Swamp

Barataria Preserve; Jean Lafitte National Park, outside New Orleans, Louisiana.

Sherburne WMA Shorebirds

Wanted to post a sample shot of one of the wider views from my visit to Sherburne.  This is just a sample of a much larger area filled with birds, the majority of which in this shot were White Ibis.   I was walking along a small levee, separated from the area in sight above by a small watercourse.   The birds below were all on the near or far bank of that section, offering views of shorebirds that even I could enjoy!  

Solitary Sandpiper

Lesser Yellowlegs

Spotted Sandpiper

Lesser Yellowlegs and Black-necked Stilt

What a location!  Right in this area I also had a roost of Black Vultures numbering in the hundreds.  I am not sure when my travels will next take me to the Baton Rouge area, but when I am next there getting back to the South Farm at Sherburne will be a priority.   

Big Birds at Sherburne WMA

Another revisit to some of the bird images from Sherburne WMA outside Baton Rouge, LA.   This time focusing on some of the large subjects that frequent the area.  

Little Blue Heron

Great Egret

Green Heron

White Ibis - immature

Little Blue Heron - immature 

(interesting that the previous two are such negative images of the adult plumage versions of their species) 

Cattle Egret

That was quiet a total for the Heron/Egrets in one day, from previous posts I had also counted Great Blue and Tricolored on that day.  I was also on the lookout for Roseate Spoonbills, but they eluded me on this trip and remain high on the wish list.  Will return for at least one more Sherburne post featuring shorebirds, but may jump ahead to Grand Isle between now and then.   

Critters of Louisiana

American Alligator - star of the show

Monarch Butterfly

Golden Orb Weaver

Gasteracantha cancriformis, Spiny-backed Orb Weaver or Smiley-faced Spider

Five-lined Skink

Great Blue Skimmer

Golden Orb Weaver

Southeastern Lubber Grasshopper 'Devil's Horse'

Green Anole

Green Anole

Crab (anyone know crab species?)

These were just a handful of the non-birds that slinked, sprang, scurried, spun, swooshed or swam their way past me on my adventures in Louisiana.   Many of the above photos were taken at the Barataria Preserve section of the Jean Lafitte National Park.  That day was incredible, but due to the park opening hour of 9:00 it was already too hot for any good bird activity while I was there.   The place was incredible though, and a definitely recommended destination for visitors to New Orleans.   I even saw a River Otter, (not pictured) which was a lifer mammal in the wild!    

Sherburne WMA Lifers

Sherburne Wildlife Management Area is spread out over an area just west of Baton Rouge Louisiana.   It was well written of on the See Jane Bird list of birding locations, and had generated a few trip reports on eBird and the Louisiana listserve in the weeks leading up to my trip.   

I headed out from New Orleans before daylight, and was impressed at the miles of elevated roadway outside the city.   I was also impressed by how humid and hot it was in the predawn hour.   The vastness of the swampland was something that I academically understood to be fact, but it still hit me as I drove along.  

I missed sunrise, and struggled with lens fog the first few minutes after my arrival, but was all set to begin getting shots just after seven.   Shortly after the White Ibis became apparent - there were many - I caught this Yellow-crowned Night Heron on the wing.   Note the white cheek patch that extends behind the eye.  

Next up, an Anhinga.    It was busy working on something on a perch above the lilies.   I had a good long look at the bird but was a ways distant across the water.   I would have liked to get a better look at those feet.   Still, another great bird, and so fun to see large sized lifers that were easy to identify.    

Just when I was beginning to think it would be difficult to find any other new, large birds at close range to take pictures of.....I walked up on this Tricolored Heron. I was just becoming frustrated by the bright direct sun on this bird's light breast, when I caught movement in the trees beyond.....

There I spotted a Yellow-billed Cuckoo.   That is a bird that is uncommon, but readily found across the eastern portion of Colorado.   I guess I will just have to look harder here.

The Cuckoo and Tricolored Heron marked my furthest point into the area, (near a machine shed beyond the restrooms), and I turned back as the sun rose.   My time in the South Farm area wasn't over, a detour on my return walk yielded many pictures, which included the White Ibis and Black-necked Stilt pictures from the previous post....but more on that later.   Skipping ahead, once it had become prohibitively warm and most of the birds had dispersed out for the shade and security of the forest or were just foraging one by one, I headed back for the car.   While sweat soaked, it was only mid-morning, and I was still eager for more.   Just down the Interstate, a junction with Whiskey Bay Road featured a 17 mile stretch through the larger section of Sherburne, before connecting with a state highway that would loop me back to Baton Rouge.

The road started through a series of riverside cabins, which would make an appealing weekend getaway for the summer months down there.   Just as I was getting started I spotted a likely bird on a dead snag above the riverbank.  I got a good series of shots, but they were distant and in bright light.   Do you know what I had found?

A Mississippi Kite!   This is another bird that breeds in Eastern Colorado, but which I have not previously been able to track down.   This one moved back and forth between two perches, giving me ample opportunity to get the best shots that circumstances would allow.

After all these great birds, and more (stay tuned), I was ready to complete my loop grab some lunch and get back to the city, my hotel, and bed.   I did have one last adventure in store.  As I headed down the on ramp to the state highway I found a police cruiser blocking the road, and saw another diverting traffic from the highway off the exit ramp.   I looped under the bridge, dug out my map and found another road headed back to the south (Interstate) on the far side of the river.   By the time I had my new route I had several other car drivers asking if they could follow me.    Somehow we all ended up on the road south, which deteriorated from a nice paved two lane highway... to a nice gravel road... to a split where presumably the oncoming traffic was driving along the top of the levee to our left while we drove along a narrow dirt track at its base.....past someone's full exhaust system lying in the road gulp (Dave to self: "you are driving a rental car, not your 4runner, does this thing have any clearance?")... at this point we have caught other traffic on the detour, and the dust kicked up from both roads is getting thick between the walls of vegetation on either side...to a point where the road turns through some deeepish sand (Dave to self: "this is why driving a truck is always a good idea")....on and on watching taillights ahead and hoping the car behind isn't too close.....(Dave to self: Did I just hear banjo music?!!)...and out to an interstate on ramp and clear visibility travel.   Louisiana, wild and full of adventure!

Several more posts to come....stay tuned!

Looks from Louisiana

Last week I had a chance to pull together a great trip out of a combination of birding and photography, work, and meeting with friends from all over the country for a fantasy football draft.   I had three trips out into various habitats in the early part of the week, and then followed it up with some fun in New Orleans when my friends arrived last weekend.   This post contains a few of my favorite captures from the trip.   Above, a White Ibis from my first day trip to the South Farm section of the Sherburne WMA just west of Baton Rouge.

Next a flight shot of a Black-necked Stilt from the same morning.   My arrival flight was planned for an overnight Friday evening, which would lead directly to an early start Saturday.   But as they say, "the best laid plans of mice and men..." and that flight was canceled.    I actually left at ten a.m. on Saturday, and finally caught up with my bags at the hotel just after midnight on Sunday morning.    The drive up to Sherburne and the great birding I experienced were just what I needed to make me forget the travel headaches and immerse myself in all the wildlife that habitat had to offer.

A few days later I took another morning trip, and headed down to Grand Isle for sunrise.   More dedicated shots to come from that, but for the moment, a Green Heron perched to give me a sidelong glance while preening.

The second of two lifers from the trip included in this post, a Clapper Rail.   The other, the White Ibis at the top of this post was the first of nine I added on the trip.

To close out this first of the trip posts, a Willet who was posing as I exited the Grand Isle State Park on my way back to New Orleans.   I really enjoyed my opportunities to get out of the city on this visit to Louisiana.   Granted, late August is far from ideal, but if you are willing to wake really early, and accept that by 9:30 or 10:00 am it will be time to head anywhere indoors, then this is a place where incredible experiences abound.

Aside for traveling birders.  
          I find that one of the great parts of any kind of travel is the advance planning that goes into finding activities that will make a vacation memorable.    For this trip an incredibly helpful site was See Jane Bird's site.   She has a Birding Around Baton Rouge link that had great information on a number of locations in the area, including habitat, likely species, and access details.   There were others as well, but that one knocked it out of the park for a site created by an individual.   Nice work Jane!

More to come....stay tuned!

2011 Count:  214
Lifetime: 286

The Big Easy

While in New Orleans this past weekend I was lucky enough to happen upon the rare and elusive, 'Patty O'Briens Hurricane Pigeon'! Fortunately, Daniel Chung was ready to get a shot with his iPhone camera - thanks for sharing the shot Dan. This mighty hunter has adapted to an environment of loud music, raucous humans - and thrives on dropped pieces of complimentary popcorn.

Also spotted on the trip, but not photographed were the recently separated species, 'Lucky Dog Cart Pigeon', and 'Days Old Pizza by the Slice Pigeon'.

Perhaps the most unusual species of all was seen just outside the hotel in the lush bamboo grove - known best by its Latin name; owlus plasticus.

Other individuals of that species had tragically passed and were found lying face down on the pavement - for the sake of the readers those images were not captured. Another individual of that species showed a remarkable survival strategy, it had apparently gone domestic and was touring the area with a group of young ladies, who would photograph it to document their progress. I knew of a penguin that had adapted to that 'roaming garden gnome' survival strategy years ago. That bird caught the eye of exotic bird traders and was left to an unknown fate, I can only hope this one fares better.

In all seriousness I had a great time in New Orleans, and didn't do a bit of serious birding or photography. I now have a Louisiana state list of three species - Rock Pigeon, House Sparrow, and Laughing Gull. Getting the chance to hang out with 14 plus friends who only get together once a year is a priority that at times has to take precedence. The New Orleans area deserves another trip where birds are the priority, and I hope to make that happen as well, sooner rather than later.