Central Louisiana Birding & Wildlife: October 2019

the woods of Sicily Island Hills

Related Posts:
- Sicily Island Hills north side, 9/27/19 -
https://falloutbird2014.blogspot.com/2019/09/sicily-island-hills-north-side.html
- Sicily Island Hills south side & Ft Beauregard, 8/19/19, with links to earlier posts -
https://falloutbird2014.blogspot.com/2019/08/sicily-island-hills-wma-and-fort.html
*********************************
On October 2 I made another trip to Sicily Island Hills. On the way I went by Fort Beauregard Historical Park in Harrisonburg.

Fort Beauregard Historical Park

...

Fort Beauregard Historical Park (Harrisonburg)
7:35 a.m., 1 hr 16 mins; 0.25 miles
72-74 F.; sunny; light breeze

Chimney Swift - 1
Eastern Screech-Owl - 1
Belted Kingfisher - 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 2
Downy Woodpecker - 1

male Downy Woodpecker

Northern Flicker - 1
White-eyed Vireo - 2
Blue Jay - 3
American Crow - 4
Carolina Chickadee - 2

Carolina Chickadee

Tufted Titmouse - 3
Brown-headed Nuthatch - 1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 2
Carolina Wren - 3
Brown Thrasher - 1
Northern Mockingbird - 3
Eastern Bluebird - 2
American Robin - 1
Hooded Warbler - 1
Pine Warbler - 5
Summer Tanager - 1
Northern Cardinal - 4
Indigo Bunting - 2

...

.............................................................................
At Sicily Island Hills, I went to the south side of the WMA, accessed from LA-8. I birded driving, with numerous stops, the main road going north as far as the Rock Falls trail head.

woods along main road, Sicily Island Hills

main road, Sicily Island Hills

I also walked about 0.15 miles on one of the 'no motorized vehicles' dirt tracks that goes west from the main road,...

...

...and around 0.5 miles of the Rock Falls Trail, paralleling the creek upstream from Rock Falls.

Rock Falls Trail

Rock Falls

...

Rock Creek, upstream from Rock Falls

Rock Falls Trail

...

Rock Creek

Rock Creek -- confluence of two branches, both with little waterfalls into the pool

continuing upstream alongside the trail

...

spring seeps / running out of creek to follow

I didn't walk in any areas near where hunters were parked, but I still had on my orange vest. Safety first.

Persimmon

Bird activity was modest, with little evidence of passing migrants. I imitated screech-owl calls at several stops, and in addition to getting some responses from songbirds and woodpeckers that I'd have otherwise overlooked, I heard Eastern Screech-Owls respond at two of these locales.

Tufted Titmouse -- dirt road where I walked

Wild Turkey feather

On the Rock Falls Trail, Tufted Titmice were especially conspicuous, with one group of seven chasing one another around and calling noisily. Carolina Chickadees, White-eyed Vireos, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, Pine Warblers, Pileated Woodpeckers, and other common woodland birds were also present.
Along the trail I saw a couple of snakes: a Common Gartersnake and a North American Racer.

Common Gartersnake

(video: Racer ...and that's when the camera batteries died)

There were three Southern Pearly-eye butterflies at the same spot along Rock Falls Trail where they were seen on my last trip down the trail back in August.

...

Southern Pearly-eye -- 10/2/19

Southern Pearly-eye -- 10/2/19, same individual in above pics

They hang out around a little gully on the east side of the main creek, where water seeps from the base of the hill and feeds the tiny gully.

Southern Pearly-eye location

Southern Pearly-eye location (seeps)

Southern Pearly-eye on ground at seep

There is quite a good bit of Sweetleaf growing in the part of the woods near the Southern Pearly-eye locale.

Rock Falls Trail through a patch of Sweetleaf

...

Sweetleaf

I'll have to search that location in May and June when the King's Hairstreaks should be flying, as Sweatleaf is their host plant.

...

Below are the lists for birds, mammals, herps, and butterflies detected on this visit to Sicily Island Hills.

JC "Sonny" Gilbert WMA (Sicily Island Hills WMA)
9:02 a.m., 3 hrs 47 mins; 3 miles (~0.7 miles on foot, the rest by truck w/ stops)
78-88 F.; sunny most of the time; light breeze

Birds
Eastern Screech-Owl - 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 6
Downy Woodpecker - 2
Pileated Woodpecker - 5
Eastern Wood-Pewee - 2
Acadian Flycatcher - 1
Blue Jay - 6
American Crow - 2
Carolina Chickadee - 11
Tufted Titmouse - 22
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 6
Carolina Wren - 11
Hooded Warbler - 2
Pine Warbler - 5
Summer Tanager - 1
Northern Cardinal - 9
Indigo Bunting - 1

Mammals
one or two Fox Squirrels

Herps
Blanchard's Cricket Frog; Green Anole, Little Brown Skink, North American Racer, Common Gartersnake