Breeding Bird Surveys, 2019 -- Frogmore, Enterprise, and Trout Routes

Eastern Kingbird at stop 45 of the Trout BBS on 6/9/19 -- Fire Tower Rd, La Salle Parish

Related Posts:
 - Frogmore BBS, 2018:
https://falloutbird2014.blogspot.com/2018/06/frogmore-breeding-bird-survey-june-7.html

 - Enterprise BBS, 2018:
https://falloutbird2014.blogspot.com/2018/06/enterprise-breeding-bird-survey-june-3.html

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   This year I surveyed three North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) routes. The Enterprise route in Catahoula Parish I've been doing the longest, since 2011. Frogmore, in Concordia Parish, I've had since 2015. This year I picked up another route, Trout, in La Salle Parish.
   A BBS route consists of 50 stops at half-mile intervals along a predetermined route. The same stops are surveyed each year, and the route is run around the same date as previous years if at all possible. A three-minute point count is done at each stop, and only the birds detected in these three minutes at the stops go on the official survey. However, I also keep track of all birds detected while running a route for my personal records, etc. My father, who often comes along on these surveys, drove for the Frogmore BBS, but I did the other two solo.

looking back along LA-503 at stop 4 of the Trout BBS

   The BBS website is at the link below. They could always use more volunteers to survey routes next year!
https://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbs/
   Below are descriptions and summaries of each of these three routes and a complete list of birds detected on each route during the BBS this year.

Frogmore BBS

Frogmore BBS route, stop 8 -- LA-566 at Dunbarton

   On June 2 I did the Frogmore BBS route, which runs through portions of northern and central Concordia Parish. The route begins at the north end of Bob Rife Road on LA-566 west of Clayton, and follows LA-566 west and south to US-84 at Frogmore. From here, it follows 84 west to Stacy, LA-129 south, Ames Road west, Gallup Rd south, and ends on Deadening Road south of LA-565 in the Lismore community.

LA-566 at stop 2

LA-566 (stop 5?)

LA-566 and wheat field at stop 12 -- Dickcissel present here and stop 13

LA-566 at stop 16

stop 27, along US-84 at Frogmore

stop 30 -- LA-129

stop 31 -- LA-129

stop 33 -- LA-129

stop 36, Ames Road -- American Robin was here

stop 36, Ames Rd

stop 43, Gallup Road

Deadening Road

   The terrain is flat alluvial plain, dominated by agricultural fields, with areas of bottomland hardwoods, swampy sloughs and bayous, and houses and farm buildings. The Tensas River runs beside part of the northern portion of the route, while the south end isn't far from the Black River, as the crow flies.
   Red-winged Blackbirds were the most numerous species on this route. Mourning Doves were numerous as well. In some fields one can find Dickcissels - 3 singing males this time. Loggerhead Shrikes are a "gimme". Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks usually show up on the count - there were 3 this time. Indigo Buntings were abundant, of course, and it seemed like Yellow-billed Cuckoos were heard singing at most stops that were anywhere close to trees. There were 24 Prothonotary Warblers detected this year, nearly doubling last year's 13.
   Wading birds were frequently seen as flyovers -- Little Blue and Great Blue Herons; Great, Snowy, and Cattle Egrets; Yellow-crowned and Black-crowned Night-Herons; and White Ibises. A few Anhingas were as well.
   Once into more wooded areas along portions of LA-129 and Ames Road, there were Swainson's and Hooded Warblers, Northern Parula, and Wood Thrush to be heard. One surprise this time was finding an American Robin foraging on Ames Rd in the middle of dense bottomland hardwoods. I think this is my first time to find American Robin on the Frogmore BBS.

American Robin -- Ames Rd

American Robin -- Ames Rd

   Some species not found this time that have been found on this route some past years include Northern Bobwhite, Red-shouldered and Red-tailed Hawks, Red-headed Woodpecker, American Kestrel, Horned Lark, and Blue-gray Gnatcatcher(!). Where were all the Blue-gray Gnatcatchers?!
   Last year on this BBS, Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Pileated Woodpecker, Red-eyed Vireo, Swainson's Warbler, and Dickcissel went undetected, so it was nice to have these species back this year.
   At stop 35, east end of Ames Rd, there were two adult Mississippi Kites flying to and from some particular trees. One entered carrying prey (perhaps a frog or young bird?) and soon exited without the prey. We figured there must be a nest up there, but it wasn't immediately visible and we didn't search for it very hard as we wanted to carry on with the BBS without delay.
   Here is the list of birds found along the Frogmore BBS route this year, combining birds from the designated stops with birds detected between stops.

Frogmore BBS Route
5:32 a.m. - 9:36 a.m.
~25 miles
73-80 F.; sunny; wind 0 - 1 Beaufort

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck - 3
Eurasian Collared-Dove - 3

Eurasian Collared-Dove -- stop at Stacy tractor dealership, corner of US-84 and LA-129

Mourning Dove - 64
Yellow-billed Cuckoo - 42
Chimney Swift - 11
Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 1
Killdeer - 5
Anhinga - 3
Great Blue Heron - 4
Great Egret - 7
Snowy Egret - 1
Little Blue Heron - 16
Cattle Egret - 13
white egret sp. - 2
Black-crowned Night-Heron - 1
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron - 1
White Ibis - 67
Black Vulture - 4
Turkey Vulture- 7
Mississippi Kite - 2
Barred Owl - 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 29

Red-bellied Woodpecker -- stop on LA-129

Downy Woodpecker - 8
Pileated Woodpecker - 3
Eastern Wood-Pewee - 3
Acadian Flycatcher - 4
Great Crested Flycatcher - 9
Eastern Kingbird - 4
Loggerhead Shrike - 7
White-eyed Vireo - 20
Red-eyed Vireo - 2
Blue Jay - 26
American Crow - 19
Barn Swallow - 22
Cliff Swallow - 14
Carolina Chickadee - 21
Tufted Titmouse - 12
Carolina Wren - 64
Eastern Bluebird - 10
Wood Thrush - 4
American Robin - 1

American Robin -- stop on Ames Rd

Brown Thrasher - 1
Northern Mockingbird - 39
European Starling - 53

European Starlings -- two juveniles and an adult -- stop 26, US-84 at Frogmore

Eastern Towhee - 13
Yellow-breasted Chat - 12
Baltimore Oriole - 1
Orchard Oriole - 1
Red-winged Blackbird - 144
Brown-headed Cowbird - 32
Common Grackle - 11
Prothonotary Warbler - 24
Swainson's Warbler - 2
Common Yellowthroat - 1
Hooded Warbler - 4
Northern Parula - 3
Summer Tanager - 7
Northern Cardinal - 85
Blue Grosbeak - 5
Indigo Bunting - 48
Painted Bunting - 14
Dickcissel - 3
House Sparrow - 6

Enterprise BBS

   On June 3 I did the Enterprise BBS route, which runs from north to south through northern and central Catahoula Parish. The route begins at the north end of Catahoula Church Rd at LA-124 not far from the Ouachita River and the community of Enterprise. The route travels south along Catahoula Church Rd, rising up steep hills covered in mixed pine hardwoods (or, increasingly, cutovers) and crossing several spring water creeks.

looking back along Catahoula Church Rd at stop 3

looking back along Catahoula Church Rd at stop 5

stop 5

going on from stop 6

between stops 7 and 8

Haggerty Creek near stop 8

The route turns east onto Old Columbia Rd...

stop 9, Old Columbia Rd

stop 10

...crosses Sugar Creek, and climbs into the Chalk Hills...

Old Columbia Rd beyond stop 11

the Chalk Hills at stop 13 -- This is were the big flock of White Ibises came flying by .

...where it follows apparently unnamed gravel roads south, crossing upper branches of Rawson Creek, and eventually coming out onto Posey-Webb Camp Highway (actually a narrow parish blacktop).

roads south of Rawson Creek and north of PW C Hwy -- the spot with the egg shells (see below)

stop 23 or 24, north of PW C Hwy - Wild Turkey was in this area

The route continues west on P-W Camp Hwy, south down Posey-Webb Camp Rd...

Posey-Webb Camp Rd

...and comes out onto LA-126 near the Manifest community. These next few stops along LA-126 and LA-8 see the transition from hilly piney woods to floodplain. On LA-126 south of LA-8 the route crosses the currently flooded Bushley Bayou Unit of Catahoula NWR...

stop 37

LA-126 at stop 37

...and leads into the Sandy Lake community.

stop 41 -- LA-126 and Ponderosa Rd

The route then turns south onto LA-923 in an area dominated by rural residences, small pastures, ag. fields, and patches of hardwoods, before ending in an ag. field ~0.5 miles north of Little River and the end of the highway.

LA-923 between stops 49 and 50

   The wooded hills and various creek bottoms along the route through the first 11 or so stops are some of my favorite birding on any of my BBS routes. The woods, though increasingly fragmented and degraded, are still nice in places and the warbler diversity there is good -- Worm-eating, Black-and-white, Swainson's, Kentucky, Hooded, Northern Parula, and Pine Warbler are all gimmes, and some years, including this year, Louisiana Waterthrush is detected. I did not find American Redstart here this year, though some years I find them along this section of the route, especially on Old Columbia Rd west of Sugar Creek and at least once at Haggerty Creek on Catahoula Church Rd, and other spots.

 (video: birdsong on Catahoula Church Rd -- Eastern Wood-Pewee, Carolina Wren, Swainson's Warbler, Red-eyed Vireo, Tufted Titmouse)

   There was a small logging operation going on between stops 9 and 10 on O.C. Rd, but not too noisy at the stops.
   There was heavy logging going on (and trucks and equipment traveling the roads) in places in the Chalk Hills and areas southward, making for less-than-ideal birding -- stop 15 was practically useless, and I had to skip stop 16 completely.
   The section along LA-126 where it passes through the NWR saw floodwater partway up the side of the road and the woods and side roads flooded, but still with enough room to pull off the highway safely and do the point counts there. 
   Overall I'd say the route was about average this year in terms of bird numbers and diversity. Continuing alteration to habitat, the noise and dust associated with logging equipment and trucks, as well as this year's lingering high water negatively effected bird numbers or detection at some stops. There were no especially notable birds, though its always nice to get Wild Turkey on the survey as I did this year (present about half the years I've done this survey). Some birds that are usually detected on this route in previous years but which were missed this year include: Chuck-will's-widow; Red-shouldered, Broad-winged, and Red-tailed Hawks; and Eastern Kingbird. Species that have been present on one to three previous counts but which were not detected this year include Northern Bobwhite, Wood Stork, Northern Flicker, and Scissor-tailed Flycatcher.
   There were fewer Swainson's Warblers than I'd come to expect on this route. This year I only heard 2, about a quarter of a mile apart on Catahoula Church Road. In contrast, I detected 7 last year -- one here, one there along the route through the first 35 stops. There were also notably fewer Common Yellowthroats -- 2 this year, 9 last year.
   On the other hand, I was struck by how many Northern Parulas I was hearing along Catahoula Church Road this year. Last year my No. Parula total for the entire route was 3, with 2 of those being from Catahoula Church Rd (the first 4 miles of the BBS). This year the total was 14, with 11 of those being from Catahoula Church Rd. There was also noticeably better detection of Black-and-white Warbler this year -- 7 for the whole route, verses last year's 1.
   I should note that last year I did the Enterprise BBS on June 3, the same date as this year.
   One observation that's a bit of a head-scratcher for me was finding shells of a clutch of eggs in the edge of a gravel road. At first glance one could assume they'd been run over, but one (or more, I believe some shells were outside the shot in the photos) was still largely intact except for the hole where either the chick broke free or a predator broke through and lapped up the contents (I'm hoping the former). Now, what could they be?

the eggs in question

It makes me think of that scene in Jurassic Park: "Life finds a way." Haha. 

Too small and round for turkey eggs, right? Too large for No. Bobwhite? About 0.8 miles up the road are houses with chickens and Guinea fowl roaming around, and a few years ago I found a small dead chicken (partially eaten) not too far from the egg locale. Maybe these are Guinea fowl eggs??? Did some yard bird Guinea hens wonder off a mile and nest in the edge of a road? I really don't know.
   Here is the list of birds detected along the Enterprise Route this year, combining the birds at the designated stops and the birds detected between stops.

Enterprise BBS Route:
June 3, 2019
5:31 a.m. - 10:28 a.m.
 ~25 miles
73 - 85 F.; sunny; wind 1 and 2 Beaufort

Wild Turkey - 1
Eurasian Collared-Dove - 1
Mourning Dove - 22
Yellow-billed Cuckoo - 19
Chimney Swift - 3
Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 1
Killdeer - 1
Anhinga - 3
Great Blue Heron - 1
Great Egret - 7
Snowy Egret - 3
Little Blue Heron - 4
Cattle Egret - 10
White Ibis - 240

White Ibises passing through the Chalk Hills at stop 13. They came up low over the hilltops, flying in from the east/northeast. The flooded bottomlands of the Ouachita River are just a few miles away in the direction that they came from. The direction they were headed would take them to waters associated with Catahoula Lake and its tributaries. They took the shortcut across the hills. 

White Ibises -- stop 13.  Video below

Black Vulture - 10
Turkey Vulture - 4
Mississippi Kite - 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 8
Downy Woodpecker - 5
Pileated Woodpecker - 1
Eastern Wood-Pewee - 9
Acadian Flycatcher - 12
Great Crested Flycatcher - 4
Loggerhead Shrike - 4

Loggerhead Shrike -- stop 49

White-eyed Vireo - 55
Red-eyed Vireo - 26
Blue Jay - 23
American Crow - 19
Purple Martin - 6
Barn Swallow - 6
Cliff Swallow - 1
Carolina Chickadee - 10
Tufted Titmouse - 32
Carolina Wren - 47
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 25
Eastern Bluebird - 6
Wood Thrush - 10
Northern Mockingbird - 17
European Starling - 13
Eastern Towhee - 15
Yellow-breasted Chat - 47

Yellow-breasted Chat -- stop 21

Yellow-breasted Chat -- stop 21

Eastern Meadowlark - 3
Red-winged Blackbird - 19
Brown-headed Cowbird - 21
Common Grackle - 10
Worm-eating Warbler - 9
Louisiana Waterthrush - 3
Black-and-white Warbler - 7
Prothonotary Warbler - 10
Swainson's Warbler - 2
Kentucky Warbler - 10
Common Yellowthroat - 2
Hooded Warbler - 45
Northern Parula - 14
Pine Warbler - 27
Prairie Warbler - 7
Summer Tanager - 12
Northern Cardinal - 67
Blue Grosbeak - 7
Indigo Bunting - 47
Painted Bunting - 6

female Painted Bunting -- stop 38 along LA-126 through Catahoula NWR Bushley Bayou Unit

Trout BBS

stop 29 at intersection of US-84 and LA-772

   I conducted the Trout BBS on June 9. It was my first time to do this BBS, though the roads it follows are familiar, including Zimmer Creek Rd. which I bird on a regular basis. Conducting this BBS was an interesting new lens through which to view some familiar places.
   The Trout BBS route runs from northeast to southwest through the hills of central La Salle Parish. The dominant habitat is "piney woods", broadly defined -- pine plantation in various stages from fresh cutovers to middling-size pines, some areas with older pines or of mixed pine-hardwoods, numerous small hardwood creek bottoms and stream crossings. There are also sizable stretches of the route that are around human habitation, pastures, other semi-developed sites such as stops by a golf course and a timber company office. 
   The route begins in the hills between Summerville and Rosefield where LA-126 meets LA-503. The route follows LA-503 SW to Summerville...

stop 3 -- LA-503

one of the stops on LA-503

stop 13 on LA-503

stop 18 -- LA-503 X LA-127 in Summerville community

...crosses LA-127 to Taylor Chapel Road, and follows Zimmer Creek Rd down to US-84.

stop 20 -- Zimmer Creek Rd

stop 22 -- Zimmer Creek Rd -- Prairie Warblers, Orchard Orioles, Common Yellowthroats among the birds here

stop 23 -- Zimmer Creek Rd at edge of Zimmer Creek bottoms -- Pileated Woodpecker, RE Vireo, Hooded and Kentucky Warblers were some of the species here.

Zimmer Creek

stop 25 -- Zimmer Creek Rd -- There was an adult and a begging juvenile Worm-eating Warbler here, a spot where a pair or a singing male is usually present on my regular visits to Z.C. Rd.

From here its east to Trout and the junction with LA-772. The route follows LA-772 south to LA-8, and LA-8 east to Appleby Road.

stop 30 -- LA-772 by golf course in Trout

tornado damaged woods along Trout Creek at stop 32, LA-772 -- Kentucky Warbler in here, Swainson's Warbler across the road

stop 35 -- LA-8

stop 36 -- Appleby Rd at LA-8

From here its back to the backroads, going generally south following Appleby Rd, Tingle Rd, Hangar Rd, Emma Rd, Fire Tower Rd, and Nebo-Belah Road.

stop 37 -- corner of Appleby and Tingle Roads -- Chipping Sparrow country

Emma Road

The Shire... er, I mean headed toward stop 46 on Nebo-Belah Rd in the Belah-Fellowship community. Painted Bunting, Red-headed Woodpecker, Barn Swallow, and Northern Mockingbird were among the birds in this area.

The BBS route ends at a little gully in hilly pine-plantation-and-oil-well country between Belah and Nebo.

stop 48 -- Nebo-Belah Rd -- Worm-eating Warbler was heard singing here

stop 50, the end of Trout route -- Nebo-Belah Rd. -- 2 Gray Catbirds, a Swainson's Warbler, and Broad-winged Hawk were among the birds at this spot

   Unfortunately I didn't find Louisiana Waterthrush on the BBS, despite having heard one while scouting the LA-503 stops on 6/7 and going by places on Zimmer Creek Rd during the BBS where the species has been heard this breeding season. Swainson's Warbler was not as numerous as I'd have hoped based on how common they can be in some these areas, but still very much present with 5 detected, 4 of those at stops. Worm-eating Warbler was a similar case with 4 detected, and Black-and-white Warbler with only 2.

   (video: song of Swainson's Warbler at stop 50)

   Its interesting to me that between spring 2017 and spring 2019, three tornadoes crossed the Trout BBS route, some in multiple places along its course. The April 2017 tornado went right across stop 35, wrecked buildings and trees in sight of stop 29, and crossed LA-503 between stops 17 and 18. The fall 2018 tornado damaged or destroyed homes and mangled trees up the LA-772 section of the route around stops 29 - 33, crossing US-84 at stop 29 just beyond where the 2017 tornado did. The tornado this spring actually stayed just west of the Zimmer Creek Road portion of the route for the most part, with damage sometimes visible from the road, but clipped it in the area in the picture below.

some of the damage from this spring's tornado where it just brushed past Zimmer Creek Road in the cutover, and messing up the creek bottom woods off to the right a little ways from the road

   Below is the complete list of birds detected on the Trout BBS route this year, combining those at stops and those detected between stops.

Trout BBS Route
June 9, 2019
6:00 a.m. - 10:46 a.m. (10:56 a.m. including post-BBS hanging around)
~25 miles
67-87 F.; sunny; wind 0 - 2 Beaufort

Mourning Dove - 29
Yellow-billed Cuckoo - 18
Chimney Swift - 4
Cattle Egret - 2
Black Vulture - 5
Turkey Vulture - 10
Mississippi Kite - 2
Red-shouldered Hawk - 2
Broad-winged Hawk - 1
Red-headed Woodpecker - 5
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 20
Downy Woodpecker - 6
Pileated Woodpecker - 2
Eastern Wood-Pewee - 4

Eastern Wood-Pewee -- stop 35, LA-8

Acadian Flycatcher - 2
Great Crested Flycatcher - 1
Eastern Kingbird - 5

Eastern Kingbird -- stop 45, Fire Tower Rd

White-eyed Vireo - 46
Red-eyed Vireo - 15
Blue Jay - 38
American Crow - 39
Purple Martin - 3
Barn Swallow - 4
Carolina Chickadee - 25
Tufted Titmouse - 13
Brown-headed Nuthatch - 1
Carolina Wren - 63
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 23
Eastern Bluebird - 10

Eastern Bluebird -- stop 35

Wood Thrush - 18
Brown Thrasher - 8
Gray Catbird - 3
Northern Mockingbird - 33
Chipping Sparrow - 7
Eastern Towhee - 18
Yellow-breasted Chat - 36
Orchard Oriole - 15
Brown-headed Cowbird - 8
Common Grackle - 1
Worm-eating Warbler - 4
Black-and-white Warbler - 2
Swainson's Warbler - 5
Kentucky Warbler - 5
Common Yellowthroat - 7
Hooded Warbler - 32
Pine Warbler - 49
Prairie Warbler - 11
Summer Tanager - 5
Northern Cardinal - 92
Blue Grosbeak - 10
Indigo Bunting - 27
Painted Bunting - 6

Northern Mockingbird -- stop 29, corner of US-84 and LA-772 in Trout

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