers:

...

Winecup or Poppy-Mallow (Callirhoe sp.)...

Winecup - trail near butterfly garden

Winecup - Stuart Lake Rd

Scutellaria sp. ...

Scutellaria - trail near butterfly garden

milkwort (Polygala sp.) ...

milkwort - road 146

colicroot (Aletris sp.), wild petunia (Ruellia sp.) ...

wild petunia - road 146

 arrowwood (Viburnum sp.) ...

Viburnum - road 146

Venus' looking-glass (Triodanis sp.)...

Venus's Looking-glass - Stuart Lake Rd

Lobelia sp. ...

Lobelia sp. - Stuart Lake Rd

...

Orange Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa)...

Orange Milkweed - Stuart Lake Rd

beardtongue (Penstemon sp.)...

beardtongue - Stuart Lake Rd

beardtongue

Coreopsis sp. ...

Coreopsis - Stuart Lake Rd

black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia sp.), Prunella sp., sundew (Drosera sp.)...

sundews - Work Center Road

Anual Blue-eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium rosulatum), Cotton Morning-Glory (Ipomoea cordatotriloba), sensitive-briar (Mimosa sp.)

sensitive-briar - Stuart Lake Road

and wingstem (Verbesina)...

Verbesina - FS Rd 146

...just to name a few.

As always, if you spot an incorrect i.d. or have suggestions for something I'm unsure about, feel free to let me know.
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