Central Louisiana Birding & Wildlife: Sicily Island Hills (South Side) and Fort Beauregard Historical Park -- Catahoula Parish, 10/2/2019

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
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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

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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

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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,...

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

Rock Falls Trail

Rock Falls

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Rock Creek, upstream from Rock Falls

Rock Falls Trail

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Rock Creek

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

continuing upstream alongside the trail

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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.

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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

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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.

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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