 |
| Brown-headed Nuthatch, 9/7/2017 |
I visited the area around Work Center Road (NF road 147) in the Kisatchie National Forest's Catahoula Ranger District six times during the period of September - November, 2017. This includes the Catahoula Hummingbird and Butterfly Garden ("the garden") and the trail around the block of open pine woods (and off trail in the woods and surrounding grassy area) that are situated to the southwest of the garden and accessed from the garden's parking area ("the trail" or "the woods" in material below).
This post's focus is mostly on the birds, Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths), and some of the flowers that I recorded on these visits, but there's some content on other wildlife besides birds and leps, aswell.
Habitat Shots:
 |
| in the garden |
 |
| in the garden |
 |
| heading west on north leg of trail, 11/27 |
 |
| in the north part of the woods, after they've been mowed - 11/27 |
 |
| going south along west leg of trail, before most of the mowing - 9/7 |
 |
| west side after mowing - 11/17 |
 |
| hardwood gully across from SW corner of open pine woods |
 |
| in the woods - SW part of block of woods, before final mowing - 11/7 |
 |
| weedy/grassy south of woods, before mowed - 9/7 |
 |
| looking south toward southeast corner - 9/22 |
 |
| north along east side, after weedy area mowed - 9/22 |
Details for each visit:
9/7 (11:37 am, 4 hrs 31 min, ~2 miles, garden and trail; warm, sunny, light wind)
9/16 (12:07 pm, 43 min, at garden; 82 degrees F., mostly cloudy/variable, breeze)
9/22 (12:43 pm, 3 hrs 8 min, ~2 miles, garden and trail; sunny, hot, light breeze)
10/4 (1:36 pm, 3 hrs 11 min, ~2 miles, garden and trail; ~mid and upper 80's F., sunny, light wind.)
11/17 (7:03 am, 3 hrs 47 min, ~2 miles, garden and trail and off trail in woods; 61 - 79 degrees F., mixed sky becoming sunny, starting off calm but stiff south breeze developing),
11/27 (w/ Tom Pollock part of the time. 11:26 am, 4 hrs 11 min, ~0.4 mile, garden and north leg of trail and adjacent parts woods and grass; 68 - 72 degrees F., clear, some light breeze)
Sept. 16:
Since this was such a short visit, and I stuck to the garden, I'll just list separately the few birds that I did find, rather than including them in the table below. -- Turkey Vulture - 1, Eastern Wood-Pewee - 1, White-eyed Vireo - 1, Blue Jay - 1, Carolina Chickadee - 2, Tufted Titmouse - 1, Brown-headed Nuthatch - 1, Carolina Wren - 1, Gray Catbird - 1, Northern Mockingbird - 1, Pine Warbler - 1.
Birds for September 7 and 22, October 4, November 17 and 27:
Northern Bobwhite -- 9/7 -
0, 9/22 -
1, 10/4 -
0, 11/17 -
0, 11/27 -
0
Great Blue Heron -- 9/7 -
0, 9/22 -
0, 10/4 -
0, 11/17 -
0, 11/27 - 1
Turkey Vulture -- 9/7 -
1, 9/22 -
3, 10/4 -
0, 11/17 -
7, 11/27 -
2
Red-shouldered Hawk -- 9/7 -
0, 9/22 -
0, 10/4 -
0, 11/17 -
1, 11/27 -
0
Red-tailed Hawk -- 9/7 -
1, 9/22 -
1, 10/4 -
0, 11/17 -
0, 11/27 -
0
Mourning Dove -- 9/7 -
2, 9/22 -
1, 10/4 -
0, 11/17 -
1, 11/27 -
7
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 9/7 -
3, 9/22 -
1, 10/4 -
1, 11/17 -
0, 11/27 -
0
Red-headed Woodpecker -- 9/7 -
0, 9/22 -
2, 10/4 -
0, 11/17 -
0, 11/27 -
0
Red-bellied Woodpecker -- 9/7 -
2, 9/22 -
0, 10/4
- 1, 11/17 -
3, 11/27 -
0
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker -- 9/7 -
0, 9/22 -
0, 10/4 -
0, 11/17 -
1, 11/27 -
0
Downy Woodpecker -- 9/7 -
1, 9/22 -
2, 10/4 -
0, 11/17 -
0, 11/27 -
0
Red-cockaded Woodpecker -- 9/7 -
0, 9/22 -
0, 10/4 -
1, 11/17 -
3, 11/27 -
0
Northern Flicker -- 9/7 -
0, 9/22 -
0, 10/4 -
0, 11/17 -
1, 11/27 -
0
Pileated Woodpecker -- 9/7 -
0, 9/22 -
0, 10/4 -
0, 11/17 -
1, 11/27 -
0
American Kestrel -- 9/7 -
2, 9/22 -
0, 10/4 -
0, 11/17 -
0, 11/27 -
0
Eastern Wood-Pewee -- 9/7 -
4, 9/22 -
0, 10/4 -
0, 11/17 -
0, 11/27 -
0
Eastern Phoebe -- 9/7 -
0, 9/22 -
0, 10/4 -
0, 11/17 -
4, 11/27 -
2
Eastern Kingbird -- 9/7 -
1, 9/22 -
0, 10/4 -
0, 11/17 -
0, 11/27 -
0
White-eyed Vireo -- 9/7 -
1, 9/22 -
1, 10/4 -
0, 11/17 -
0, 11/27 -
0
Blue Jay -- 9/7 -
4, 9/22 -
5, 10/4 -
8, 11/17 -
1, 11/27 -
0
American Crow -- 9/7 -
3, 9/22 -
2, 10/4 -
3, 11/17 -
3, 11/27 -
4
Carolina Chickadee -- 9/7 -
4, 9/22 -
2, 10/4 -
4, 11/17 -
9, 11/27 -
5
Tufted Titmouse -- 9/7 -
5, 9/22 -
3, 10/4 -
0, 11/17 -
2, 11/27 -
1
Brown-headed Nuthatch -- 9/7 -
12, 9/22 -
12, 10/4 -
9, 11/17 -
17, 11/27 -
8
House Wren -- 9/7 -
0, 9/22 -
0, 10/4 -
0, 11/17 -
3, 11/27 -
2
Carolina Wren -- 9/7 -
6, 9/22 -
7, 10/4 -
2, 11/17 -
12, 11/27 -
3
Golden-crowned Kinglet -- 9/7 -
0, 9/22 -
0, 10/4 -
0, 11/17 -
3, 11/27 -
3
Ruby-crowned Kinglet -- 9/7 -
0, 9/22 -
0, 10/4 -
0, 11/17 -
5, 11/27 -
6
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher -- 9/7 -
2, 9/22 -
1, 10/4 -
0, 11/17 -
0, 11/27 -
0
Eastern Bluebird -- 9/7 -
2, 9/22 -
1, 10/4 -
1, 11/17 -
9, 11/27 -
4
Hermit Thrush -- 9/7 -
0, 9/22 -
0, 10/4 -
0, 11/17 -
3, 11/27 -
0
American Robin -- 9/7 -
0, 9/22 -
0, 10/4 -
0, 11/17 -
295, 11/27 -
0
Gray Catbird -- 9/7 -
1, 9/22 -
1, 10/4 -
0, 11/17 -
0, 11/27 -
0
Northern Mockingbird -- 9/7 -
1, 9/22 -
1, 10/4 -
1, 11/17 -
1, 11/27 -
0
American Pipit -- 9/7 -
0, 9/22 -
0, 10/4 -
0, 11/17 -
1, 11/27 -
0
Cedar Waxwing -- 9/7 -
0, 9/22 -
0, 10/4 -
0, 11/17 -
0, 11/27 -
18
Common Yellowthroat -- 9/7 -
0, 9/22 -
1, 10/4 -
0, 11/17 -
0, 11/27 -
0
Hooded Warbler -- 9/7 -
0, 9/22 -
1, 10/4 -
0, 11/17 -
0, 11/27 -
0
Pine Warbler -- 9/7 -
7, 9/22 -
6, 10/4 -
2, 11/17 -
6, 11/27 -
1
Yellow-rumped Warbler -- 9/7 -
0, 9/22 -
0, 10/4 -
0, 11/17 -
31, 11/27 -
18
Bachman's Sparrow -- 9/7 -
0, 9/22 -
0, 10/4 -
1, 11/17 -
0, 11/27 -
0
Chipping Sparrow -- 9/7 -
1, 9/22 -
0, 10/4 -
1, 11/17 -
17, 11/27 -
7
Dark-eyed Junco -- 9/7 -
0, 9/22 -
0, 10/4 -
0, 11/17 -
4, 11/27 -
0
White-throated Sparrow -- 9/7 -
0, 9/22 -
0, 10/4 -
0, 11/17 -
3, 11/27 -
0
Savannah Sparrow -- 9/7 -
0, 9/22 -
0, 10/4 -
0, 11/17 -
3, 11/27 -
0
Song Sparrow -- 9/7 -
0, 9/22 -
0, 10/4 -
0, 11/17 -
5, 11/27 -
6
Eastern Towhee -- 9/7 -
2, 9/22 -
0, 10/4 -
1, 11/17 -
1, 11/27 -
0
Summer Tanager -- 9/7 -
0, 9/22 -
1, 10/4 -
0, 11/17 -
0, 11/27 -
0
Northern Cardinal -- 9/7 -
7, 9/22 -
3, 10/4 -
3, 11/17 -
10, 11/27 -
7
Indigo Bunting -- 9/7 -
0, 9/22 -
0, 10/4 -
1, 11/17 -
0, 11/27 -
0
Red-winged Blackbird -- 9/7 -
0, 9/22 -
0, 10/4 -
0, 11/17 -
0, 11/27 -
2
blackbird sp. -- 9/7 -
0, 9/22 -
0, 10/4 -
0, 11/17 -
1, 11/27 -
0
House Finch -- 9/7 -
0, 9/22 -
0, 10/4 -
0, 11/17 -
4, 11/27 -
1
Pine Siskin -- 9/7 -
0, 9/22 -
0, 10/4 -
0, 11/17 -
21, 11/27 -
4
American Goldfinch -- 9/7 -
0, 9/22 -
0, 10/4 -
0, 11/17 -
20, 11/27 -
4
Bird Photos & Video:
In chronological order, by when photo was taken...
 |
| Chipping Sparrow - garden, 9/7 |
 |
| Northern Mockingbird - garden, 9/7 |
 |
| Eastern Wood-Pewee - garden, 9/7 |
 |
| Eastern Wood-Pewee - garden, 9/7 |
 |
| Pine Warbler (male) - south part of woods, 9/7 |
Video above is of American Kestrel male - trail along east side of woods, 9/7
Video below is of Red-cockaded Woodpecker (female?) working on "resin wells" around entrance to roost/nest cavity in woods beside garden - 11/17.
 |
| Red-cockaded Woodpecker - 11/17 |
 |
| Red-cockaded Woodpecker - 11/17 |
 |
| Red-cockaded Woodpecker - 11/17 |
 |
| Song Sparrow - west side of trail, 11/17 |
 |
| Pine Siskin - in the woods, 11/17 |
 |
| House Finch (male) - in SW part of woods, 11/17 |
 |
| Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - in SW part of woods, 11/17 |
|
 |
| Great Blue Heron flying in to land at the pond in the garden - 11/27 |
Butterflies and Moths:
A note before diving into the butterfly and moth sections: I can't guarantee that my i.d.s for some of the trickier species are correct (I'm looking at you, skippers and moths) and I make no claims of expertise. Of course, however, I try to be as thorough as I can when researching for these posts and include qualifiers like "tentative i.d." for some i.d.s, pending future conclusions.
Butterflies:
Silver-spotted Skipper
Long-tailed Skipper
 |
| Long-tailed Skipper nectaring on Lantana - garden, 9/7. These awesome little butterflies (a personal favorite of mine) were common here this summer and fall, and were seen on all dates covered in this post except for 11/27. |
 |
| Long-tailed Skipper - garden, 9/7. Same individual as above pic, but showing some of the colorful back. |
 |
| Long-tailed Skipper - garden, 9/7 |
Confused Cloudywing
 |
| Confused Cloudywing nectaring on Lantana - garden, 9/7 |
Cloudywing sp. -- I'm not sure if the one shown below is
Northern Cloudywing or Confused Cloudywing. I'm leaning Northern.
 |
| Maybe a Northern Cloudywing - garden, 9/7 |
Common/White Checkered-Skipper
 |
| male Common/White Checkered-Skipper - trail, 9/ |
Tropical Checkered Skipper
 |
| female Tropical Checkered-Skipper - garden, 11/27 |
*
Clouded Skipper*? -- I seem to recall encountering this species here, but can't find where I documented any.
Southern Skipperling
 |
| A tiny Southern Skipperling - west leg of trail, 9/22. The west and north part of this trail is the place where I've seen most of the individuals of this species that I've encountered over the past two-and-a-half years. |
Fiery Skipper
 |
| Fiery Skipper (female) - garden, 9/7 |
 |
| Fiery Skipper (male) - garden, 10/4 |
Whirlabout
 |
| Whirlabout - garden, 10/4 |
*Northern Broken-Dash* (tentative i.d. on all)
 |
| possible Northern Broken-Dash - garden, 9/16 |
 |
| possible Northern Broken-Dash - garden, 9/16 |
 |
| possible Northern Broken-Dash - garden, 9/16 |
Southern Broken-Dash
 |
| Southern Broken-Dash - garden, 9/7 |
 |
| a pair of Southern Broken-Dashes - garden, 10/4 |
|
 |
| Southern Broken-Dash pair - garden, 10/4 |
*Little Glassywing* -- I'm not confident on this i.d., but it's my best guess.
 |
| One of the possible Little Glassywings - garden, 9/7. I've had quite limited experience w/ this species and with some of those that I think it could be confused with, so I won't give a confident i.d. unless someone more knowledgeable confirms it. |
Dun Skipper
Ocola Skipper
 |
| Ocola Skipper - garden, 9/7 |
skipper sp. - Because sometimes those dang skippers are just sooo hard to identify, right?!
Pipevine Swallowtail
 |
| Pipevine Swallowtail - garden, 9/7 |
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
Spicebush Swallowtail
 |
| Spicebush Swallowtail - garden, 9/7 |
 |
| close-up of Spicebush Swallowtail rear wings - garden, 9/7 |
Giant Swallowtail
 |
| Giant Swallowtail - garden, 10/4 |
 |
| Giant Swallowtail in the garden -10/4 |
Orange Sulphur
 |
| Orange Sulphur - trail, 11/17 |
Cloudless Sulphur
 |
| Cloudless Sulphur - garden, 11/27 |
 |
| Cloudless Sulphur and Little Yellows - garden, 9/22 |
Little Yellow
 |
| Little Yellows - trail, 9/22 |
 |
| Little Yellows - trail, 9/22 |
Sleepy Orange - 1 on trail on 9/22, several at garden (and trail?) on 11/27
 |
| Sleepy Orange - garden, 11/27 |
Red-banded Hairstreak
 |
| Red-banded Hairstreak - trail, 9/7 |
 |
| Red-banded Hairstreak - woods, 10/4 |
Eastern Tailed-Blue
 |
| Eastern Tailed-Blue - trail, 9/22 |
Ceraunus Blue - 9/22 - 1 on south leg of trail near SE corner. A lifer for me.
 |
| Ceraunus Blue - south leg of trail, 9/22. This and the next photo are the best I could do before it flitted off to who-knows-were. |
 |
| Ceraunus Blue - trail, 9/22 |
American Snout -- 2 at garden on 11/27
 |
| American Snout - garden, 11/27 |
 |
| American Snout - garden, 11/27 |
 |
| American Snout (but where's the "snout?") - garden, 11/27 |
*Monarch* -- 9/22 - 1 - I glimpsed what was either a Monarch or a
Viceroy flying quickly past. It was gone before I got a good look at it. I think it was Monarch.
Gulf Fritillary
 |
| Gulf Fritillary - garden, 11/27 |
 |
| Gulf Fritillary nectaring on Blue Mistflower - 10/4 |
Variegated Fritillary
 |
| Variegated Fritillary nectaring on False Garlic - trail, 11/17 |
'Astyanax' Red-spotted Purple
 |
| 'Astyanax' Red-spotted Purple - garden, 10/4 |
Pearl Crescent
 |
| Pearl Crescents - garden, 11/27 |
Common Buckeye
 |
| Common Buckeye - trail, 11/17 |
Painted Lady
 |
| Painted Lady - garden, 11/17 |
Lady sp. --On a couple of occasions I got a brief look at what could have been either American or Painted Lady.
Carolina Satyr
Moths:
Black-bordered Lemon Moth (Marimatha nigrofimbria) -
 |
| Black-bordered Lemon Moth - woods, 9/7 |
?maybe Gray Looper (Rachiplusia ou) or similar species? -
 |
| possible Gray Looper (or similar sp.) - garden, 10/4 |
 |
| possible Gray Looper (or similar sp.) nectaring on Lantana - garden, 10/4 |
Salt Marsh or Acrea Moth (Estigmene acrea) -
 |
| Salt Marsh Moth caterpillar - woods, 9/22 |
 |
| Salt Marsh Moth caterpillar on Boneset - woods, 9/26 |
Bella Moth (Utetheisa ornatrix) -
 |
| Bella Moth - open grassy area north of woods and west of garden, 11/27 |
Orange Holomelina (Virbia aurantiaca) -
 |
| Orange Holomelina - hardwood gully SW of the block of pine woods, 9/7 |
presumably Vetch Looper (Caenurgia chloropha) -
 |
| tentative i.d.: Vetch Looper - woods, 11/17 |
Epipagis huronalis --
 |
| Epipagis huronalis - trail, 9/7 - These moths were common along the trail during Sept.-Oct. |
 |
| tentative i.d.: Epipagis huronalis - trail, 9/7 |
Hawaiian Beet Webworm Moth (Spoladea recurvalis) -
 |
| Hawaiian Beet Webworm Moth - trail, 9/7 |
Lychnosea intermicata -
 |
| Lychnosea intermicata - SW part of woods, 11/17 - I'm used to finding this species in the bottomland hardwood forests of Catahoula NWR, where they are a common sight during the spring and summer. This is the first one that I've found at this location, or anywhere in a piney-woods setting. |
...and a few unidentified moths, or course
 |
| ...including this guy. |
|
Other Critters:
I did not see the tame White-tailed Deer at the garden during this period, but I did spot a few deer while out on the trail.
 |
| two White-tailed Deer - 11/17 |
 |
| White-tailed Deer - 11/17 |
Pond Slider...
 |
| Pond Slider on the island in the pond at the garden - 11/27 |
some arthropods...
 |
| tentative i.d.: Little Blue Dragonlet (Erythrodiplax minuscula) - trail, 9/7 |
 |
| The Summer of Lovebugs... - trail, 9/7 |
 |
| presumed Golden Silk Orbweaver (Nephila clavipes) - hardwood gully SW of trail, 9/7 |
 |
| presumed Green Lynx Spider (Peucetia) on Lobelia - south leg of trail, 9/22 |
A few wildflower photos:
Below are just a few of the wildflowers that were found here this fall. It should be noted that I have no training in plant i.d. and that I base my identifications on what I can determine from photos and articles on presumably reliable websites (primarily
http://southeasternflora.com/index.php, and
https://www.wildflower.org/plants-main). The identity I assign to a plant should not be taken as in any way authoritative, but as the result of well-meaning amateur attempts to catalog what's been encountered. I'm always looking to learn and comments correcting the assigned i.d.s are welcomed!
A common sight in the piney woods in this part of the state this fall have been blue Lobelias of one or more species. My best guess is that they might be Lobelia amoena - Southern Lobelia, or Lobelia puberula - Downy Lobelia. Some info at:
https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=LOAM4 and
https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=Loam4. Anyway, a couple of photos of blue Lobelias from this location are below.
 |
| Lobelia sp. - trail, 9/22 |
 |
| Lobelia sp. (maybe L. amoena, the Southern Lobelia?) - edge of garden, 11/17 |
 |
| Florida Bluehearts (Buchnera floridana) - trail, 9/22 |
Florida Bluehearts (Buchnera floridana/americana) and "Wildbean" or "Fuzzybean" or "Amberique-Bean" (Strophostyles) of some sort are two more commonly-encountered types of wildflowers at this location.
 |
| Strophostyles sp. (maybe S. umbellata, or S. helvola, or S. leiosperma?) - trail, 9/7 |
 |
| "Beeblossom" (Gaura/Oenothera) sp. - trail, 9/7 |
I think that spindly Beeblossom, with their numerous strawberry-ice-cream-colored flowers, are interesting-looking plants. They're something I look forward to when visiting this location. I'm confused as to what the correct currently accepted designation of these plants is, as different websites seem to use different nomenclature. I originally learned them as genus Gaura of some type (i.e. tentative i.d.: "Gaura filipes"), but have recently noticed them in with genus Oenothera when researching this post. (Consult above websites.)
 |
| "Beeblossom" (Gaura/Oenothera) sp. - trail, 9/7 |
 |
| "Beeblossom" (Gaura/Oenothera) sp. - trail, 9/7 |
 |
| "False Foxglove" sp. (Agalinis) - trail, 9/7 |
 |
| "False Foxglove" sp. (Agalinis) - trail, 9/7 |
False Foxglove (Agalinis), like those pictured above, are a familiar sight in open areas in later summer and early autumn. There's a few species that, to me, based on the photos and illustrations that I've looked at, are very similar - too similar for me to tell them apart.
A new species for me were the more distinctive (tentatively i.d.ed)
Agalinis viridis, the
Green False Foxglove (photos below). Several were growing in the edge of taller weeds, nearly hidden, at the northwest corner of the trail. Also at this spot were some Colombian Waxweed (Cuphea carthagenensis).
 |
| tentative i.d.: Green False Foxglove (Agalinis viridis) - NW corner of trail, 10/4 |
 |
| tentative i.d.: Green False Foxglove (Agalinis viridis) - NW corner or trail, 10/4 |
 |
| Location of presumed A. viridis, showing an assortment of flowers. The A. viridis were along the corner on the left side of image, low and tucked in among the other plants. |
 |
| "Mountainmint" sp. (Pycnanthemum) - maybe P. albescens, Whiteleaf Mountainmint? - woods, 10/4 |
 |
| Tentative i.d. Pseudognaphalium obtusifolium (Rabbit Tobacco or Sweet Everlasting). - woods, 10/4 (edited from original 'I don't know what it is' status on 5/30/18) |
 |
| Photo - 9/22. These yellow Asters (not sure what the species is) were very common in the woods and along the trail during Sept.-Oct. |
 |
| "Blazing Star" sp. (Liatris) - trail, 9/22 |
False Garlic (Nothoscordum/Allium bivalve) and the purple woodsorrel (Oxalis sp.) shown below are two types that I usually associate with late winter and spring blooming that will also bloom in the fall.
 |
| False Garlic (Nothoscordum bivalve) - trail at south end of woods, 9/22. |
 |
| woodsorrel sp. (Oxalis) - maybe Purple Woodsorrel (O. rubra) or Violet Woodsorrel (O. violacea) - at edge of hardwood gully across from SW corner of trail, 9/7. The wildflower.org account for O. violacea (they don't have one for O. rubra) mentions that violacea, which is primarily a spring bloomer, sometimes flowers again in the fall. |
**** A post covering Catahoula NWR observations from this Fall will be up in the next couple of days.****
