Catahoula NWR, 2020 pt. 1: January, February, March

Headquarters Unit entrance - 2/15/2020

-Related Posts-
Catahoula NWR 2019: https://falloutbird2014.blogspot.com/2020/03/catahoula-nwr-2019.html

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   Below are lists for Birds, Mammals, Herps, and Butterflies detected on Catahoula NWR during the period of January 1 - March 31, 2020. The birds are separated by Unit, the other lists are all Units lumped together. Details of time, distance, weather, etc. are given for each date; habitat shots for each Unit.

Headquarters Unit
-habitat shots-

1/8

1/8

...

...2/15

north end of Duck Lake - 2/15

ditto

2/15

2/2

...

...

3/15

3/31

1/8

1/15

1/8

1/8

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January

1/8/2020
9:33 a.m.; 3 hrs, 52 mins; 5.4 miles
49-64 F.; sunny; breeze; water level marker at north end of Duck Lake showed approx. 35.5'

1/15/20
9:36 a.m.; 2 hrs, 57 mins; 2.8 miles
72-77 F.; mixed/variable/cloudy sky; light wind; wet, puddles from previous couple of day's rain; water level marker at north end of Duck Lake showed approx. 36.6'

February

2/2/20
2:22 pm; 3 hrs, 13 mins; 7.4 miles
73-77-69 F.; sunny; southwest breeze, calm at end; water high, rising, over road at a spot on south leg of loop, I turned around

2/15/20
7:56 a.m.; 1 hr, 32 mins; 2.4 miles
38-46 F.; sun at start, then generally cloudy most of time; near calm, light breeze; water high and rising

March

3/6/20
1:50 p.m.; 1 hr; 1.2 miles; 3 observers
~67 F.; clear; light breeze; water high, over road to north end of Duck Lake, that and the part of loop south of nature trail head closed, gated

3/15/20
8:06 a.m.; 1 hr, 33 mins; 1.4 miles
66 F.; overcast, sun breaking through towards end; near calm; water high but dropping, much of loop still closed

3/31/20
11:35 a.m.; 1 hr, 50 mins;  2.1 miles (including ~0.5 miles on nature trail)
63-64 F.; mostly overcast, some partial sun; moderately windy; water still high, but falling; most of refuge loop closed because of high water.

Birds

months separated by '/'
'x' = species detected but numbers not determined

Snow Goose - 358, x  /  0, x  /  0, 0, 0
Wood Duck - 0, 5  /  12, 5  /  4, 1, 0
Blue-winged Teal - 0, 0  /  0, 0  /  27, 155, 8
Gadwall - 11, 0  /  0, 0  /  0, 0, 0
Mallard - 70, 21  /  85, 30  / 0, 0, 0
Northern Pintail - 15, 0  /  0, 0  / 0, 0, 0
Canvasback - 7, 4  /  1, 1  /  0, 0, 0

female Canvasback -- 1/15/20

Ring-necked Duck - 4, 0  /  0, 0  / 0, 0, 0
duck sp. - 45, 27  /  0, 0  /  0, 0, 0
Mourning Dove - 1, 2  /  0, 0  /  0, 5, 5
Killdeer - 0, 0  /  0, 0  /  0, 1, 0
Forster's Tern - 0, 1  /  0, 0  /  0, 0, 0

Forster's Tern at Duck Lake, HQ Unit - 1/15/20

Forster's Tern - 1/15/20, same in video below

Neotropic Cormorant - 0, 0  /  1, 0  /  0, 0, 0

Neotropic Cormorant -- Cowpen Bayou on HQ Unit, _

Double-crested Cormorant - 2, 206  /  10, 12  /  0, 0, 0
American White Pelican - 5, 0  /  5, 0  /  0, 0, 0
Great Blue Heron - 3, 1  /  0, 0  /  1, 1, 1
Great Egret - 1, 2  /  3, 0  /  1, 7, 6
Little Blue Heron - 0, 0  /  0, 0  /  0, 3 (FOS), 0
Black Vulture - 4, 0  /  0, 0  /  0, 0, 0
Turkey Vulture - 3, 7  /  5, 8  /  2, 0, 2
Bald Eagle - 0, 2  /  0, 0  /  0, 0, 0
Red-shouldered Hawk - 1, 5  /  0, 0  /  0, 1, 1
Barred Owl - 2, 0  /  0, 0  /  1, 0, 0
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - 1, 0  /  2, 1  /  1, 0, 0
Red-headed Woodpecker - 1, 1  /  0, 1  /  0, 1, 0
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 10, 7  /  9, 8  /  1, 6, 2
Downy Woodpecker - 9, 5  /  0, 7  /  1, 2, 2
Hairy Woodpecker - 0, 0  /  0, 0  /  0, 1, 1
Pileated Woodpecker - 4, 2  /  4, 2  /  1, 1, 1
Northern Flicker - 5, 3  /  1, 4  /  0, 2, 0
Eastern Phoebe - 9, 6  /  1, 5  /  1, 0, 0

Eastern Phoebe - 1/8/20

White-eyed Vireo - 0, 0  /  0, 0  /  0, 1 (FOS singing), 6
Blue-headed Vireo - 1, 0  /  0, 0  / 0, 0, 0
Yellow-throated Vireo - 0, 0  /  0, 0  /  0, 0, 1
Blue Jay - 5, 4  /  0, 4  /  2, 8, 3
American Crow - 10, 19  /  6, 6  /  2, 4, 3
Carolina Chickadee - 17, 9  /  17, 11  /  2, 11, 7
Tufted Titmouse - 10, 1  /  5, 6  /  1, 6, 12
Golden-crowned Kinglet - 1, 0  /  0, 2  /  0, 0, 0
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 16, 10  /  0, 5  /  1, 6, 2
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 2, 0  /  0, 0  /  0, 0, 3
House Wren - 0, 1  /  0, 0  /  0, 0, 0
Carolina Wren - 9, 10  /  12, 9  /  1, 5, 8
Eastern Bluebird - 3, 1  /  1, 1  /  1, 2, 0
Hermit Thrush - 1, 0  /  0, 0  /  0, 0, 0
American Robin - 12, 13  /  9, 40  /  0, 0, 0
American Goldfinch - 9, 3  /  1, 13  /  0, 0, 0
Chipping Sparrow - 40, 1  /  4, 2  /  10, 0, 0
Field Sparrow - 0, 0  /  0, 1  /  0, 0, 0
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) - 3, 2  /  6, 1  /  0, 0, 0
White-throated Sparrow - 15, 15  /  10, 12  /  0, 8, 5
Savannah Sparrow - 2, 3  /  1, 0  /  0, 0, 0
Song Sparrow - 2, 0  /  0, 0  /  0, 0, 0
Swamp Sparrow - 2, 0  /  0, 1  /  0, 1, 0
Eastern Towhee - 0, 0  /  0, 0  /  0, 1, 0
Red-winged Blackbird - 100, 20  /  0, 150  /  0, 100, 0
Brown-headed Cowbird - 0, 0  /  0, 7  /  0, 3, 0
Common Grackle - 60, 1  /  x, 355  /  0, 20, 0
blackbird sp. - 0, 0  /  0, 0  /  0, 0, 10
Black-and-white Warbler - 0, 0  /  0, 0  /  0, 0, 1
Prothonotary Warbler - 0, 0  /  0, 0  /  0, 0, 3
Orange-crowned Warbler - 3, 1  /  1, 0  /  0, 1, 0
Common Yellowthroat - 0, 0  /  0, 0  /  0, 0, 1
Northern Parula - 0, 0  /  0, 0  /  0, 1, 5
Pine Warbler - 3, 2  /  2, 4  /  0, 0, 0
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) - 27, 12  /  12, 11  /  0(!), 1, 0
Northern Cardinal - 15, 7  /  13, 14  /  2, 13, 9

Willow Lake Unit

3/6/2020
3 observers; 2:53 pm; 13 minutes; stationary count at entrance to Willow Lake Rd just off US-84, water over road beyond that.

Willow Lake Unit entrance - 3/6/2020

Barred Owl - 1, Carolina Chickadee - 1, Carolina Wren - 1, American Goldfinch - 2, Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) - 1

Bushley Bayou Unit

habitat shots

3/15

3/15

*

3/15

3/15

3/15

3/15

2/2

2/2

2/2

2/2

2/2

Green's Creek - 2/2

2/2

2/2

2/2

2/2/2020
9:35 a.m.; 4 hrs, 34 mins; 2.6 miles
55 - ~73 F.; sunny; calm, some light breeze; water high, up along edge of road for ~0.25 miles around fork of Minnow Ponds Rd, Trail, and Dry Bayou Rd.; water over Dry Bayou Rd a little ways beyond Rhinehart Lake Trail, where I turned around

3/15/2020
9:56 a.m.; 2 hrs; 0.6 miles
66-60 F. (cool front passage); overcast; light wind out of ~ north
Drove Minnow Ponds Rd, with a few stops, from LA-8 to access to shallow water impoundments (0.4 miles) then about 0.2 miles walking on levee of impoundments; most of the time was spent on foot

Blue-winged Teal - 0, 1
Ring-necked Duck - 61, 0
Hooded Merganser - 4, 0
Pied-billed Grebe - 2, 3
Mourning Dove - 1, 3
Virginia Rail - 0, 2 (I saw where the species had been reported at this location on eBird; I used playback in area mentioned in report--impoundments--and got response)
Killdeer - 8, 1
Wilson's Snipe - 0, 38

Wilson's Snipe - 3/15

Greater Yellowlegs - 7, 0
Double-crested Cormorant - 2, 2
Great Blue Heron - 2, 2
Great Egret - 4, 7
Little Blue Heron - 0, 2
White Ibis - 0, 78

White Ibises -- 3/15

Black Vulture - 1, 0
Turkey Vulture - 11, 13
Bald Eagle - 0, 1

adult Bald Eagle - 3/15

Sharp-shinned/Cooper's Hawk - 1, 0
Red-shouldered Hawk - 4, 1
Red-tailed Hawk - 1, 0
Belted Kingfisher - 1, 2
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - 1, 0
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 3, 1
Downy Woodpecker - 2, 3
Pileated Woodpecker - 2, 1
Northern Flicker - 2, 1
Eastern Phoebe - 5, 1
Blue-headed Vireo - 1, 0
Blue Jay - 4, 5
American Crow - 5, 3
Carolina Chickadee - 12, 1

Tufted Titmouse - 5, 3
Horned Lark - 0, 1
Purple Martin - 0, 3
Barn Swallow - 0, 7
swallow sp. - 0, 1 (Cliff or Northern Rough-winged?)
Golden-crowned Kinglet - 5, 0

Golden-crowned Kinglet - 2/2/20

Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 8, 4
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 0, 1
House Wren - 2, 1
Sedge Wren - 1, 1
Carolina Wren - 4, 4
Northern Mockingbird - 0, 1
Eastern Bluebird - 1, 2
American Robin - 1, 1
American Pipit - 1, 0
Cedar Waxwing - 0, 2
American Goldfinch - 3, 3
Chipping Sparrow - 2, 0
White-throated Sparrow - 13, 3
Savannah Sparrow - 5, 1

Savannah Sparrow - Bushley Bayou Unit, 2/2/20

Song Sparrow - 6, 4

Song Sparrow - Bushley Bayou Unit, 2/2/20

Swamp Sparrow - 5, 3
Eastern Towhee - 2, 4
Red-winged Blackbird - 2, 100
Brown-headed Cowbird - 0, 3
Orange-crowned Warbler - 3, 1

Orange-crowned Warbler - 2/2/20

Common Yellowthroat - 3, 1
Pine Warbler - 3, 3
Yellow-rumped Warbler - 4, 2
Northern Cardinal - 9, 4

Other Wildlife (all units of CNWR)

Butterflies
Horace's/Juvenal's Duskywing
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
Red-banded Hairstreak
Cloudless Sulphur
Monarch
Pearl Crescent
Red Admiral
Goatweed Leafwing

Goatweed Leafwing - Bushley Bayou Unit, 2/2/20

Mammals
Eastern Fox Squirrel

Herps
Spring Peeper
Cajun Chorus Frog
 (video: Cajun Chorus Frog calls -- HQ Unit, 1/15/20)

Cope's Gray Treefrog
Green Treefrog - HQ Unit on 3/15
Squirrel Treefrog - HQ Unit on 3/15
Blanchard's Cricket Frog - HQ & BB Units on 3/15
Southern Leopard Frog
 (video: So. Leopard Frog calls -- Bushley Bayou Unit, 2/2/20)

North American Racer

North American Racer - HQ Unit, 3/15

Southern or Banded Watersnake

Southern Watersnake - fresh roadkill, HQ Unit, 3/15

Pond Slider

juvenile Pond Slider -- Bushley Bayou Unit, 2/2/20

    The post for Catahoula NWR birds April-May will be up shortly.

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2020 Catahoula NWR NABA Butterfly Count

Gulf Fritillary - Willow Lake Unit

Related Posts:

 - Catahoula NWR Count 2019, with links back to previous years - 

https://falloutbird2014.blogspot.com/2019/07/catahoula-nwr-naba-butterfly-count-2019.html

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   We held the Catahoula NWR NABA Butterfly Count on August 1st this year. The count organizer was Craig Marks, and there were 9 participants: J. Clark, B. Kaufman, C. Marks, B. Moon, D. Patton, R. Seidler, J. Trahan, J. Trahan, P. Wallace. Due to the COVID situation, with did things a little differently this year. Parties traveling together on the count stayed in separate vehicles, and of course folks were careful to maintain a safe distance from one another when butterflying the same area on foot. The participants divided up into from 2 to 5 parties, depending on location and time. 

Tropical Checkered-Skipper - Catahoula NWR HQ Unit

Little Yellow - HQ Unit

   The count circle is centered at the NWR HQ and covers an area 15 miles in diameter in La Salle and Catahoula Parishes. This includes the Headquarters, Willow Lake, and French Fork Units of the NWR and portions of the Bushley Bayou Unit, as well as many areas not on the refuge. Much of the circle is bottomlands, with the habitats including bottomland hardwood forest, secondgrowth, fields, wetlands and bodies of water. There's also significant upland areas in the northern part of the circle, where the dominant habitat is "piney-woods"--largely pine plantation--with hardwood creek bottoms. Less of the upland area is accessible to the public, being mostly private land and with houses along much of the public roads. Areas we covered this year include the Headquarters, Willow Lake, French Fork (Muddy Bayou Rd) and Bushley Bayou (Minnow Ponds Rd and Dry Bayou Rd) Units of Catahoula NWR, the Archie/Little River Recreation Area, and for the uplands Blade Loop Road. 

Carolina Satyr - Blade Loop

Ocola Skipper - French Fork Unit

Habitat Shots:

HQ Unit - refuge loop - photo taken 7/25

ditto

HQ Unit - Mosquito Bend - count day

Mosquito Bend Rd - 7/25

HQ Unit - road to east side of Duck Lake - count day

HQ Unit - refuge loop at N end of Duck Lake - 6/29

Willow Lake Unit - count day

ditto

Blade Loop - 7/25

Blade Loop - count day

Bushley Bayou Unit - Minnow Ponds Rd - 7/25

BB Unit - impoundments/levees by Minnow Ponds Rd - count day

ditto

BB Unit - Dry Bayou Rd/Green's Creek bridge - 7/12

BB Unit - Dry Bayou Rd - 7/12

ditto

French Fork Unit - Muddy Bayou Rd at LA-28 - count day

   This year's count had an inauspicious beginning, with overcast skies and a drizzling rain for a little while. Butterflies were generally hard to come by for the first couple of hours. However, the rain stopped soon enough, and before noon the skies were sunny. With the sun came the butterflies, and we ended up with a decent number of individuals and species. 

bottom-to-top: Southern Dogface, Cloudless Sulphur, Horace's Duskywing - puddling at Willow Lake Unit

Southern Dogface and Cloudless Sulphur - Willow Lake Unit

Zebra Swallowtail, seen by the Trahans, was a new species for the Catahoula count. The 85 Gulf Fritillaries seen this time was a high count for this species on the Catahoula NWR count. Silvery Checkerspots (found in the upland area) were much less common this year than on the 2019 count when they were surprisingly numerous. 

   The complete list is below (compiled by Craig).

August 1, 2020
9:30 am - 5:00 pm
9 observers; party-hours 30, party-miles on foot 7
37 species, 950 individuals

Silver-spotted Skipper - 5
Long-tailed Skipper - 1
Horace's Duskywing - 42

Horace's Duskywing - Willow Lake Unit

Common Checkered-Skipper - 54

Common Checkered-Skipper - French Fork Unit

Tropical Checkered-Skipper - 56

Tropical Checkered-Skipper nectaring on Sida - HQ Unit

Clouded Skipper - 22
Least Skipper - 7
Fiery Skipper - 80
Dun Skipper - 2
Ocola Skipper - 2

Ocola Skipper - French Fork Unit

Pipevine Swallowtail - 7
Zebra Swallowtail - 1
Black Swallowtail - 5

male Black Swallowtail - French Fork Unit

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail - 1
Spicebush Swallowtail - 1

Orange Sulphur - 1
Southern Dogface - 4

Southern Dogface - Willow Lake Unit

Southern Dogface (and Cloudless Sulphur) - Willow Lake Unit

Southern Dogface - Willow Lake Unit

Cloudless Sulphur - 43

female Cloudless Sulphur - French Fork Unit

Little Yellow - 185

Little Yellow - Blade Loop

Sleepy Orange - 8

Gray Hairstreak - 4
Red-banded Hairstreak - 5

American Snout - 1
Monarch - 1
Gulf Fritillary - 85

Gulf Fritillary - Willow Lake Unit

Variegated Fritillary - 16

Variegated Fritillary - levee of shallow water impoundments by Minnow Ponds Rd, BB Unit

ditto

Silvery Checkerspot - 6

Phaon Crescent - 35
Pearl Crescent - 82

Pearl Crescent - HQ Unit

Question Mark - 9
Common Buckeye - 53
'Astyanax' Red-spotted Purple - 41
Viceroy - 15
Goatweed Leafwing - 15

Goatweed Leafwing on Goatweed - Willow Lake Unit

ditto

Hackberry Emperor - 6

Gemmed Satyr - 1
Carolina Satyr - 48

Carolina Satyr - HQ Unit

   Birds (Jonathan Clark), all locations combined (did not go to Archie Rec. Area)

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
Mourning Dove
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Spotted Sandpiper
Wood Stork
Anhinga
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
White Ibis
Glossy/White-faced Ibis

Roseate Spoonbill

Roseate Spoonbills - HQ Unit

Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Mississippi Kite
Red-shouldered Hawk
Broad-winged Hawk
Barred Owl
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker
Acadian Flycatcher
Great Crested Flycatcher
White-eyed Vireo
Yellow-throated Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Cliff Swallow
swallow sp.
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Carolina Wren
Wood Thrush
Eastern Towhee
Common Grackle
Yellow-breasted Chat
Common Yellowthroat
Hooded Warbler
Northern Parula
Summer Tanager
Northern Cardinal
Blue Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Painted Bunting

 Other participants may have had additional spp.

   Raccoons were out and about, with several seen including a mother with two kits. Video below is one seen on Mosquito Bend Rd on HQ Unit.

   Herps detected include Fowler's Toad, Blanchard's Cricket Frog, Cope's Gray Treefrog, Green Treefrog, Squirrel Treefrog, Southern Leopard Frog; Pond Slider. Other participants may have had additional spp.
   At a small spring-water stream in the upland area I spotted several fish species, including, madtom sp. (small catfish), Striped Shiner, Creek Chub, shiner/minnow (Cyprinid) sp., Western Mosquitofish, and either Blackspotted or Blackstripe Topminnows.

madtom sp.

tentative ID: young Striped Shiner

Cloudless Sulphur (left) and Southern Dogface - Willow Lake Unit

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