Sicily Island Hills, Catahoula Parish -- June and July, 2019

Wood Thrush - Sicily Island Hills, June 30

Related Posts
 previous visit to this location (with links to earlier visits):
https://falloutbird2014.blogspot.com/2019/05/sicily-island-hills-catahoula-parish.html
 ~same time last year:
https://falloutbird2014.blogspot.com/2018/08/sicily-island-hills-catahoula-parish.html
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   This post covers two visits to Sicily Island Hills in northern Catahoula Parish. The first was on June 30, the second on July 26, 2019.
   On June 30 I went to JC "Sonny" Gilbert WMA in the Sicily Island Hills. I birded and butterflied in the southern part of the WMA, accessed from LA-8 a few miles east of Harrisonburg. I drove the main road as far in as the Rock Falls trail head and drove the length of the drivable section of the side road that turns east a little ways south of Rock Falls trail. This time I did not go down the Rock Falls Trail or the primitive campground road (road by check in kiosk) as I often would. I did make numerous short walks along the drivable roads, including about 0.15 miles down the next side road north of the check in kiosk. Below are some habitat shots.

woods along main road south of check in kiosk

a good skipper spot -- main road north of kiosk

side road where I walked (this area was partially logged a few years ago)

back on the main road...

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woods along side road east of Rock Falls...

side road east of Rock Falls...

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...

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main road / Rock Falls Trail head

Butterflying & Birding

Yehl Skipper and Spicebush Swallowtail nectaring on beebalm (Monarda) beside the main road

   Several species of skippers were out in force.

Clouded Skipper (top), Lace-winged Roadside-Skipper (bottom)

Clouded Skipper

I saw more Lace-winged Roadside Skippers (13) than I ever have on a single outing. I added Yehl Skipper to my butterfly life list.

Yehl Skipper - one of several seen

Clouded Skipper, Swarthy Skipper, and both Northern and Southern Broken-Dash were also present as were several other species of butterflies.

Northern Broken-Dash

   Bird activity, though maybe down somewhat from what it was this spring, was still good. Many of this location's abundant Worm-eating Warblers were still singing, as were Hooded and Pine Warblers and Northern Parula.

   (video: singing Worm-eating Warbler)

Summer Tanagers and Acadian Flycatchers, as usual, were numerous. I watched a Wood Thrush singing, going from perch to perch.

Wood Thrush - side road east of Rock Falls

   Beebalm (Monarda) were still in bloom and were the main flower that the butterflies were nectaring on. It was nice to see Whorled Milkweed in bloom -- this is only the second time I've seen this species in bloom, the first being last August about a quarter of a mile down the road from this one.
    Below are lists for the birds, butterflies, herps, mammals, some of the wildflowers and a few miscellaneous things from the June 30 outing. After that is the account for July 26.

JC "Sonny" Gilbert WMA (Sicily Island Hills WMA)
June 30, 2019
8:56 a.m., 5 hrs 40 mins; 3.4 miles
79-85 F.; sunny most of the time but with periods of cloudy; light breeze

Birds

Mourning Dove - 3
Yellow-billed Cuckoo - 6
Chimney Swift - 2
Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 2
Turkey Vulture - 1
Mississippi Kite - 1
Red-shouldered Hawk - 1
Broad-winged Hawk - 1
Red-headed Woodpecker - 1

Red-headed Woodpecker

Red-bellied Woodpecker - 3
Pileated Woodpecker - 3
Eastern Wood-Pewee - 2
Acadian Flycatcher - 12

Acadian Flycatcher

Great Crested Flycatcher - 4

Great Crested Flycatcher

White-eyed Vireo - 12
Yellow-throated Vireo - 1
Red-eyed Vireo - 8
Blue Jay - 3
American Crow - 6
Carolina Chickadee - 8
Tufted Titmouse - 10
Carolina Wren - 14
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 9
Wood Thrush - 6

Wood Thrush

Yellow-breasted Chat - 3
Worm-eating Warbler - 7
Hooded Warbler - 7
Northern Parula - 12
Pine Warbler - 7
Summer Tanager - 13
Northern Cardinal - 8
Indigo Bunting - 5

There were Wild Turkey tracks at one location.

Wild Turkey tracks

Butterflies

Swarthy Skipper - 2

Swarthy Skipper

Clouded Skipper - 12

Clouded Skipper

Northern Broken-Dash - 1

Northern Broken-Dash -- 

Southern Broken-Dash - 1

Southern Broken-Dash -- 

Yehl Skipper - 9

Yehl Skipper -- 

Yehl Skipper -- 

Yehl Skipper -- 

Lace-winged Roadside-Skipper - 13

Lace-winged Roadside-Skipper

*possibly checkered-skipper sp.* - 1 -- not recorded in my notes, but I seem to remember seeing one

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail - 1
Spicebush Swallowtail - 15

Spicebush Swallowtail nectaring on Monarda

Sleepy Orange - 6

Sleepy Orange nectaring on Monarda

American Snout - 1

American Snout

'Astyanax' Red-spotted Purple - 4
Pearl Crescent - 5
Common Buckeye - 1
Question Mark - 2

Question Mark

Goatweed Leafwing - 1
Carolina Satyr - 3

Odonata

cruiser sp. -
possible Arrowhead Spiketail -

maybe Arrowhead Spiketail?

Common Whitetail -
Eastern Amberwing -
Eastern Pondhawk -
Yellow-sided Skimmer -
...and probably others

Wildflowers

beebalm sp. (Monarda) -

Monarda

Whorled Milkweed (Asclepias verticillata) -

Whorled Milkweed (Asclepias verticillata) 

Whorled Milkweed

black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia sp.) -
Bidens sp. -
wild petunia (Ruellia sp.) -
Whiteleaf Mountainmint (Pycnanthemum albescens) - pretty common, but only just about to start blooming; I don't think I saw any with obvious flowers yet
Bigroot Morning-Glory (Ipomoea pandurata) -

   Not sure what this plant is...

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   Still haven't identified this moth...

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   On July 26 I returned to Sicily Island Hills WMA, and traced a similar route to the previous trip. The difference this time was that I only went as far in on the main road as the split with the side road that turns east a little ways south of the Rock Falls trail head, and that I continued on foot beyond the end of the driveable section of this east side road, then through the woods and down to Big Creek. I walked along the creek downstream as far as a little ways beyond where the next tributary flows in from the south, and upstream to where the big tributary comes in from the south/east.
habitat shots:

east side road

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woods along walk-in only extension of road

looking back along trail/road...

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continuing down the trail/road - Eventually the path ends in a grassy clearing. In the woods beyond, the ground drops off steeply to the wide creek bottom woods.

in the creek bottoms

Big Creek

...going downstream...

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Big Creek at mouth of the downstream tributary

checking out the little tributary up to where it forks

Big Creek - farthest point I traveled downstream

going upstream on Big Creek

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confluence of main or north branch of Big Creek (left) and south/east branch/tributary (right) ...Boy, I wish all of these creeks had names, or that I knew what they were.

south/east branch -- as far upstream as I traveled

   Before continuing, I'd like to note that when walking along Big Creek, I wore reasonably clean boots and I made a point to stay out of the water except where the channel crossed over from one side of the stream bed to the other and so I had to wade across. I would strongly discourage anyone from wading the stream for fun, as this would disturb this relatively wild and clean little creek. I would also like to discourage anyone from fishing in Big Creek for fun/sport/food. While I enjoy fishing, and I certainly understand the appeal of trying ones luck with fish right there in sight, this is a pretty small ecosystem with only so many fish to go around. Injuring (if catch-and-release) or removing (if fishing for keeps) from this stream would be a shame. Besides, all of the game fish that I've seen in here (sunfish, bass, catfish) are small. If you do make the tough little trek down to this creek, it would be better to appreciate it by observing and not disturbing it unnecessarily. It's a pretty special place.

Cottonmouth -- Big Creek

   Being smack in the middle of the birding "summer doldrums", bird detection by song was way down from what it was earlier in the breeding season. However, birding was still pretty good. Though none of the numerous Worm-eating Warblers and Pine Warblers found earlier in the season were detected this time, a couple of Northern Parulas were still occasionally singing, as were a few Hooded Warblers. In two different locations I watched as an adult male Hooded Warbler brought food to one of his offspring, who was following him around and making lots of noise.

juvenile Hooded Warbler - woods near Big Creek

   I saw turkey feathers at one location and flushed an adult Wild Turkey at another.

turkey feathers -- there was some turkey scratching in the leaf litter around here, and a lot in the area where I saw a turkey

I watched a Louisiana Waterthrush foraging along the sand and gravel bars at Big Creek.

Louisiana Waterthrush - Big Creek

   Just around the bend, I watched a Wood Thrush dispatch it's prey out on the stream bed.

Wood Thrush - Big Creek

   Butterfly watching was pretty good as well. Red-banded Hairstreaks were quite numerous.

Red-banded Hairstreak

Several Lace-winged Roadside-Skippers and Clouded Skippers were seen nectaring at Whiteleaf Mountainmint, and a couple of the roadside-skippers were nectaring on the one blooming Ironweed that I found.

Lace-winged Roadside-Skipper on mountainmint

   A duskywing seen at Big Creek could have been a Zarucco Duskywing, a species which I have not seen at SI Hills before. However, I can't rule out that it was simply a male Horace's Duskywing, a common species here.

duskywing -- Zarucco or male Horace's?

   Two of the more interesting butterfly sightings this day were White-M Hairstreak and an apparent Creole Pearly-eye. Two pearly-eyes flew from the road where they were probably feeding on some scat that was present. I saw where one of them landed, and got photos. I'm assuming the second individual had been the same species of pearly-eye as the one I photographed (Northern, Southern, and Creole are all three present in SI Hills). I believe this was the same spot where Beth Willis and I saw a Creole Pearly-eye back in May (confirmed ID).

Creole Pearly-eye? -- I'm pretty confident that It's Creole, but there is some question that it might be Northern or Southern Pearly-eye. All three species inhabit SI Hills, but the Southern seems to be the most common. Features that make me think Creole are: the forewing appears to be especially long (a feature of male Creoles); the "knuckle-shaped" rather than curved (Northern) or almost straight (Southern) brown line about 2/3 of the way up the forewing, perpendicular to the leading edge; and the white around the eye spots on the wings being nearly individual rings rather that something of a white cartouche. However, these are all somewhat subjective observations, and these field marks can be pretty variable, so I'm waiting for better butterfly-watchers than me to give their opinion. The fifth eye spot on the forewing -- a feature of Creoles -- if present on this butterfly, is hidden under the hindwing in this instance.

   The White-M Hairstreak was spotted flitting about across the water at Big Creek and eventually flew over to my side of the stream and landed in a bush where I was able to have a good look at it and take some photos. This was my first time to see one of these striking little butterflies in Catahoula Parish.

White-M Hairstreak - Big Creek

White-M Hairstreak

The White-M I believe would be a new addition to the list of butterflies that have been reported from Sicily Island Hills.
   While I was busy snapping photos at Big Creek, two somethings came speeding around the bend, charging up the creek towards me. Coyote pups! Upon seeing me, one immediately leaped across the water and into the woods, really before I was sure what I was seeing. The other paused for a moment, looking back the way they'd come as if searching for what had startled the other.

Coyote pup - Big Creek

Then it turned and spotted me up ahead and quickly trotted into cover itself.

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There were lots of Coyote tracks -- youngsters and adults -- up and down the creek.
   The clear, shallow water makes for good fish watching. Big Creek is home to both Longnose Shiner and Central Stoneroller -- two Cyprinids that are very limited in their range in Louisiana west of the Mississippi River. Last summer I observed what I think were both of these species in Big Creek, so I was keen on seeing if I could find some this time. I believe that I did.
   The fish that I believe are Longnose Shiners (Notropis longirostris) were numerous, seen in small schools up and down the creek.

what I think is a Longnose Shiner -- note the yellow fins

what I think is a Longnose Shiner -- note the yellow fins, relatively pointy snout

presumed Longnose Shiner -- note eyes' position somewhat high on head, yellow fins, snout shape, position of mouth

presumed Longnose Shiner -- position of eyes, snout shape, low position of mouth for bottom feeding

tentative ID: Longnose Shiner

tentative ID: Longnose Shiners

tentative ID: Longnose Shiners

maybe a large specimen of Longnose Shiner -- notice the feeding behavior of foraging on bottom; shape of snout; the yellow fins

   I saw a few of what might have been Central Stonerollers (Campostoma anomalum), but I couldn't be sure. The spot where most of the presumed stonerollers were seen last year has changed from a relatively deep placid pool to swift, shallow water.
   Other Cyprinids that were present include Striped Shiners, Creek Chubs, and some that I couldn't identify.
  (video: I think what we have here are Creek Chub, Striped Shiner, and Central Stoneroller -- the stoneroller being the smallest fish in the video)

   I watched a tiny catfish foraging in a shallow stretch of water off the main channel. It cruised around, investigating under dead leaves.

catfish sp. (maybe a baby Flathead Catfish?? After a little research, I don't think it's a madtom sp. of catfish, as I first thought) - Big Creek

   Several species of sunfish were present: Green Sunfish, Longear Sunfish, Orangespotted Sunfish, and Bluegill.

looks to be a Bluegill

Longear Sunfish

   Blackspotted or Blacktriped Topminnows (I can't tell which species) were present, of course. I went just a little ways up the small downstream tributary looking for fish, but the only species I could identify there were Western Mosquitofish.
   As for flowers, I was surprised to see one Indian Pink (Spigelia marilandica) not only still with flowers on it, but those blooms not open yet. There are a lot of these plants in SI Hills, but their brilliant red-and-yellow flowers bloom in the spring. It was part of a patch of Indian Pink that grows on the walk-in road. Its fellows had all already gone to seed.

Indian Pink with unopened blooms; seeds on adjacent stalk to the left

Indian Pink

   In the creek bottoms I found Hymenocallis spider-lilies that I think could be a different species from those that I commonly see at other locations, such as Catahoula NWR. The ones I saw in SI Hills on this occasion have a much longer stalk and are blooming later in the season. One was in a shallow depression in the woods, the other was on the far bank of Big Creek.

Hymenocallis spiderlily sp.

Hymenocallis spiderlily sp.

Hymenocallis spiderlily sp.

Other plant stuff...
   There was a fair amount of what I think is Symplocos tinctoria -- Sweetleaf, aka Horse Sugar. I could be mistaken, but I believe that's what these plants are. Sweetleaf is the host plant for King's Hairstreak. I saw where something caterpillar-y had been feeding on some of the leaves -- I'll have to visit them in the spring when the King's Hairstreak flight is in progress to see if any of the little butterflies are around.

possibly Sweet Leaf?

   One large pine tree along the walk-in road was infested with "pine beetles" (I don't know the correct name). One or two larva could be heard munching away somewhere inside the tree, and the truck was riddled with holes that oozed sap.

infested pine

   Down in the creek bottom woods through which Big Creek flows there are some fairly sizable hardwood trees -- oaks and gums. None that I saw were exceptionally large, but its still nice to see a healthy number of what I'd actually call large trees in the woods these days.

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   Below are lists for birds, mammals, herps, fishes, butterflies, and a few other things from this outing.

July 26, 2019
7:43 a.m. - 2:47 p.m.
~4.3 miles (2.8 by vehicle, approx. 1.5 on foot)
71-89 F.; sunny most of the time, but with periods of cloudy; light breeze

Birds

Wild Turkey - 1
Mourning Dove - 6
Yellow-billed Cuckoo - 10
Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 1
Chimney Swift - 2
Mississippi Kite - 1
Red-shouldered Hawk - 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 8
Downy Woodpecker - 3
Pileated Woodpecker - 3
Eastern Wood-Pewee - 6
Acadian Flycatcher - 14
White-eyed Vireo - 12
Yellow-throated Vireo - 1
Red-eyed Vireo - 7
Blue Jay - 9

Blue Jay

American Crow - 3
Cliff Swallow - 2
Carolina Chickadee - 6
Tufted Titmouse - 10
Carolina Wren - 27

Carolina Wren

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 8
Wood Thrush - 6
Louisiana Waterthrush - 1
Hooded Warbler - 7
Northern Parula - 2
Summer Tanager - 8
Northern Cardinal - 18
Indigo Bunting - 5

Mammals - Eastern Gray Squirrel, Coyote; tracks of Nine-banded Armadillo, Northern Raccoon, White-tailed Deer, ...and feral hogs

Herps
Fowler's Toad, Blanchard's Cricket Frog, Cope's Gray Treefrog, Green (Bronze) Frog, Southern Leopard Frog;

Southern Leopard Frog - Big Creek

Green Anole...

Green Anole

 Cottonmouth

Cottonmouth - Big Creek

Fishes
catfish sp. -
Striped Shiner -

Striped Shiner

Striped Shiners

Longnose Shiner -

tentative ID: Longnose Shiner

tentative ID: Longnose Shiners

Creek Chub -

looks to me like Creek Chub

looks to me like Creek Chub

possibly Central Stoneroller -
shiner/minnow (Cyprinid) spp. -

shiner/minnow sp. -- I think it may be a juvenile Striped Shiner

I think it may be a juvenile Striped Shiner

shiner/minnow sp.

Blackstripe/Blackspotted Topminnow -
Western Mosquitofish -
Green Sunfish -
Longear Sunfish -
Orangespotted Sunfish -
Bluegill -

...

sunfishes and shiners

Butterflies
Silver-spotted Skipper - 1
duskywing sp. (Zarucco or Horace's?) - 1
Clouded Skipper - 3 or 4
Lace-winged Roadside-Skipper - 4

Lace-winged Roadside-Skipper - Big Creek

Dun Skipper - 1

Dun Skipper - Big Creek

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail - 1 or 2
Giant Swallowtail - 3
Cloudless Sulphur - 2
Sleepy Orange - 1
Red-banded Hairstreak - 26
White-M Hairstreak - 1

White-M Hairstreak on French Mulberry bush

American Snout - 3

American Snout - Big Creek

'Astyanax' Red-spotted Purple - 13

'Astyanax' Red-spotted Purple - Big Creek

Pearl Crescent - 2
Question Mark - 1

Question Mark - Big Creek

(Creole?) Pearly-eye - 1 or 2
Gemmed Satyr - 2

Gemmed Satyr

Carolina Satyr - 7

Moths
(dead) Luna Moth -

dead Luna Moth - Big Creek

Variable Tropic -

 Variable Tropic -- trail near end of east side road

possible Vetch Looper or similar species -
...and numerous tiny moths that I couldn't identify.

Dragonflies & Damselflies
Common Whitetail, Eastern Pondhawk, skimmer sp., other dragonfly spp.
Ebony Jewelwing, Bluet-tipped Dancer

Wildflowers
Whiteleaf Mountainmint or similar species (Pycnanthemum albescens / Pycnanthemum sp.), Bidens sp., Indian Pink (Spigelia marilandica), spider lily sp. (Hymenocallis), French Mulberry or American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana), Ironweed sp. (Vernonia), among others...

   As always, if you spot an incorrect ID or have suggestions for those that I'm unsure about, please feel free to let me know.

Big Creek

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