Items below were posted to the on-line Bird Alert server.  Contributor names (when known) will be shown.  Dates listed as contained in posts.  Contents may be edited/formatted prior to listing.  Most recent posts appear at the top.
Please Note that to cut down on spamming, @'s and .'s in email addresses have been replaced where the webguy deems appropriate to keep "bots" from harvesting email addresses.  When replying to any of the affected addresses, you should replace the (at) and/or (dot) with @ and . to get the correct address.

Velda Neilson

 Hello, all,

Hope everyone is warm and well while out looking for frostbit birds!  And rarities with all this weather.

Neighbor and I birded a few minutes this afternoon from Toledo to home, after helping some folks with water problems.  We came upon a spectacular feeding/flying frenzy of waxwings!  Awesome!  They were flying out of the woods into any cedar, privet, or ? yaupon with berries.  They'd feed and fly on down the narrow, country "road tunnel" having trees on each side.  Honestly, there were several hundred of them no doubt!  Wonderful sight!

At Jolly Roger we were pishing up birds from inside the car.  All of a sudden I heard a BH Nuthatch and that beggar almost flew in the car after me!  Honestly, he was no further than 6 inches from my face when he scared me and himself!  He made an about-face and landed in a bush 9 feet away.  And buddy, did he scream!  He fussed and hollered for 3 or 4 mins - the whole time we sat there!  That was thrilling!  Also had some chickadees, a myrt, a Ruby-crown and a Mockingbird show up. 

Did not see any ducks or eagles.  Only 2 Pied-bills, 5 White Pelicans, some Cormarants and 2 Great Blues.  No Great Egrets.

Had a beautiful view of a Red Shouldered Hawk that literally blended with the rotting tree he was perched at the top of.  A Pileated in our front woods.  Maybe got 25 species.

Actually had a dozen goldfinches today at my sunflower feeders.  Weren't too interested in the thistle seed - or maybe feeders they were in.

Wrap those pipes and feed the birds!

And remember - the more you bird the more blessed with awesome sights you'll be!

Velda

 Velda Neilson

Happy New Year Birders!

Here in the Lula Community we have no goldfinches feeding.  We have been hearing them for weeks in the tree tops but none are coming to my feeders nor the neighbors except 5 or 6.  Not even the thistle feeders!  Are they enjoying all the natural foods?

Where are my goldfinches?  This is the first year this has happened here since 1986.

Have a blessed 2010,
Velda

Jeff Trahan

Bickham Dickson Park is closed again due to high water.  Jean and I walked to the barn, but couldn't get around the circle by the boat launch.  This was the first time that we have been to the park that we did not see a Great Egret.  However, we did see a total of 40 species that included Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and four Orange-crowned Warblers.  The complete list is below.

Jeff Trahan
Shreveport, LA

2 Gadwall 
4 Mallard 
45 Ruddy Duck 
6 Pied-billed Grebe 
18 American White Pelican 
35 Double-crested Cormorant 
1 Anhinga 
1 Great Blue Heron 
2 Black Vulture 
1 Red-shouldered Hawk 
1 Red-tailed Hawk 
20 American Coot 
80 Ring-billed Gull 
6 Mourning Dove 
2 Belted Kingfisher 
5 Red-bellied Woodpecker 
1 Downy Woodpecker 
5 Northern Flicker 
3 Eastern Phoebe 
5 Blue Jay 
6 Carolina Chickadee 
2 Carolina Wren 
6 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 
1 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 
3 Eastern Bluebird 
3 American Robin 
3 Northern Mockingbird 
8 European Starling 
1 American Pipit 
15 Cedar Waxwing 
4 Orange-crowned Warbler 
125 Yellow-rumped Warbler 
1 Pine Warbler 
1 Song Sparrow 
2 Swamp Sparrow 
4 White-throated Sparrow 
3 Northern Cardinal 
10 Red-winged Blackbird 
425 Common Grackle 
2 American Goldfinch 

Bill Wood

To all,

Had a male and female Purple Finch at the feeders this a.m.  Also good numbers of American Goldfinches and Chipping Sparrows.

As always, Good Birding!

Bill Wood
Keithville, LA 

Clyde Massey

LaBirders,

Sunday I went off chasing new state birds, something I haven't done in quite some time.

First, I started at Holly Beach looking for Burrowing Owl.  Checked every pile of rocks, rubble, trash, etc.  No owl to be found.  Strike one.

Second, I went to Cedar Drive in Cameron to look for Cinnamon Teal.  No landowners home so I could not get permission.  Went on to Pintail Drive in Cameron Prairie NWR.  Lots of ducks and geese, including teal, but no Cinnamon.  Strike two.

Got off I-10 at Rayne about 2:30 pm.  Drove down Hwy 90 several times.  Checked trees, bushes, etc.  Turned off Hwy 90 and checked Landry Rd.  Nothing.  About 3:30, I returned to Hwy 90 heading west toward Rayne.  The (Harris Hawk?  (webguy)) hawk was perched on the lowest wire about half a mile east of Leroy Breaux Rd.  I watched it for a couple of minutes, then it flew into the trees north of Hwy 90 and continued east following the RR tracks.  Home Run!  It ain't over til its over!

Had a great day and saw lots of birds.  Thanks to all who provided directions.

Clyde Massey
Shreveport, LA
cnmassey(at)earthlink(dot)net

James Ingold

FYI

Forwarded e-mail from Dorothy Metzler [mailto:dmetzler(at)rlmgc(dot)net] 
Sent: Saturday, December 19, 2009 7:15 PM

We had a frosty morning (low in the 20's) followed by a sunny afternoon (high around 49) on December 5, 2009, for our sixteenth annual Caddo Lake Warm-up Winter Bird Count.  Twenty-three participants in 11 parties covered territories in Marion and Harrison Counties, Texas, and Caddo Parish, Louisiana.  We found a total of 103 species on this year's count (our average is 106), with one new species (Nashville Warbler – found by Jim Ingold on the LA side).

All-time high numbers were counted for: Turkey Vulture (434), Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (9), Brewer's Blackbird (200).

Notably absent were: Ruddy Duck, American Woodcock, Great Horned Owl, Red-breasted Nuthatch, White-crowned Sparrow.

Eleven Bald Eagles were reported.  Two or three of them might have been counted twice, which would leave us with a total of eight or nine, which is still a lot more than we normally have on this count (generally just 1 or 2).  We have had as many as 15 but that was in 1995.

Peggy Harding & Linda Price (in Marion Co.) spotted 5 Bald Eagles all at the same time (2 ad, 3 im) plus 3 Herring Gulls and 4 Blue-headed Vireos (we had a total of 16 BH Vireos).

Mike Dillon & David Weaver reported 200 Brewer’s Blackbirds (in Harrison Co.).

Dillon & Weaver counted 35 Rusty Blackbirds (Harrison Co.) and Wanda Bosmans & Happy King counted 22 (Marion Co.) for a total of 57 Rusty Blackbirds.

Dorothy Metzler, Diane Jones, Nancy Ray & Tom Walker found 1 of our 2 Le Conte’s Sparrows (in Harrison Co.).

David Ringer & Jason Pike (in Harrison Co.) also found 1 Le Conte’s Sparrow, plus our only Inca Doves (2), 4 of our 7 Purple Finches, and nearly half (21) of our 45 Golden-crowned Kinglets.

Ray Berry & Gene Peiter (in Marion Co.) found our only Pine Siskins (3) as well as 3 Purple Finches.

Bob Metzler & Eddie Ray counted 600 Canvasbacks and one Osprey (on the Texas side of the lake – by boat).

Jim Ingold (in Caddo Parish, LA) got 15 Bufflehead and 2 Common Goldeneye and our only new species this year: (1) Nashville Warbler.

Rosemary Seidler (in Caddo Parish) reported our only Eurasian Collared Dove.

Jeff & Jean Trahan (Caddo Parish) spotted our only Snow Goose (1) and 12 of our 16 Hooded Mergansers.

Shirley Huss, Silviera Hunt & Michelle Lawrence (Caddo Parish) found 4 of our 11 Fish Crows (the lowest number we’ve had on this count since 1994). 

John Dillon

Hello, Claiborne CBC folks!

Couldn't scout yesterday due to rain, but I went out this morning around the perimeter of the lake.  Birds everywhere!  Got a pair of Eared Grebe and a pair of Northern Pintail which would both be new species for this count.  Had several other goodies but failed to relocate the Say's Phoebe.  But the whole area I birded was as birdy as I've ever seen it!  See most of you tonight!

John Dillon
Athens, LA

Jeff Trahan

Bickham Dickson Park is open again so Jean and I were able to walk into back of the park again.  It was muddy and cold so we didn't stay as long as usual.  We saw a total of 34 species--nothing unusual.  The entire list is below.

Jeff Trahan
Shreveport, LA

4 Mallard
3 Northern Shoveler
6 Ruddy Duck
12 Pied-billed Grebe
8 American White Pelican
85 Double-crested Cormorant
2 Anhinga
2 Great Blue Heron
12 Great Egret
1 Snowy Egret
2 Turkey Vulture
150 American Coot
1 Killdeer
3 Rock Pigeon
1 Mourning Dove
1 Belted Kingfisher
4 Red-bellied Woodpecker
1 Downy Woodpecker
4 Northern Flicker
2 Pileated Woodpecker
1 Blue Jay
2 Carolina Chickadee
1 Tufted Titmouse
10 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
1 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
1 Eastern Bluebird
1 European Starling
1 American Pipit
9 Cedar Waxwing
55 Yellow-rumped Warbler
1 Pine Warbler
5 White-throated Sparrow
8 Northern Cardinal
60 Common Grackle

John Dillon

If anyone would like to see the Say's Phoebe we found at the Hill Farm today, here is the bird's location.  If you come in from the North side of the Hill Farm (just south of Homer in Claiborne Parish on HWY 9), turn on Hill Farm Road; if you come from the South side, do the same, or turn on Powell Road.  Take either road east until you get to an unmarked road with two empty chicken houses on it.  The phoebe is to the north of the chicken houses.  It's sallying from the fences in the pastures there and could be on any fence.  Say's Phoebes bob their tails, so don't automatically write off a tail bobbing bird as an Eastern Phoebe.  If you play the call, please don't over-play.  Steve Pagans got wonderful photos, and we all had excellent looks through the scope.  If anyone needs any other info, you can email me off-list unless it would be helpful to others, too.

John Dillon
Athens, LA

Jeff Trahan

Bickham Dickson is still closed, but the roads are no longer covered with water.  This morning, Jean and I walked from the front gate to the boat launch, around the loop and to the barn.  It was cloudy and occasionally drizzly.  The best bird was two Franklin's Gulls mixed in with the Ring-billed Gulls near the boat launch.  We saw 32 species.  The complete list is below.

Jeff Trahan
Shreveport, LA

1 Wood Duck 
8 Gadwall 
7 Mallard 
3 Pied-billed Grebe 
18 American White Pelican 
30 Double-crested Cormorant 
1 Anhinga 
4 Great Blue Heron 
8 Great Egret 
157 American Coot 
25 Killdeer 
1 Spotted Sandpiper 
2 Franklin's Gull 
31 Ring-billed Gull 
2 Mourning Dove 
4 Belted Kingfisher 
5 Red-bellied Woodpecker 
1 Downy Woodpecker 
7 Northern Flicker 
1 Blue Jay 
1 Fish Crow 
2 Carolina Chickadee 
1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 
1 Eastern Bluebird 
3 American Robin 
2 American Pipit 
45 Yellow-throated Warbler 
1 White-throated Sparrow 
1 Northern Cardinal 
8 Red-winged Blackbird 
40 Common Grackle 
1 American Goldfinch 

Velda Neilson

Hello, all!

Had one hummer today.  Only one quick look at front but I suppose it is the female Ruby-throat.  Late date!

Have fun railing tomorrow!

God bless,
Velda

Rachel Demascal

Charles Fritz in Blanchard reported to Walter B. Jacobs Memorial Nature Park that the last of the ruby-throated hummingbirds left his feeder yesterday, November 5, 2009.  He will call again if any more show up.

-Rachel Demascal

Ellen Middleton

I had 4 yellow-rump warblers, 1 ruby crowned kinglet in the live oak, and a ruby throat hummingbird feeding at the Mexican bush sage in my back yard this morning.  Guess this is my "fall" bird day.

Ellen Middleton
Broadmoor Terrace

Velda Neilson 

Hello, All!

Saw a Bald Eagle riding the thermals with a TV in north Haughton on Oct 18th!  We were at a home nestled with a couple others in mostly the woods.  Yoohoo!  Altitude so low I could clearly see the white tail and head.  Circled around and then flew northwest toward the Red River and Cross Lake.  Lake Bistineau is ? SW of Haughton.

We still have 4 or 5 hummers here in the Lula Community (south Desoto Parish).  I have 2 myself.  They appear to be the same birds that have been here for 2 weeks.  I know many of you must still have hummers.

Yes, my feeders are still up with clean sugar water.  If I recall, Paul's opinion is to leave up the feeders as long as we see hummers.  This is the latest date I have hummers recorded at my house.  I believe one is an imm. male or female Ruby.  The other I believe is an imm. Black-chin because it's bill seems longer and definitely down-curved

We have birded upper Toledo Bend some lately and had very few species - in fact, 2 of our lowest records - 21 or 22.  Did have a Roseate, a Broad-wing Hawk, an imm. male Indigo Bunting and 3 kingfishers 2 weeks ago.  Last week's highlights were 55 White Pelicans, a dozen un-ID'd ducks, and 4 coots.

I haven't seen many migrants at home either.  Thought I heard a YB Sapsucker last week.  That's about it!  Where did they migrate through or did I just miss them?

Good day to all and may God bless,
Velda

Jay Huner 

Good Morning from Central Louisiana.  Cotile Lake is about 6 miles west of Boyce off I-49.  The lake is being drained to the 8' level to permit repair of a bridge on the SW arm.  There are two arms SW and SE accessible from LA 1200 and Hoyt Road off LA 1200.

Yesterday, the following birds were present foraging in the drying arms of the lake.  The area should be attractive to wading birds for the next 6-8 weeks, if not longer.

Jay Huner

- Wood Duck
- Double-crested Cormorant
- American White Pelican
- Anhinga
- Great Blue Heron
- Great Egret
- Snowy Egret
- Little Blue Heron
- Tricolored Heron
- Green Heron
- White Ibis
- Roseate Spoonbill
- Wood Stork
- Osprey
- Purple Gallinule
- Killdeer
- Herring Gull
- Belted Kingfisher

Rachel Demascal

Alice Bond in Doyline has spotted and photographed a Roseate Spoonbill on Lake Bistineau over that last few days.  She has two photographs. The bird may still be there today.

-Rachel Demasca

Bobbe Wommack

 I had a beautiful yellow breasted chat in my yard today. 

Bobbe Wommack

Mark Poole

I'm not sure I've ever noticed a post about Greater Roadrunners. There is a small 'family' of roadrunners living near the Stonewall exit of I-49 in Desoto Parish.  I see individuals fairly frequently, and watched a group of three once.

Today I spotted an individual on the NW corner of the intersection as I exited the highway, and stopped to watch it feed near the fenceposts on the hill. Grasshoppers seemed to be the fare on the menu today.

There is a wide shoulder for pulling off the road and being out of the way of traffic.

Mark Poole

Clyde Massey

Hi BSG,

I stopped by Lock & Dam 4 briefly on the way home from Alexandria today.  Other than the usual waders, there was one adult Purple Gallinule in the first pond on the north side of the road with several moorhens.  Lots of Eastern Kingbirds along the fencerows.  23 Caspian Terns on a small sandbar out near the end of one of the jetties.  On the way out two white-tailed does and a young fawn running close to the road.

Clyde Massey

Jeff Trahan

Jean and I went to Bickham Dickson Park Sunday morning.  Birds were much better than in the previous two weeks.  Two weeks ago we saw a total of 24 species; last week we saw 37 species; this week we got 51 species.  We actually had some migrants: Northern Parula, Yellow Warbler, Blue-winged Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, Northern Waterthrush, and Blue-gray Gnatcatchers.  It is very nice seeing the warblers during migration. The entire list is below

Jeff Trahan
Shreveport

1 Wood Duck 
3 Mallard 
1 Anhinga 
6 Great Egret 
8 Snowy Egret 
5 Little Blue Heron 
2 Cattle Egret 
2 Green Heron 
9 White Ibis 
3 Black Vulture 
4 Turkey Vulture 
1 Mississippi Kite 
1 Cooper's Hawk 
1 Red-shouldered Hawk 
1 Red-tailed Hawk 
45 Mourning Dove 
1 Yellow-billed Cuckoo 
3 Eastern Screech-Owl 
2 Chimney Swift 
1 Ruby-throated Hummingbird 
1 Belted Kingfisher 
7 Red-headed Woodpecker 
4 Red-bellied Woodpecker 
2 Downy Woodpecker 
1 Northern Flicker 
1 Eastern Wood-Pewee 
1 Great Crested Flycatcher 
2 Eastern Kingbird 
5 Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 
1 White-eyed Vireo 
8 Blue Jay 
1 Fish Crow 
6 Purple Martin 
10 Northern Rough-winged Swallow 
2 Barn Swallow 
6 Carolina Chickadee 
5 Carolina Wren 
7 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 
90 American Robin 
4 Northern Mockingbird 
65 European Starling 
1 Blue-winged Warbler 
5 Northern Parula 
3 Yellow Warbler 
1 Black-and-white Warbler 
2 Northern Waterthrush 
2 Summer Tanager 
6 Northern Cardinal 
1 Red-winged Blackbird 
3 Common Grackle 
3 Baltimore Oriole

Paul Dickson

If you are interested in seeing an adult male Rufous Hummingbird, call me.  I banded it yesterday a few hours after its arrival at a home on Bent Tree Lane off of Ellerbe.  It was guarding a feeder and thus very easy to see but probably won't stay long

Paul

Larry Raymond

Anne just called to tell me she saw a Yellow-headed Blackbird with a large flock of blackbirds along Caplis-Sligo Road in south Bossier.  Anyone out birding might want to scan large blackbird flocks.

Larry R. Raymond

Dennis Forshee

Victoria Williams reports a Yellow Warbler in her backyard this afternoon in Southern Trace, Caddo Parish LA.  The front has 'em moving...

Dennis Forshee

Jeff Trahan

I took several photos of the Green-breasted Mango Thursday.  You can find them at:

http://www.jtrahan.com/mango/mango.htm

Jeff Trahan
Shreveport

Charles Lyon

LA-birders,

I got a few semi decent photos of the immature GREEN-BREASTED MANGO at Kathy Johnson's Greenwood, LA home today 8-20-09...certainly from south of the border, and in Border Patrol lingo, it could be an OTM (other than Mexican).
John Arvin can expand on this theory.  To see the photos go to http://gallery.me.com/charleslyon

Charlie Lyon
Shreveport, LA

Paul Dickson

Birders:

Louisiana’s potential first state record of Green-breasted Mango was first seen at 12:06 PM by Kathy Johnson and her husband at their home near the Texas-Louisiana line west of Greenwood today.  It has already been seen by six birders and has been closely photographed by two photographers.  It is an immature.  These birds are very often “one day wonders” and the most recent two in Texas in fact were seen for hours and for two days respectively.  Dennis Forshee of Shreveport’s Wild Bird Center is going to bring it a couple of more feeders so the welcome mat is out for the bird and for birders.  Let’s hope it stays at least until tomorrow if not for the weekend.  The Johnson’s have made only two requests, one is that you call before coming and the second that no one wearing perfume or cologne enter the home due to their allergies.  If there are very many cars present, we should view the bird from the edge of the pond as you approach the home rather than crowding in on the hosts.  The bird is very active and chases the numerous Ruby-throated constantly.  It is easy to see from a respectful distance.

The home is in the country at the end of a long dirt road.  The following directions will help, even if you have a GPS.  The address is 7380 Brownstone Rd., Greenwood, LA but that address did not carry me far enough on my GPS which indicated that it believed it was at 8380 Brownstone when actually at the home.

Directions from Exit 3, I-20 at Greenwood, Louisiana.  There is a Flying J Truck stop at this exit. From the Flying J:
Proceed west on Hwy.80, 1.3 mi. to Elysian Fields Rd.  Turn left then immediately right on Walden Ferry Road. Go 1.5 mile to Brownstone Road on the left.  There will be a pile of old tires on the right.  Turn left on to Brownstone Road and go .5 mile to where this dirt road ends in a chain-link fence.  (At .3 mile on Brownstone you will see a nice engraved wooden sign that says “private road, no trespassing”.  It is OK to continue on the dirt road through this point.)  At the chain link fence and the mailbox for 7380 you must turn right and drive along the chain link fence on mowed grass.  You cannot see the home from here and you will think that you are driving in a pasture as the tire tracks for the road are barely visible in places.  Continue along the chain-link fence for .1 mi. to where it turns left.  You should park here if there is a crowd.  The road leads to the house which is visible from the fence corner.  If there is a crowd, view the bird from the edge of the pond.  If there is not a crowd, and you are not wearing perfume, and you have called, come to the house.

Call the Johnsons if you plan to come: 318-938-1145

Paul Dickson

Paul Dickson

7380 Brownstone rd. Greenwood LA call before coming. Kathy Johnson. 318-938-1145

Paul Dickson

(Note from webguy): This is a hummingbird.

Jeff Trahan

Jean and I went to Bickham Dickson Park this morning.  The temperature was in the 80's, but it was very humid causing us to sweat a lot.  We did our usual route which includes driving through the front of the park and walking in the back.  Whenever we stopped we were inundated with mosquitoes.  There were no shorebirds and very few other birds.  We must be in a time when many of the breeding birds have left and the winter birds have not arrived.  I was hoping to see some migrants, but there were none.  The total number of species we saw was 24.  This is probably the lowest number of species we have ever seen on a a trip to the park.  The complete list of birds is below.

Jeff Trahan
Shreveport

3 Wood Duck 
3 Anhinga 
3 Great Egret 
3 Snowy Egret 
1 Little Blue Heron 
2 Cattle Egret 
1 Green Heron 
3 White Ibis 
1 Turkey Vulture 
22 Mourning Dove 
7 Red-headed Woodpecker 
3 Red-bellied Woodpecker 
1 Pileated Woodpecker 
4 Blue Jay 
3 Fish Crow 
3 Northern Rough-winged Swallow 
2 Carolina Chickadee 
1 Carolina Wren 
55 American Robin 
2 Northern Mockingbird 
40 European Starling 
3 Northern Cardinal 
1 Indigo Bunting 
3 Common Grackle 

Hubert Hervey

BSG members,

July 30 Pat Stinson, biologist Coldiron, and I took a chance on the iffy weather and boated from Spring Bank in Ark, to Cash Point north of Bossier City.  Several interesting observations come next:

1. At Palmer's Lake, in Ark, just N of the La state line, we saw between 60 and 80 least terns.  A total of over 100 were seen all day.  We encountered one 3 week old bird here with a broken wing.  It was trying to fly, but wound up flopping.  I should have collected it, as only bad can result.  A predator will catch it, and learn how tasty tern is, or the parents will overstay their migration departure, trying to tend to a bird that will not fly away with them.

2. Scott's Slough is located 5 miles N of the Hwy 2 bridge and is dammed up by the natural levee formed by the raised banks of the Red River. The recent heavy rains in that area caused the dam to rupture and the 25 or 30 acre lake to empty. The area was full of birds enjoying the bonanza, as the water was still flowing out rapidly.  Birds included many Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, Little Blue Herons and Least Sandpipers.

Best Birds were: 4 Red Knots
6 Stilt Sandpipers
15 Black Terns
1 Willet
1 Roseatte Spoonbill
17 Wood Storks
1 Caspian Tern

This area was accessible by boat from the river.  This natural phenomenon was new and fascinating for me to experience.

3. We saw 3 grown beavers: one swimming across the rapidly flowing river, and two diving off the bank as we passed. 

4. The debris drift line was almost continual, in a line near the channel, and carrying an occasional large log.  A lot of this material will eventually make its way to L & D 5.

5. We saw 3 adult Bald Eagles, a pair at Glycerine Revetment, and one farther north. 

This trip should only be attempted by a boater experienced with conditions such as described, and having the proper boat to manage such conditions.  We avoided the morning rains, but the wind was a problem at times.

A comment on this seasons tern production follows:

June was lost as high water levels prevented nesting until about July 1st.  The number of fledglings I have seen is about 1/3 of what I would expect during a normal year.  I will hope to support this opinion with numbers in the September issue of the BSG Newsletter.

It was a very informative trip and well worth the effort.

Hubert Hervey 

Hubert Hervey

BSG Members,

I went with Harvey Goleman on the Red River yesterday, 22 July 2009 from Garland to the LA state line, a distance of 40 miles.  Our totals were 136 adult least terns, 43 chicks from 1 - 14 days old, 27 fledglings, 39 nests and 70 eggs.  I'd say this is looking like a successful year for nesting least terns on Red River.

There were two very active colonies: Palmer Lake Rev. and Valley Gin Revetment at Mile Marker278 and 289.6 respectively. Palmer Lake is within a mile of the Louisiana state line and is one of the most successful colonies I have ever surveyed.  As it was between 3 and 4 PM with rather high temperatures, I felt it best to count from the boat and not to disturb the nesting birds as they were busy keeping eggs and chicks cool and/or protected.  A Bald Eagle flew over while we were there.  After circling the island twice I decided that Palmer Lake had 47 adult least terns, 22 chicks of several ages, 25 fledglings and 13 nests.  Valley Gin Revetment had less than half of this degree of action.

Both of these colony sites would be destroyed by further navigation channels that are proposed, not yet approved, by the USACE.

We saw two adult Bald Eagles, and 90 Canada Geese during the day.

Hubert Hervey

Hubert Hervey

BSG Members,

I was on the Red River on July 19 with Jeff Trahan and Terry Davis.  We made a days run from Cash Point to Clark's Landing.  We found 48 adult Least Terns, l fluffy chick and one fledgling, 7 nests with 14 eggs.  We found colonies at three new locations: at the I-220 bridge, a mile north of Clarks Landing (east of channel), and a mile south of Clarks Landing (east of channel).  All three of the new colony sites are nothing to be excited about, as they are minimally above river level so any rise will wash them out, very few birds involved (11 high), very few nests ( 2 high), and chances for success very low. 
Add this to the 150 on July 16,
93 adults on July 1 and 2,
18 babies on all survey,
And you see it is not a total failure to reproduce, even though it is only a one chance to succeed attempt at nesting. Say this since high water preventing nesting during all of June, except amazingly at Palmer's Lake where nesting took place about June 1st.

I hope to finish surveys tomorrow as I will have covered all the major nesting areas.

Hubert 

Shirley Huss

There is a mixed "colony" of ECdoves and mourning doves that roost on the wires and fences between St.Vincent's Ave. and 61st St. and Linwood.

Some of the birds look like they may be hybrids?........with field marks of both species.  Lily is correct they seem to "be everywhere."! 

Shirley 

Hubert Hervey

BSG Members,

July 16 Least Tern Survey results.  Jerry Bertrand and I went from Allen Ferry Launch on Little River downstream about 30 miles to Garland, Arkansas, through some of the better tern habitat on the Red River.  We counted 148 adult least terns, and 2 fuzzy babies.  We saw 35 birds incubating.  That is about 50% of the pairs that were still trying to nest.  The other 50% were just loafing beside the river, available to help defend the colony if predators appeared.  Some appeared to be gathering in pre-migration groups.

The nests we counted eggs in showed a bit over 2 eggs per nest average.

My impression is that this will be a year of near average results for terns on the Red River.  The rapid drop in river level during the last week of June was the saving factor that kept this from being another disaster like 2007.  The temp was 100 to 103 during the PM, so we did not stay on any island that would take over a few minutes to survey, mostly just drifting by a couple of times and studying what was happening at each location.  We counted 5 active locations, all of which have been used for nesting in previous years.

As far as I know the USACE has abrogated its least tern survey responsibility this year, and I and those who go with me are the only ones surveying the Red River between Texarkana and Alexandria.  Thus these records are even more important than usual.

Hubert Hervey 

Lily Poole

Saw a Eurasian Collard-Dove yesterday evening at our WKS Hospital employee parking lot…lol…Guess they’re everywhere, Everywhere!

Good Birding,
Lily

Hubert Hervey

BSG Members

My USACE contacts tell me it is not likely that they will run any tern surveys on the Red River this year.  Thanks to our new administration, the Monroe office is broke.  But fear not, I have run two surveys since the Red River has reached levels at which the boat ramps are open and the terns can nest.  Those results, and some comments follow.  I have some surprising results from July 1 and July 2, 2009 surveys.  And I started having motor problems, too.

July 1:
Cash Point - MM 242.  Sand bar is 2 to 3 feet of new sand and in excellent condition.  We have a new friend in Pat Stinson, manager of Red River NWR who has put signage and protective netting, around the nesting area prior to July 4 holidays.  24 adult least terns incubating 11 nests with 33 eggs (an amazing 3 eggs in every nest).  Cattle Island   - MM 240.  This sand bar has been lowered by more than half, and is over half washed away.  6 adult least terns present, but not nesting.  Cat Island - MM 244.  The nesting area is mainly on the north end of the island with more trees on the high points.  13 adult least terns present, 3 nests with 9 eggs.  Some birds were at the south end also.

July 2 2009
Palmers Lake Island MM 278.  A great active colony that creates more questions than I have answers for.  34 adult least terns counted.  13 baby least terns about 4 days old, all out of the nest and running around seeking cover.  12 nests with 1 egg per nest for a total of 12 eggs.  How did these birds nest with a water level of 18 - 20 feet at Fulton during the time they would have been laying?  Why is there only one egg per nest at the remaining nests?  Was the water so murky that the birds could only catch enough fish to support the laying of one egg?
Scotts Slough MM 270.  15 adult least terns.  Temp was 102 so I only estimated that 2 birds were incubating on 2 nests.  Did not walk this island
 Missionary Island.  6 adult least terns not yet nesting.

Totals are 93 adults, 13 babies, 28 nests and 58 eggs for the two day survey.  I hope to get the Go-Devil running reliably enough to get back on the river this coming week.  Who works on Vanguard motors on Go-Devils?

We also saw one adult Bald Eagle just north of Carolina Bluffs and six White Pelicans just south of Glycerine Revetment.  A Sharp-shinned Hawk flew over us at MM 240 near Cash Point.  The pelicans and Sharpie were flagged by Summer Bird Atlas and eBird.

Clyde Massey

Hi BSG,

Sunday morning I saw a White-winged Dove in the 100 Block of Patton Avenue in Broadmoor. A little closer and it'll be a new yard bird!

Clyde Massey

Jeff Trahan

In the previous post about Cane's Landing, I forgot to mention the Bell's Vireo That Terry Davis and I saw.  I got a photo of it which is below.

Also, Terry asked me to tell you about the Mourning Warbler and the Alder Flycatcher that he saw earlier this morning at Well's Island Road in Shreveport.

Jeff Trahan

Jeff Trahan

Terry Davis and I were at Cane's Landing this morning (Saturday).  He got there a half hour before I did and was already counting birds.  Together we saw (or heard) 8 Alder Flycatchers, 8 Willow Flycatchers, 5 Warbling Vireos, 6 Gray Catbirds and 3 Yellow Warblers.

With respect to butterflies, Rachel Damascal and I saw one Reakirt's Blue yesterday at Walter Jacob's Park.  Terry Davis also saw one yesterday at Cane's Landing.  Today Terry and I saw a Reakirt's Blue at Caner's Landing.  That makes three in two days.  This is highly unusual.  We don't usually see one a year, and if we do it is usually seen in the fall rather than the spring.

The entire list for birds and butterflies is below.

Jeff Trahan
Shreveport

BIRDS 
3 Wood Duck 
4 Great Blue Heron
 4 Great Egret 
3 Snowy Egret 
2 Little Blue Heron 
2 Cattle Egret 
1 Turkey  Vulture 
1 Mississippi Kite
1 Red-tailed Hawk 
10 Killdeer 
2 Spotted Sandpiper 
2 Least Tern 
3 Rock Pigeon 
2 Eurasian Collared-Dove 
4 Mourning Dove 
2 Chimney Swift 
1 Belted Kingfisher 
2 Downy Woodpecker 
1 Eastern Wood-Pewee 
1 Acadian Flycatcher 
8 Alder Flycatcher 
8 Willow Flycatcher 
1 Eastern Kingbird 
2 White-eyed Vireo 
1 Bell's Vireo 
5 Warbling Vireo 
1 Blue Jay 
1 Fish Crow 
1 Northern Rough-winged Swallow 
28 Cliff Swallow 
10 Barn Swallow 
4 Carolina Chickadee 
9 Carolina Wren 
2 American Robin 
6 Gray Catbird 
3 Northern Mockingbird 
105 European Starling 
3 Yellow Warbler 
1 Common Yellowthroat 
1 Yellow-breasted Chat 
15 Northern Cardinal 
5 Indigo Bunting 
1 Painted Bunting 
20 Red-winged Blackbird 
6 Common Grackle 
3 Brown-headed Cowbird 
4 Orchard Oriole 
12 Baltimore Oriole 
1 House Finch 
21 House Sparrow 

BUTTERFLIES 
38 Orange Sulphur 
4 Dainty Sulphur 
1 Red-banded Hairstreak 
1 Reakirt's Blue 
1 Eastern Tailed-Blue 
3 Variegated Fritillary 
1 Pearl Crescent 
12 Common Buckeye 
1 Viceroy 
5 Common Checkered-Skipper 
1 Fiery Skipper 

Rosemary Seidler

A steady stream of Common Nighthawks - 87 - just flew over my house (Prospect St near Line Ave) heading northeast.

Rosemary Seidler
Shreveport

Velda Neilson

Hello, all!

Monday morning I walked down the drive and saw a pair of Orchard Orioles and heard lots of birds!  So I decided it must be a good birding day!  By 8:30 a neighbor and I were headed to L&D4 via Naborton, Evelyn, and Jordan Ferry.  We had lots of fun!  I have convinced her to get out of the car and start listening and looking for birds!

Sadly, the ponds on either side of the road just coming into L&D4 are almost covered with that green algae.  Ugh! The pool on right of bridge was highest we have ever seen it.

A huge surprise of the day - other than the weather - was 9 male Bobolinks!  Yoohoo!  They were in their usual field at L&D4 -- just before the west end of the bridge on the right.  We've seen them there for 3 years now. Really thought it was too late for them.  Oh, they were gorgeous!

There was a lone White Pelican floating on a log.  Wonder if he'll venture north or too sick or old to go?  Or lost from a previous storm?

We left L&D4 as the front moved through and got pounded on I-49 till the Evelyn exit.  There we got a quick glimpse of a huge-looking grackle.  Do we have any records of Great-tails here?  The light had been playing tricks on us all day and I couldn't get good discernment on it's size.

We exited north at Carmel and took a quick right on Evans Loop.  There we found the biggest surprise of the day - a Barred Owl 25 foot from us!  Maybe he had been hunting or bathing in the rain and fog that had just come through.  We found him on a bare limb just above a small creek under the road.  He just sat there wondering at us while we marveled at him!

We had a total of 62 species!  The storm made for great birding!  We had 30 Eastern Kingbirds all day.  We saw zero Scissor-tails. Pooh!  We heard several Hooded and Kentucky Warblers, a Common Yellowthroat, and several towhees.  We saw several Blue Grosbeaks.  There was a single Pied-billed Grebe at L&D4 and moorhens there and Evelyn.  Surprisingly we heard few RE Vireoes and Summer Tanagers and saw only 2 Little Blue Herons.  Even got one flyover Tricolored Heron!

Later in the day I saw a large hawk-type bird 1 1-2 miles north of my house over a pine thicket.  At first glance I thought it was an Osprey!  Wow!  Sadly, I couldn't confirm it - no nocs and too great a distance.  But it's color and profile sure said "Osprey"!  It would have been easy for it to have been blown off course in the storm.  Maybe they are extending their summer range!

Nelda in Kansas called and said they were getting all the migrants there now that we got within the last 2 weeks.  Their migration peaks the first 2 weeks of May.  She had 2 Lazuli Buntings at her feeder.  Now if that ever happens here --I truly will be ecstatic!

Yoohoo!  Good birding and God bless all!
Velda

Bobbe Wommack

In my backyard today.

2 American redstarts
1 Black throated green
1 Chestnut sided
1 Magnolia
1 Canada
1 Tennessee

Still looking

Bobbe W.

Nancy Menasco

Dear All,

Below is Richard Gibbon's post to LABIRD with the results from the 1st Annual Bayou Birding Bon Temps.  As usual, our NW LA/BSG birders made a great showing.  Congratulations to Jeff Trahan, Rosemary Seidler, & Bill Wood.  In addition to topping the Northern Interior lists, Jeff & Rosemary were 2nd & 3rd in the state for the Big Louisiana Day, outdone only by the Coastal Big Day team of Erik Johnson & Hugo Gee.  Jeff & Rosemary were 1st and 2nd in the state for Big Location, Single Day.  Jeff, Bill & Rosemary were 1st, 2nd & 3rd in the most species at one location over the 10-day period.

Nancy Menasco

Subj: [LABIRD-L] 
Date: 5/8/2009 8:53:41 AM Central Daylight Time 
From: rgibbo3(at)YAHOO(dot)COM 

LABIRDers and Krewe Bayou,

The results are in and are posted at the Bayou Birding Bon Temps website:
http://www.lsu.edu/departments/labird/photos.html

There were quite a few checklists submitted to locations other than BBBT sites so hopefully there weren't too many people unclear on the event guidelines.  If you don't see your name on the results list and think you should, let me know and I'll do my best to figure out what happened.

The most enthusiastic participant was Erik Johnson.  He and Hugo Gee put together an impressive Big Day submitting checklists for 17 locations for one day!  We may have to revise the Big Day so it isn't so labor intensive.

We must have a very active bunch of birders.  I don't think there were any participants for the Big Sit.  If you did a big sit, let me know and I'll update the results.

To summarize, I think the event was a big success.  We had nearly one hundred checklists submitted for birding trail sites, WMA's, and NWR's from an estimated 50 participants.  We established the event and received feedback regarding which events you liked and received ideas for new approaches.  There were several checklists submitted to birding sites which had no data yet so that was really helpful.

We will convene a working group to refine and improve the event this fall.  If you have ideas or questions

OK, without further delay, here are the results.

RESULTS

Northern Interior

Big Louisiana Day
1. Jeff Trahan 72
2. Rosemary Seidler 71
3. Bill Wood 56

Big Location Day
1. Jeff Trahan 72
2. Rosemary Seidler 71
3. Bill Wood 56

10-day period
1. Jeff Trahan 112
2. Bill Wood 80
3. Rosemary Seidler 71

Most Locations
1. Rosemary Seidler 5

Southern Interior

Big Louisiana Day
1. Tommy Trecnhard 67
2. Van Remsen and Cesar Sanchez 61
3. Devin Bosler 59

Big Location, Single-day
1. Tommy Trecnhard 67
2. Van Remsen and Cesar Sanchez 61
3. Devin Bosler 59

Big Location, 10-day Period
1. Jeff Harris, Harriett Pooler, Carol Foil 70
2. Tommy Trenchard 67
3. Van Remsen and Cesar Sanchez 61

Most Locations
1. Erik Johnson 3

Coastal

Big Louisiana Day
1. Erik Johnson and Hugo Gee 116
2. Devin Bosler 58
3. Carol Foil and Judith O'Neale 56

Big Location, Single-day
1. Devin Bosler 58
2. Carol Foil and Glenn Oussett 48
3. Judith O'Neale 47

10-day period
1. Devin Bosler 58
2. Carol Foil and Glenn Oussett 48
3. Judith O'Neale 47

Most locations
1. Erik Johnson 14

Lagniappe Award
Jacob Saucier Cameron Prairie NWR

I want to thank everyone very much for their participation.  If you participated and would like a Bayou Birding Bon Temps t-shirt or hat, either send me an email or register at the Bayou Birding Bon Temps website and let me know.

All the best,

Richard E. Gibbons, Coordinator
Louisiana Bird Resource Center
LSU Museum of Natural Science
119 Foster Hall
Baton Rouge, LA 70803 

Rosemary Seidler

Linda Adrion called to report Yellow-headed Blackbirds, male and female in a field at the north end of Sentell Rd.

Rosemary Seidler for Linda

Rosemary Seidler

Linda Adrion just called (11am) to say that there are still 2 fields of Bobolinks on George Rd. (north Caddo Parish).  Just open you window and you will hear them.  They are in the trees, in the fields, on the road.

Rosemary Seidler for Linda

Charles Lyon

LA-birders/NW LA locals,

Just a quick post before the info is too old.

Terry Davis and I did a full days birding on Saturday 5-2-09 limiting ourselves to Caddo Parrish and a small section of Bossier Parish.  We managed to find 138 species with 20 mph south winds most of the day...not ideal conditions.

Highlights were:

Black-bellied Whistling Duck 1 flyover at Bickham Dickson Park
Greater White-fronted Goose 1 late
Green-winged Teal 1 late
Ring-necked Duck 1 late
Northern Bobwhite 2 almost extinct in Caddo Parrish
Bald Eagle 2 adults separate locations
Swainson's Hawk 1 light morph juvenile near Gilliam
Sora 5 at Bickham Dickson Park
Purple Gallinule 1 north side of Cross Lake
White-winged Dove 2 probable breeding pair in north Bossier City
Western Kingbird 3 breeders
Warbling Vireo 8 breeders
Horned Lark 12 breeding birds
Sedge Wren 2 two different sites
Swainson's Thrush 2 Stoner Woods were dull and there were few migrants
24 species of warblers including: Terry has numbers
Tennessee
Nashville
Northern Parula
Yellow
Chestnut-sided
Magnolia
Yellow-rumped
Black-throated Green
Yellow-throated
Pine
Prairie
Blackpoll
Black-and-white
American Redstart
Prothonotary
Swainson's Warbler we had five with two pairs and an additional singing male all near Mooringsport.  This may be the highest density area in all of LA for breeding Swainson's Warblers.  There are a number of others we didn't even try to locate.
Ovenbird
Northern Waterthrush
Louisiana Waterthrush
Kentucky
Common Yellowthroat
Hooded
Wilson's
Yellow-breasted Chat
Lark Sparrow
Grasshopper Sparrow 2 different locations
Clay-colored Sparrow 7 with a number of singing males all at the Cassin's Sparrow spot Terry had sever more today at a different location at George Road in Caddo Parish
Painted Bunting numerous exposed singing males.  Now is the time to see this species.
Bobolink
We managed the "Swainson's Trifecta" (hawk, thrush, and warbler) which is a bit difficult to do in LA.

I was able to get out for a couple of hours yesterday evening 5-3-09 and did a rapid fire shore bird survey of wet fields in south Caddo Parish mainly along Hwy 1.  Although numbers were not impressive, species diversity was.  I found 16 species in a couple of hours, as well as a few other notables.

The shorebird list is as follows:

American Golden Plover 2 one in full alternate
Semipalmated Plover 2
Killdeer 17
Black-necked Stilt 4
Greater Yellowlegs 14
Lesser Yellowlegs 53
Spotted Sandpiper 2
Upland Sandpiper 1
Semipalmated Sandpiper 1
Least Sandpiper 32
White-rumped Sandpiper 5
Pectoral sandpiper 20
Buff-breasted Sandpiper 2
Short-billed Dowitcher 7 one flock
Long-billed Dowitcher 7 different flock at different location
Wilson's Phalarope 43 most prevalent species (at most sites sampled)

Terry had a Willet and American Avocet today north of Shreveport

Others by me yesterday;

Caspian Tern 66 pretty impressive group of migrants
Forster's Tern 3
Black Tern 1
All the swallow species expected here (no Cave)

That's all for now.

Charlie Lyon
Shreveport, LA

Paul Dickson

There are over 200 in the vetch field next to my place on Leonard Rd.  The owners don’t allow trespass but you should be able to see and hear them from their oil field gate which is at the bridge over Bayou Pierre.  They arrived on 4/29.

Paul 

James Ingold

Terry just called to say he had over 90 male Bobolinks on George Rd.

Jim

Jeff Trahan

Jean and I went to Bickham Dickson Park this morning (Sunday) in the rain in hopes of seeing some shorebirds.  There haven't been many shorebirds in the park this spring as there has been in the past.  Our best bird was a Black Tern in full breeding plumage seen at the boat launch sitting on a metal post out in the water.  This is an early spring migration date for this species.  Also seen were a Pectoral Sandpiper, a Wilson's Snipe (these have mostly left this area by now), three Forster's Terns, many Barn and Cliff Swallows, and about 14 Least Sandpipers.  We still haven't had a fallout of shorebirds at the park.  Because it was still raining, we did all of the birding from the car and still got a total of 37 species.

Jeff Trahan

Velda Neilson

Hello, all!

Today was a great day of birding in Lula!

I had 2 Baltimore Oriole males, 1 female Baltimore and 2 male Rose-breasteds at the hanging feeders at the same time 8' out the back door!

I had a total of 5 Rose-breasteds today - 3 males and 2 females.

Along with the 3 Baltimores, I had one who is either a Balt./Bullock's Hybrid, an overly black headed female Balt., or a male Balt. who didn't quite fill out with black.  His back, head, and neck are black speckled.  He seems to have only one wing bar but it is not real wide.  I definitely had the hybrid here last year.  So my best guess it the hybrid.

Lots of Indigoes, Waxwings.  Had a Great Crested Flycatcher yesterday and Summer Tanager.  Had a female Scarlet Monday.  Finally found the Kentucky Warbler I have been hearing for a week.  Gorgeous!  Plus lots more fun things!

A neighbor and I finally took off at 11 am to bird Toledo Bend.  She got 2 lifers.  We saw a total of 38 species from the car.

The highlight of my birding was the Gray Catbird at my fruit basket yesterday 8' out the back door!  Oooooohh! That was a wonderful surprise!  I've kept plenty of fruit out and it has sure attracted the birds!

Bob and Betty, our new resident Barn Swallows on the front porch literally 6' from the front door, are hanging close to their nest.  Betty I suspect is setting her first brood.

What a beautiful world we live in!  God is good to me!

Velda 

jftrahan

Although there did not seem to be as many birds at Bickham Dickson today, Jean and I recorded two more than yesterday--a total of 72.  Again, there were 14 warbler species but not exactly the same ones as yesterday.  The entire list is below.

7 Wood Duck 
2 Pied-billed Grebe 
12 American White Pelican 
1 Great Blue Heron 
7 Great Egret 
3 Snowy Egret 
5 Cattle Egret 
2 Green Heron 
2 Yellow-crowned Night-Heron 
1 Black Vulture 
3 Turkey Vulture 
1 Mississippi Kite 
1 Bald Eagle 
3 American Coot 
1 Killdeer 
1 Solitary Sandpiper 
1 Least Sandpiper 
7 Mourning Dove 
1 Yellow-billed Cuckoo 
1 Ruby-throated Hummingbird 
6 Red-headed Woodpecker 
12 Red-bellied Woodpecker 
2 Downy Woodpecker 
1 Pileated Woodpecker 
1 Eastern Wood-Pewee 
5 Eastern Kingbird 
4 Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 
6 White-eyed Vireo 
1 Yellow-throated Vireo 
1 Warbling Vireo 
3 Red-eyed Vireo 
3 Blue Jay 
4 Fish Crow 
15 Purple Martin 
2 Barn Swallow 
6 Carolina Chickadee 
5 Tufted Titmouse 
3 Carolina Wren 
1 Eastern Bluebird 
10 Gray Catbird 
2 Northern Mockingbird 
4 European Starling 
60 Cedar Waxwing 
15 Tennessee Warbler 
3 Nashville Warbler 
1 Yellow Warbler 
3 Chestnut-sided Warbler 
1 Magnolia Warbler 
2 Yellow-rumped Warbler 
2 Blackburnian Warbler 
2 Bay-breasted Warbler 
1 Black-and-white Warbler 
6 Prothonotary Warbler 
1 Northern Waterthrush 
3 Kentucky Warbler 
2 Common Yellowthroat 
2 Yellow-breasted Chat 
4 Summer Tanager 
1 Chipping Sparrow 
15 Savannah Sparrow 
1 Le Conte's Sparrow 
1 Lincoln's Sparrow 
1 White-throated Sparrow 
12 Northern Cardinal 
7 Rose-breasted Grosbeak 
60 Indigo Bunting 
30 Red-winged Blackbird 
5 Common Grackle 
8 Brown-headed Cowbird 
1 Orchard Oriole 
3 Baltimore Oriole 
1 House Sparrow 

Jeff Trahan

Jeff Trahan

Those of you who predicted good birding this morning were right.  I went to Bickham Dickson and logged 70 species.  There were14 warbler species including Nashville, Chestnut-sided, Magnolia, Black-throated Green, Blackburnian, Blackpoll.  There were many Indigo Buntings and Cedar Waxwings.  The entire list can be found below.

12 Wood Duck 
3 Mallard 
2 Blue-winged Teal 
1 Pied-billed Grebe 
2 Great Blue Heron 
3 Great Egret 
1 Snowy Egret 
2 Cattle Egret 
3 Green Heron 
4 Yellow-crowned Night-Heron 
3 Turkey Vulture 
1 Red-shouldered Hawk 
1 American Coot 
3 Spotted Sandpiper 
8 Mourning Dove 
5 Chimney Swift 
11 Red-headed Woodpecker 
8 Red-bellied Woodpecker 
1 Downy Woodpecker 
4 Northern Flicker 
2 Eastern Wood-Pewee 
3 Great Crested Flycatcher 
6 Eastern Kingbird 
2 Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 
4 White-eyed Vireo 
4 Warbling Vireo 
2 Red-eyed Vireo 
3 Blue Jay 
3 Fish Crow 
20 Purple Martin 
1 Cliff Swallow 
8 Barn Swallow 
2 Carolina Chickadee 
8 Tufted Titmouse 
6 Carolina Wren 
1 House Wren 
3 Eastern Bluebird 
1 Swainson's Thrush 
1 Wood Thrush 
1 American Robin 
7 Gray Catbird 
5 Northern Mockingbird 
5 European Starling 
70 Cedar Waxwing 
35 Tennessee Warbler 
3 Nashville Warbler 
4 Yellow Warbler 
1 Chestnut-sided Warbler 
1 Magnolia Warbler 
5 Yellow-rumped Warbler 
2 Black-throated Green Warbler 
2 Blackburnian Warbler 
1 Blackpoll Warbler 
1 Black-and-white Warbler 
8 Prothonotary Warbler 
5 Kentucky Warbler 
3 Common Yellowthroat 
2 Yellow-breasted Chat 
3 Summer Tanager 
3 Lark Sparrow 
4 Lincoln's Sparrow 
1 White-throated Sparrow 
12 Northern Cardinal 
15 Rose-breasted Grosbeak 
85 Indigo Bunting 
3 Painted Bunting 
9 Common Grackle 
6 Brown-headed Cowbird 
7 Baltimore Oriole 
2 House Sparrow 

Jeff Trahan

Paul Dickson

My backyard is usually not all that good for migrant warblers, just an average piece of a larger pine-hardwood forest as far as they are concerned.  This morning I had a really good show indicating a fall out yesterday due to the rain:

Warblers seen in 45 min.:

Tennessee
Chestnut-sided
Magnolia
Blackburnian
Cerulean
Black-throated Green
Blackpoll
American Redstart
Worm-eating
Kentucky
Canada

Should be even better in the River bottoms.

Paul

Paul Dickson

BSG: Today’s storms should create some fall-out that may not be apparent until tomorrow morning.  Migrants overhead are already appearing on radar here with heavier indications coming in from the Gulf to mid-state now.  Those birds will be passing over us mid day and if they encounter storms, will have to drop down and take shelter.  It was already good birding, I had three male Scarlet Tanagers mixing with Baltimore Orioles and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks in my Loquat and mulberry trees this morning.  It was magnificent!  The mid afternoon storms could create a spectacular fallout.  Keep watch if you can.

Paul

Bill Wood 

To all,

Spent the mourning at Bickham Dickson Park (Shreveport) from 8 a.m. until 10:45 a.m.  Highlights of the day included a single Blackpoll Warbler.  It is a new park bird and parish bird for me.  Also had an amazing number of Cedar Waxwings numbering well over 100, maybe close 150, in a single feeding flock.  Other warbler include Yellow-breasted Chat, Kentucky, Chestnut-sided, Louisiana Waterthrush, Tennessee, and Yellow.  Complete list follows:

Location: Bickham Dickson park
Observation date: 4/26/09
Number of species: 56

Wood Duck 3
Mallard 3
Blue-winged Teal 2
Pied-billed Grebe 1
Double-crested Cormorant 4
Anhinga 1
Great Blue Heron 2
Great Egret 3
Cattle Egret 6
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron 1
Cooper's Hawk 1
Spotted Sandpiper 1
Mourning Dove 10
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 2
Barred Owl 1
Chimney Swift 4
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 1
Red-headed Woodpecker 3
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Pileated Woodpecker 1
Great Crested Flycatcher 1
Eastern Kingbird 2
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 2
White-eyed Vireo 3
Blue Jay 3
crow sp. 6
Purple Martin 4
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 3
Barn Swallow 3
Carolina Wren 5
Eastern Bluebird 2
American Robin 2
Gray Catbird 4
Northern Mockingbird 3
European Starling 6
American Pipit 1
Cedar Waxwing 125
Tennessee Warbler 4
Yellow Warbler 2
Chestnut-sided Warbler 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 5
Blackpoll Warbler 1
Prothonotary Warbler 1
Northern Waterthrush 1
Kentucky Warbler 2
Common Yellowthroat 2
Yellow-breasted Chat 1
Lincoln's Sparrow 3
White-throated Sparrow 2
Northern Cardinal 7
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 1
Indigo Bunting 24
Red-winged Blackbird 5
Common Grackle 12
Brown-headed Cowbird 4
Orchard Oriole 1

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)

As Always, Good Birding!

Bill Wood 
Keithville, LA 
labirder08(at)bellsouth(dot)net

Jay Huner

Turns out that Cotile Lake is a legitimate location for the Bon Temps event so, before the surf came up this morning, I made a run across the lake to the rookery in the SW arm with a rather dumb pass along the dam in heavy chop in a 14' flat boat.  But, had 4 Spotted Sandpipers at the dam and, while no similar action to yours in the Shreveport area, had a pair of Baltimore Orioles in the canopy over the feeder stream to the rookery area.  Back at home, had a waterthrush - leaning toward Louisiana - in my yard, well off the ground, a surprising location.  There seems to be a good number of Indigo Buntings around, too.

Also had Purple Gallinules show up in the rookery area earlier in the lake.  Don't know what all I'll pick up for the day and Bon Temps here is 53.  This is pretty good especially since I did not hit the Browns Creek Road area since it really is not within the Cotile Lake site as described on the birding trails.

Jay Huner

Paul Dickson

yep!  I had a flock of Baltimore Orioles and one male Scarlet Tanager feeding in my abutilon this morning.  Several other signs of a busy migration day.

Paul Dickson

Rosemary Seidler

Within the past 15 min I saw the following in my back yard.  Of course, the resident Mockingbird chased them off.

Tennessee Warbler
Baltimore Oriole
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Gray Catbird
Cedar Waxwing
Song Sparrow
Dickcissel - first for my yard

I live on Prospect St just off of Line Avenue. If the birds are here they are everywhere.

Rosemary Seidler
Shreveport

Nancy Menasco

Jerry and I heard a Whip-poor-will calling in the oak trees behind our house in Broadmoor Terrace this evening.  I got my life Whip-poor-will at Stoner Woods a couple of years ago thanks to Terry Davis but that bird wasn't calling.  Jerry and I have thought about it and we can't remember ever hearing a Whip-poor-will call before except for a recording so this is a life call.

Other than a couple of Great Horned Owls last fall, this is our first new yard bird in 2 years.  It's about time.

Nancy Menasco
Shreveport

Velda Neilson

Hello, all!

Lots of fun watching migrants in my yard! Such extreme weather has sure done good things here in Lula!

Last Tuesday night I opened the front door to see two Barn Swallows on the front porch!  Some of you will recall Jack and Jill who nested with us for seven years raising 67 young.  I found Jill dead in the front yard after her first brood the summer of '07.  Jack never found another mate.  I have named the newcomers Bob and Betty!  I do wonder if they are related to Jack and Jill as they have the same smathering of white feathers along the hips and sides.

Last week, I had a bunch of over-ripened red grapes in a wire basket hoping something may eat them.  Believe it or not the Indigo Buntings seemed to love them!  They ate them up!

I've been hearing quite a few migrants for a couple of weeks.  This morning I finally found the Northern Parula at the pasture-end of the driveway.  Pretty!  I haven't found the YB Chat yet.  I did get a glimpse of the Hooded Warbler at the bird 2pond last week.

Sunday I had a male Baltimore Oriole just seemingly collapsed in my wire basket with the leftover grape skins and stems.  He seemed to be saying, "I've found a food source, but I'm just too tired to eat."  Monday I saw him at a seed feeder that is orange and red.  So I put some new oranges in the wire basket.  He showed up there shortly.

Heard the Chuck -Will's-Widow one night last weekend!  Love it!  Thanks, Paul, for teaching me their call and the Whip-poorwill's.

Just out my window this morning there was a pair of Brown-headed Nuthatches busy at the entrance to their birdhouse.  They acted as if they were trying to lure out some babies but I never saw any come forth.  I know they are in there!  Just gotta make sure my dogs aren't around when they fledge because this birdhouse is in the middle of the yard!

My neighbor called this evening with an interesting description of a bird feeding on the ground under her feeder.  So I just had to go see for myself!  And sure enough - there was a Dickcissel feeding on the ground with 20 cowbirds!  She said he'd been there all day!

When I got home, I noticed two strange multi-colored balls 5 foot out the back door!  Male Painted Buntings!  We had left a long strip of wild flowers and grasses un-mowed - for the birds!  Hot dog!  It paid off very well!  They and several Indigoes were feeding!  We were all happy!

Hopefully the birds will hang around a bit longer.  I know they are traveling north with this good weather.  In the meantime, I am thankful and blessed for every bird the Lord sends my way!

May you all have a blessed and birdy day!
Velda

Bill Wood

To all,

In a short 30 minute walk in the woods behind where I live saw FOS Mississippi Kite, Yellow-breasted Chat, Gray Catbird, Painted Bunting, Blue Grosbeak, and Orchard Oriole. Thirty-seven species in 30 minutes, complete list below.

Location: keithville yard
Observation date: 4/20/09
Number of species: 37

Wood Duck 2
Double-crested Cormorant 1
Black Vulture 3
Turkey Vulture 4
Mississippi Kite 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 1
Mourning Dove 12
Chimney Swift 2
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 4
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Blue Jay 1
American Crow 3
Purple Martin 2
Carolina Chickadee 5
Tufted Titmouse 1
Carolina Wren 4
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1
Eastern Bluebird 1
Gray Catbird 1
Northern Mockingbird 2
Brown Thrasher 1
European Starling 12
Cedar Waxwing 11
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 4
Yellow-breasted Chat 1
Chipping Sparrow 4
White-throated Sparrow 2
Northern Cardinal 5
Blue Grosbeak 2
Indigo Bunting 8
Painted Bunting 1
Red-winged Blackbird 7
Brown-headed Cowbird 12
Orchard Oriole 3
House Finch 2
Pine Siskin 3
American Goldfinch 14

As Always, Good Birding! 

Bill Wood 
Keithville, LA 
labirder08(at)bellsouth(dot)net

Nathan Senner, OKBIRDS

Oklahoma Birders:

Over the past two years, my colleagues and I from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, and the Chiloe Bird Observatory have banded nearly 600 Hudsonian Godwits and over 300 Whimbrels.  Most of these birds was banded on an island in southern Chile (Isla Chiloe), but another cohort was banded in Churchill, Manitoba.  Now that spring migration is in full swing, we're interested in any and all sightings of Hudsonian Godwits.  That means that if you see any Hudsonian Godwits, we want to hear about it.

We can accept information on godwit sightings in two ways.
  1) We have set up a special project through eBird (http://ebird.org/content/ebird/news/help-solve-the-mystery-of-hudsonian-godwit-migration) from which we will receive detailed data.  So anytime you enter observations of Hudsonian Godwits into eBird, we'll learn about it.
  2) If you see a banded godwit or Whimbrel, you can email us directly (nrs57(at)cornell(dot)edu).

 If you're looking for more information about the specific band combinations that we have used, you can also read more at the eBird project site.

We are really excited to learn more about Hudsonian Godwit migration.  While they aren't uncommon during spring migration in the central U.S., they seem to slip under most people's radar and we thus have a lot to learn.  So we would really appreciate any effort that you can make to let us know about the godwits that you are seeing this spring.

Thank you,
Nathan Senner
Hudsonian Godwit Migration Project
Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY
nrs57(at)cornell(dot)edu

Bill Wood

To all,

For the sixth consecutive year a pair of Eastern Phoebes have built a nest on my brother's back patio in Keithville.  The first egg was laid on March 26, second on the 27 and the third on the 28.  This is the smallest brood yet as they normally lay five eggs.  All three eggs had hatched by April 14 and were being fed.

It would have been nice to band this pair to see if this is the original pair or some of its offspring.  Over the last five years 43 chicks have fledged with only three known fatalities.

As Always, Good Birding!

Bill Wood 
Keithville, LA 
labirder08(at)bellsouth(dot)net

Jeff Trahan

Jean and I went to Bickham Dickson Park this morning (Sunday) as usual.  There were some nice migrants.  We saw a total of 56 species including 11 species of warbler.  The entire list is below.

Jeff Trahan

4 Wood Duck 
9 Mallard 
20 Blue-winged Teal 
4 Pied-billed Grebe 
2 Great Blue Heron 
6 Great Egret 
4 Green Heron 
1 Black Vulture 
2 Turkey Vulture 
1 Red-tailed Hawk 
15 American Coot 
3 Greater Yellowlegs 
1 Spotted Sandpiper 
1 Least Sandpiper 
3 Mourning Dove 
5 Red-headed Woodpecker 
4 Red-bellied Woodpecker 
1 Northern Flicker 
1 Pileated Woodpecker 
6 White-eyed Vireo 
1 Warbling Vireo 
1 Red-eyed Vireo 
7 Blue Jay 
5 Fish Crow 
10 Purple Martin 
6 Barn Swallow 
3 Carolina Chickadee 
1 Tufted Titmouse 
4 Carolina Wren 
2 Eastern Bluebird 
1 American Robin 
7 Northern Mockingbird 
7 Cedar Waxwing 
1 Tennessee Warbler 
2 Nashville Warbler 
2 Northern Parula 
1 Yellow Warbler 
30 Yellow-rumped Warbler 
1 Black-throated Green Warbler 
1 American Redstart 
4 Prothonotary Warbler 
2 Northern Waterthrush 
4 Common Yellowthroat 
1 Yellow-breasted Chat 
3 Summer Tanager 
8 Savannah Sparrow 
7 White-throated Sparrow 
15 Northern Cardinal 
1 Blue Grosbeak 
15 Indigo Bunting 
150 Red-winged Blackbird 
11 Common Grackle 
1 Brown-headed Cowbird 
3 Baltimore Oriole 
5 American Goldfinch 
3 House Sparrow 

Bill Wood

To all,

Had a few migrants pass though this week.  Monday brought FOS Baltimore Oriole, Common Yellow-throated warbler and Chimney Swift.  I also had good numbers of American Goldfinches, 25+, Pine Siskins, 12+, and a few Indigo Buntings arrived.  Also had White-eyed Vireo, White-throated Sparrows, Field Sparrow and a single Lincoln's Sparrow.  Wednesday I spied a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher in a sweet gum carry nesting material.  Don't know the nesting status here, is this unlikely?

American Goldfinch numbers have dropped and only have a few Pine Siskins.  However, the Indigo Bunting now number over 25 as of this afternoon.  I also have a pair of Blue Jays visit the feeders, the first I've had in the 2 plus years I have lived here.

BTW, the southern loop off I-49 going west toward Linwood Road is now complete and open.  It has a nice mud flat that has potential for some nice birding.  Nice wide shoulder to pull off the road.

As Always, Good Birding!

Bill Wood 
Keithville, LA 
labirder08(at)bellsouth(dot)net

George Dean

What a beautiful bird!  He was on the ground with 11 indigo buntings, many sparrows and goldfinches.  This was a life bird.  I'm so thrilled to see a painted bunting in my backyard.

George Dean

Jeff Trahan

Jean and I had several migrants in our yard in Broadmoor Terrace this morning (9:00 a.m.).

Wilson's Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Nashville Warbler

The Prairie Warble is a new yard bird.

Jeff Trahan

Clyde Massey

Hello BSGers,

Tuesday I had to go out to Forcht Wade Correctional to see one of our patients.  I took a couple of extra minutes and walked briefly down a trail at Eddie Jones Park.  Heard the following birds: Parula, Black & White, Pine and Hooded Warblers.  Going in to Forcht Wade I saw Eastern Kingbird and heard Yellow-throated Vireo.

Hopefully I'll see some of you in Grand Isle.

Good Birding!
Clyde Massey

Dennis Forshee

Had a surprise waiting for us after having dinner with friends last night.  We returned to the store to pick up my truck and there was a Bobwhite standing by the front door!  This was about 8:45 PM. Did not appear to be injured, just hanging out. I watched for a while as he worked his way down the parking lot.

Happy Easter!
Dennis Forshee

Wild Bird Center
Caddo Parish
Hwy 1 & East 70th St

Hubert Hervey

BSG Members,

Today is the first day I have had hawks in decent numbers since last fall.  The conditions were great for very high flying.

26 Broad-winged Hawks- largest kettle 7, mostly singles or twos, main flights 1 to 2:30 PM
Red-tailed Hawks- 7 mostly migrants
Red-shouldered Hawk- probably local
Sharp-shinned Hawk- migrant, later in the day and lower
Time spent 1 1/2 hours. Don't expect to see much without good binoculars.

Hubert

Hubert Hervey

BSG Members,

Terry Davis and I spent Sunday AM out from Bishop's Point, Red River, Caddo Parish LA.  Best bird was an overhead fly-by Roseate Spoonbill rare here in the spring.  Of the other 82 species I will mention the ones I found most interesting: 1 Bufflehead, 1 Green Heron, 2 Bald Eagles, 1 Northern Harrier, 1 Virginia Rail, Black-necked Stilts, Solitary Sandpiper, lots of G and L Yellowlegs, Upland SP, LB Dowitcher, Franklin's Gull, FOS Chimney Swift, Warbling Vireo, Sedge Wren, Lark Sparrow, and 3 Orchard Orioles.  Surprisingly no White-eyed Vireos were heard.  I had to cut the time short after 11 as the waves were white-capping, and getting the boat on the trailer required skill, experience and help.  After the wind dies down the Lake Red River will be safer.  We had 82 Bishop Point birds, including an Upland Sandpiper (plover), and over 90 trip birds.

Cheers, 
Hubert

Bill Wood

To all,

Birding the last few days was a lot like revisiting some old classic movies.  After not seeing Inca Doves for six months a pair showed this afternoon to feed on the millet and safflower seed along with 20 plus Chipping Sparrows. (Return of the Incas) 

I walked the woods out back finding the Red-shouldered Hawk on the same nest it used the last two years.  And yes, I got my usual Red-shouldered Hawk welcome but I saw this one coming.  The small pond was chalk full of birds. Lots of Northern Cardinals, White-throated Sparrows, Carolina Chickadees worked the thicket along the ponds edge.  I also saw three Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, a single Lincoln's Sparrow and a singing White-eyed Vireo. Carolina Wrens and Northern Mockingbirds were singing up a storm as well.  A few lingering Cedar Waxwings worked the Sweet Gum trees and a pair of Field Sparrows popped up from the over grown pasture. (The Good)

Returning to the house I heard the Red-bellied Woodpecker calling up a storm on its nest tree only to see it in a face-to-face with an European Starling pair.  The Red-bellied had been working the nest cavity for a good three weeks only to be evicted by a pair of free loaders. (The Bad)

I've been spreading some "dove mix" in the front yard and it does attract doves, get them by the dozens.  Unfortunately it seems to also attract a lot of Red-winged Blackbirds, Common Grackles and Brown-headed Cowbirds. (The Ugly)

Finally, Sunday I was watching the feeders out front when a Yellow-rumped Warblers caught my eye.  It looked a bit ragged and wet so I guessed that maybe it had been using the bird bath.  From its perch it made a couple of passes for the bird bath but didn't seem like it could make the landing.  It perched above the bird bath in a small cypress tree no more than five feet above the ground and not more than 25-30 feet from me.  I was sitting in my swing enjoying its antic when for some unexplained reason it made a beeline right for me.  I thought, "Oh crap, its gone mad!"  It was flying hard and fast straight for my face.  I had frozen in my tracks, actually my swing.  What to do?  At the last second it makes a slight flight adjustment and lands on the bubbling fountain that sits next to my swing.  It was only a foot away. However it wasn't impressed with my fountain and flew back to the Cypress Tree. (Attack of the Butterbutts!)

As I write this last paragraph a pair of Barred Owls are calling outside my window.

Life is good!

As Always, Good Birding! 

Bill Wood 
Keithville, LA 
labirder08(at)bellsouth(dot)net

Cathy Basham

White Ibis, and Green Winged Teal at C Bickham Dickson yesterday afternoon

Cathy Basham
IT Manager
KTBS, Inc.
Office: 318.861.5845
Cell: 318.780.7040

Velda Neilson

Hello, All!

Yesterday, Tuesday, before the storm, a neighbor and I headed to Toledo Bend on a whim to get out of the house before the days of rain came.  It was a great day for birding!  We had many surprises!  Total of 49 species.

We had an Osprey fly directly over us and not too high near a bunch of busy Purple Martin boxes on the lake front. 
Saw 50 White Pelicans  a bunch of DC Cormarants, and some coots.
 One Pied-billed Grebe.
Cliff and N. Rough-wing Swallows
Pine Warbler
Yellow-rumps
A kingfisher
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.
Two adult Bald Eagles were on the water at the "scenic overlook" north of Zwolle.  I wondered if they weren't involved in some courtship display.
Had a great look at a male Kestral.
Got an unusual view of a low flying Pileated.
Heard our first Black and White Warbler, if I recall their song correctly. 
And had my first hummer yesterday evening.

We also saw lots of beautiful blooming dogwoods, azaleas, etc! The world was gorgeous!

Went to one place today on the lake and not much was happening except a few martins and DC Corms.  Several land birds.  Did hear FOSp WE Vireo.

Drove past a creek and found a gorgeous bunch of fully blooming Wild Pink Azaleas!  OH, MY!  Beautiful!
And a beautiful ? Admiral Butterfly with teal green on its back on the ?? smaller- bottom wings. UMMMMMMMMMM!
Had a tiger butterfly of sorts in my yard today - yellow and black striped.  Or a zebra?

Yesterday evening I noticed a Flying Squirrel with his head resting on the entry hole of one of my bluebird boxes!
Isn't life grand!  God's world is beautiful!  Hope you all enjoy a special part of everyday!

Sincerely,
Velda

Ellen Middleton

The front brought a blue gray gnatcatcher into my yard about 6 pm this evening.

Ellen Middleton
Broadmoor Terrace
Shreveport

Velda Neilson

Howdy!

Hope all of you are well and enjoying the oncoming spring!

My neighbor had her first hummer last Tuesday, 3/17, a male Ruby-throat.  She had two Friday, 3/20.  Yes, this is the same neighbor who had an imm. Rufous fall of '07, best I recall.

As for me, I have done very little in the yard for the last couple of years and I have zip hummers so far.  Had only 2 or 3 last year.  My earliest date for a hummer is 3/10/06.

I did have 24 waxwings this morning!

Take care and God bless,
Velda

Jeff Trahan

Jean and I birded Bickham Dickson as we usually do on Sunday morning.  The number of species have declined significantly from a month ago.  We saw 46 species today whereas a month ago we were seeing about 60 species.  Sparrow numbers have declined significantly except for Le Conte's Sparrow which remains about the same.  The number of ducks have declined both in number and in species.  For the first time in months, we didn't see Canvasbacks, Ring-necked Ducks and Ruddy Ducks.  New arrivals include a Ruby-throated Hummingbird (the same day that Bill Wood saw his his first of the season), Northern Parula, and Pectoral Sandpiper.

The full list is below along with a list of butterflies.  For those of you who like butterflies, there were lots on butterflies in the back of the park.

Jeff Trahan

Birds:

35 Wood Duck 
2 Gadwall 
1 Mallard 
8 Blue-winged Teal 
3 Pied-billed Grebe 
6 Double-crested Cormorant 
2 Great Blue Heron 
11 Great Egret 
3 Snowy Egret 
11 White Ibis 
2 Black Vulture 
1 Turkey Vulture 
125 American Coot 
2 Killdeer 
1 Pectoral Sandpiper 
1 Mourning Dove 
1 Ruby-throated Hummingbird 
1 Belted Kingfisher 
5 Red-bellied Woodpecker 
2 Downy Woodpecker 
4 Northern Flicker 
1 Pileated Woodpecker 
1 Blue-headed Vireo 
8 Blue Jay 
6 Fish Crow 
10 Purple Martin 
1 Barn Swallow 
4 Carolina Chickadee 
1 Tufted Titmouse 
3 Carolina Wren 
12 American Robin 
3 Northern Mockingbird 
2 Brown Thrasher 
8 European Starling 
45 Cedar Waxwing 
1 Northern Parula 
3 Yellow-rumped Warbler 
8 Field Sparrow 
12 Savannah Sparrow 
7 Le Conte's Sparrow 
1 Song Sparrow 
2 Swamp Sparrow 
15 White-throated Sparrow 
25 Northern Cardinal 
45 Red-winged Blackbird 
15 Common Grackle

Butterflies:

2 Giant Swallowtail 
12 Orange Sulphur 
2 Cloudless Sulphur 
2 Gray Hairstreak 
55 Red-banded Hairstreak 
12 Eastern Tailed-Blue 
45 Phaon Crescent 
35 Pearl Crescent 
1 Red Admiral 
2 Common Buckeye 
14 Goatweed Leafwing 
3 Silver-spotted Skipper 
1 Funereal Duskywing 

Bill Wood

To all,

Just sitting here reading the news on-line at 7:42 am when I saw my FOS Ruby-throated Hummingbird at the feeder outside my window.  Right on schedule!

As Always, Good Birding!

Bill Wood 
Keithville, LA 
labirder08(at)bellsouth(dot)net

Rosemary Seidler

Linda Adrion and Pat Lonnecker saw a White-winged Dove at Lock and Dam # 5 this afternoon.  Turn to go to Bishop's Point and look on the fence on the right.

Rosemary

Charles Lyon

LA-birders,

I did a Cross Lake boat run this evening from 4:30 until 7:30 pm.  Usually this time of year I'm a land lubber chasing early migrants, but I've got some holes in my spring Cross Lake data, so I chose this option.  It was a bit brisk at 50 degrees, but there was only a minimal south wind, and the water was flat.  Here is the partial list with a few annotations.

Mallard 6
Blue-winged Teal 3 migrants
Canvasback 19 most have departed as expected
Lesser Scaup 180 many of these are migrants. Scaup are moving now.
Bufflehead 16 most have gone
Ruddy Duck 160 ditto
COMMON LOON 3 two in full alternate plumage.  This is a very uncommon spring migrant and is late spring date for our data base.  Probably just a matter of lack of detection.
Pied-billed Grebe 3
American White Pelican 21
Double-crested Cormorant 1700
Great Blue Heron 80 on the nests
Great Egret 150 on the nests as well
Cattle Egret 2 early colonizers on the Buzzard Island rookery
Black Vulture 18 kettle
American Coot 275
Killdeer 1

My first ever March five gull species day in NW LA:

Bonaparte's Gull 36
FRANKLIN'S GULL 3 all FULL Alternate plumage adults with complete black heads.  I had an immature on the Shreveport CBC in December and Terry Davis and the Boslers had probably the same bird in January this year.  Franklin's Gulls have an extended late fall migration, but most all have left the continent by early December.  The mid December and January records are unusual, but three breeding plumaged adult in NW LA in mid March seems quite odd.  Most of the population winters in the Pacific Ocean off of South American Peru, but small numbers winter in North American waters.  Perhaps that number is increasing, which may or may not relate to global climate change, and as a consequence these very early spring migrants showed up today.  This should be a first ever March record for north LA.
LAUGHING GULL 1 immature I don't think we have a March record for this species in north LA, but I had 29 on the Shreveport CBC which was an all time high count including my post hurricane counts.
Ring-billed Gull 1400 still quite a few but the winter population was over 5000.
HERRING GULL 21 A Cross Lake high count for me and there were 7 adults.  Some of these could be winter residents, but most probably are migrants.

Forster's Tern 1 virtually all have left
Belted Kingfisher 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker 3
Yellow-bellied sapsucker 1
Downey woodpecker 2
Northern Flicker 3
Pileated Woodpecker 2
Eastern Phoebe 1
Blue Jay 2
American Crow 1
Purple Martin 110 good numbers have returned Feeding very low over the water, as that is where their food supply is on a cold day like today.
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 1 migrant
Barn swallow 5 migrants
Other passerines of not any great interest.

A different twist on early spring migration by boat on the lake.

Charlie Lyon
Shreveport, LA

Amanda Lewis

A new bird for the C. Bickham Dickson Park/ Red River Education and Research Park list, Red-breasted Merganser, was added on Saturday.  This past Saturday morning, Feb. 28th, at 10:30 am Jerome and I spotted 2 male Red-breasted Mergansers near the boat launch at the park.  I was at the park to meet a field trip from the National Association for Interpretation led by Larry Raymond.  Larry and a van of birders arrived shortly after the birds were first spotted and were able to see the birds as well.  The Red-breasted Mergansers could not be located on a second attempt at 11:45 am Saturday.

-Amanda Lewis

Amanda (Crnkovic) Lewis
Assistant to the Director
Red River Watershed Management Institute
Louisiana State University in Shreveport
One University Place
Shreveport, LA 71115
(318) 797-5215

Ellen Middleton

Hopefully someone can help me with an ID question.  We were on Hwy 3132 headed east (towards Flournoy Lucas Rd) about 1pm today.  As were getting off at the Bert Kouns Exit, I noticed what at first appeared to be an all white hawk hovering above the open grassy area.  My first thought was of a black-shouldered kite because of the coloring and behavior.  At great risk to personal safety, my husband obliged me by returning and letting me get a closer look.  By that time the bird was perched in a small tree approximately 50 feet from the shoulder of the road.  It was turned away from me, so I could not get a great look at the head, but it was white all over with a few black spots all over the body.  The head had some dark on it, but not completely.  The eye was dark, but I could not tell about the bill color.  The tail seemed short for a red tail.  My guess is an albino or leukistic (sp?) red tail hawk.  If anyone see the bird or has some thoughts on ID I would appreciate it.

Ellen Middleton
Shreveport, LA

Cathy Basham

I saw an adult osprey on Lake Claiborne Sunday morning.

Cathy Basham
KTBS, Inc.
Office: (318)861-5845
Cell: (318)780-7040

Ellen Middleton

I was delighted today to see my FOS purple martins.  They were flying over the Randle T Moore Center @ approximately 10:30.  Always a sure sign of spring.

Ellen Middleton
Shreveport, LA

Laurence Hardy

Lindsay Coldiron reports Sandhill Cranes in a cornfield, on east side of LA hwy 1, 100 yards north of Natchitoches parish line seen on either Feb. 3 OR Feb. 4, 2009.

Dr. Laurence M. Hardy

Museum of Life Sciences
LSU in Shreveport
One University Place
Shreveport, LA 71115-2399
Office: 318-797-5338
Cell: 318-518-5709
Home: 318-687-6738
FAX: 318-797-5222
lhardy(at)lsus(dot)edu

James Ingold

-----Original Message-----

From: Bulletin Board for Dissemination of Information on Louisiana Birds (LABIRD-L@LISTSERV.LSU.EDU) On Behalf Of Devin Eby-Bosler

LABIRD,

Although not the best photos, these are fairly good considering the appalling weather conditions, the distance, and the less than obliging targets.  The loon was diving continuously, spending more time under the water than above.  The Little Gull was always on the move as well, making circuits of the lake with a small flock of Bonaparte's Gulls.  Digiscoped photos of LA's first photo-documented Red-throated Loon and north LA's first Little Gull can be viewed at the link below.

The wait is over, Louisiana can now add its second species of loon to the official state list (the last state in the U.S. to do so).

More details and quad lists later...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30743124@N07/ 

Enjoy,

Devin Bosler
LSU-Baton Rouge

Bill Wood

To all.

Had a few surprises today while doing the Keithville Quad, Winter and Sedge Wren and Gray Catbird.  Also had nice numbers of Pine Warblers and a few Pine Siskins.

As Always, Good Birding!

Bill Wood
Keithville, LA
Caddo Parish
labirder08(atbellsouth(dot)net
http://www.pbase.com/labirder

Location: Keithville Quad
Observation date: 1/25/09
Number of species: 34

Wood Duck 2
Double-crested Cormorant 5
Turkey Vulture 5
Eurasian Collared-Dove 4
Mourning Dove 6
Red-bellied Woodpecker 4
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 2
Downy Woodpecker 3
Eastern Phoebe 1
Blue Jay 2
American Crow 1
Carolina Chickadee 7
Tufted Titmouse 1
Brown-headed Nuthatch 1
Carolina Wren 4
Winter Wren 1
Sedge Wren 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1
Eastern Bluebird 4
Gray Catbird 1
Northern Mockingbird 3
Brown Thrasher 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 2
Pine Warbler 7
Chipping Sparrow 45
Song Sparrow 3
White-throated Sparrow 15
Dark-eyed Junco 7
Northern Cardinal 23
Red-winged Blackbird 20
Common Grackle 1
House Finch 3
Pine Siskin 6
American Goldfinch 50

This report was generated automatically by eBirdv2 (http://ebird.org/content/la/)

Nancy Menasco

FYI

From: lyon5516(at)BELLSOUTH(foy)NET  (Charlie Lyon)
To: LABIRD-L@LISTSERV.LSU.EDU 
Sent from the Internet (Details) 

LA-birders,

Devin and Justin Bosler discovered an adult basic plumaged RED-THROATED LOON and an adult winter plumaged LITTLE GULL this morning on Caney Creek Reservoir in Jackson Parish.  They don't have computer access tonight and asked if I would make a post tonight.  Terry Davis and I made the trek to the lake this afternoon, which is truly in the middle of nowhere, and both birds were still present.  I suspect there is a good probability both birds will be present tomorrow, for those wishing to make the journey.  The Bosler's will be doing another winter atlas survey near Lake Providence, and will not able to get back there tomorrow.  Terry and I are back in Shreveport and won't be there either.

The best viewing area in regards to seeing both species is the spillway dam.  This is located at the east end of the lake which is just WEST of LA HWY 34.  When on HWY 34, look for the sign for Jimmie Davis State Park, and just south of this is a another sign and Spillway Dam Road. Turn onto Spillway Dam Road, and drive to the large parking lot at the spillway.  You can scope from the parking lot or walk along the levee which is to your left.  We also drove along the road toward Jimmie Davis SP and scoped from a vacant lot.  Both birds were distant so you need a scope.  The Little Gull did come in fairly close once, but it seems to have a large feeding area, and associates with a flock of about 20 Bonaparte's Gulls.  There were 40+ Common Loons on the lake in addition to the Red-throated Loon.

In regards to the status of Red-throated Loon in Louisiana, this may be the first record accepted, but the first sighting was that of an individual seen during the winter LOS meeting in Shreveport in 1991(?1992).  I was President of the LOS at that time and had Julie Zickefoose come in as our guest speaker.  She is a nationally known artist and birder.  She was on a barge on Cross Lake with me and about 8-10 other observers.  She noted a Red-throated Loon and called it to my attention.  This bird was seen at close range, and she immediately made a drawing which I submitted as part of the record.  There was no question on the id on either of our parts, but this was in the day prior to birders having cameras at their sides while birding.  We have a rule that no first state record can be accepted unless there is a specimen, photo, or video of the individual.  It can be accepted after the next accepted record which should be this one.  I can not speak for the records committee as I am no longer on the committee, but my hopes are they accept the Cross Lake record which is just as valid as this one.

Caney Creek Reservoir, which is about a 4000 acre lake and the drinking water supply of Jonesboro, is a relatively new man made lake in the heart of the piney woods.  It wasn't filled until the late 1980's, and prior to that
was prime deer hunting habitat.  It's one of those twists in which the interference of man has created an "unnatural" habitat in an area where no body of water that size should be, and no loon should be.  Prior to the development of this lake, a Common Loon and Bonaparte's Gull would have been unheard of in Jackson Parish, let alone a Red-throated Loon and Little Gull. The world of water is truly moving northward in more ways than we can imagine.

Charlie Lyon
Shreveport, LA

Rosemary Seidler

Richard Gibbons birded the Vivian North quad for the Winter Bids Atlas on Saturday.

He had five male Common Goldeneyes near the Hosston boat ramp.

Rosemary

Velsa Neilson

Hello, all!

Certainly was good to see many of y'all at the meeting Tuesday!  Enjoyed the program, Jean and Jeff!

My yard was alive with birds at 8 am today.  There must have been over 200 Goldfinch feeding everywhere!  Plus another 80 of usual winter backyard birds.  Glory!

Went birding with neighbors today.  Left home at 9am at 19 degrees!  Warm in the car, thank the Lord!

We birded the Smithport Lake Dam Rd., Carmel area, Evans Loop, the Bayou Pierre WMA on Lake Rd near IP, and then to L&D 4.

Had 55 species.  Must have seen several 100s of chippies and White-throats in the woody areas!

WMA had several ducks but we didn't have scopes or permits!  So we left after recording Coots and Ring-necks. We found a Gray Catbird somewhere between there and the Lake Rd.

We saw 25 hawks!  Mostly Red-tails, 4 Kestrels, and 1 Harrier.  2 were Red-shouldered Hawks with one being literally out the car window!  About 20 foot away.  We enjoyed the view!

At L&D #4 we had a Loggerhead Shrike sitting atop a fence post that was below car window level.  It was a great view we don't see too often.  He was just happy to sit there and show off!

We had 2 Common Moorhen at the second pond on the left at L&D #4.  That surprised me.  I surely would 

have thought they would go south for the winter!  They still had some red in their bills.  There was also a large nutria hanging close by.

The Cardinal was the species seen at the most locations.  Thank goodness he's so good looking!

L&D #4 had 75 White Pelicans, 100 DC Cormorants, plus other expected species.  Had a great view of an Anhinga on the in-the-pond fence.  Sorry we didn't find an eagle or Osprey.

What we did find was a very light Krider's Red-tailed - I suppose.  I wished for it to be a Ferruginous but honestly could not verify either species.  So according to the rule of "the most likely species" it would be a Krider's.  The only view we had was straight forward.  He was large as a Red-tail.  The bird had a pure white breast, belly and under-tail.  I could see no stripes in the tail.  There was some very faint speckling on the front breast.  The head was mostly light tan with darker streaks.  There was a white line above the eye.  The tops of the wings were creamy and grayish-brown mottling.  When the bird did finally fly, he turned real quick and went behind the trees.  I never had a diagnostic view but he did have more white underneath than anything else and his tail on the top side was a pale rusty red at the bottom fading to white at the base.  Had it not been for a tightly strung barbed-wire fence and thank the Lord, a later noticed No Trespassing sign - I'd have gotten a much better view!  The hawk was on the right side of the road past the second rock dike.  The bird did call several times and it did sound familiar to my memory of a Red-tail.  And in all likelihood it was a Red-tail.  Ah, but we must keep looking and be suspicious or we shall miss the Dusky and Ash-throated Flycatchers!

One ever-so-cold Snowy Egret hid at the Evelyn barrow-pit.

It was a wonderful day!

May God bless you all!
Velda

Jeff Trahan

I sent three photos that I took of the possible Ash-throated Flycatcher that was first seen and photographed by Ronnie Maum at the Red River Refuge.  These photos showed the underside of the tail.  I sent them to Steve Cardiff and his reply is below.

Jeff Trahan

Hey Jeff-

Jim Ingold had already sent one photo of the bird a while back.  Don’t know if that was one of your photos or someone else’s.  Anyway, it was a nice, full profile shot and Donna and I both believed that it looked good for Ash-throated.  However, we couldn’t see the tail tip pattern, so I told Jim that it was almost certainly an Ash-throated based on subjective characters (size, proportions, paleness of under-parts) but that there was nothing “diagnostic” to go on (tail, mouth lining, voice).  The new photos that you provided eliminate everything but Ash-throated and Nutting’s.  Some Nutting’s have the same tail pattern as Ash-throated.  So, technically, to be absolutely certain, you also need to see the mouth-lining color (flesh versus orange in Nutting’s) or hear the bird call (Ash-throated’s “prrrp” versus Nutting’s “peep”).  Having said all that, your bird is 99.99% for sure an Ash-throated based on the photos and probability.  Nutting’s would be somewhat darker gray on the breast and brighter yellow on the belly.

Very nice bird, and if Ash-throated was still a review list bird I would have no problem accepting this record.  If it’s OK with you, I’ll try to get one of your photos published in North American Birds when I send in this winter’s summary.

Best,

Steve

On 1/14/09 2:30 PM, "jftrahan@bellsouth.net" <jftrahan@bellsouth.net> wrote:

Steve,

A possible Ash-throated Flycatcher was reported at the Red River NWR in Bossier City recently.  I went to photograph it in order to possible identify it.  The bird was not extremely cooperative, but I did manage to get three images that might help in identification.  I would appreciate your help.  You seem to be the appropriate person to send this to.

I have attached three photos:
IMG_0254.jpg Undertail of bird flying away (not being cooperative)
IMG_0262.jpg Side view showing undertail, but not very well.
IMG_0262_1.jpg Blown up portion of undertail in IMG_0262.jpg

Thanks,
Jeff Trahan
Shreveport, LA

Phil Bradley

Hi all,

My five acres had a nice showing today, Jan.11th.

30 species

Turkey Vulture 3
Black Vulture 6
Red-tailed Hawk 2
Red-shoulder Hawk 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 4
Downy Woodpecker 2
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Pileated Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 1
White-breasted Nuthatch 3
Common Grackle 16
American Crow 10-----they were attacking the Red-tailed Hawks
Blue Jay 6
Mourning Dove 25
Northern Cardinal 22
Cedar Waxwing 30
Brown Thrasher 1
Tufted Titmouse 6
Caroline Chickadee 9
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2
Carolina Wren 2
Yellow-rumped Warbler 6
Pine Warbler 2
Harris Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow 1
Chipping Sparrow 20
White-throated Sparrow 12
Dark-eyed Junco 10
Pine Siskin 32
American Goldfinch 40

Phil Bradley
Spring Ridge, La
rmyeldarb(at)comcast(dot)net

Bill Wood

To all,

Not much to report as the big flocks of Siskins and Goldfinches were not found but 2 Purple Finches were a nice treat.

Location: Keithville Quad
Observation date: 1/11/09
Notes: sunny and cool, temps in the low 50s.  1.25 party hours
Number of species: 25

Turkey Vulture 2
Mourning Dove 5
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1
Northern Flicker 1
Blue Jay 2
American Crow 7
Carolina Chickadee 5
Tufted Titmouse 2
Carolina Wren 4
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1
Northern Mockingbird 2
Cedar Waxwing 75
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 25
Pine Warbler 3
Chipping Sparrow 9
White-throated Sparrow 22
Dark-eyed Junco 5
Northern Cardinal 21
Red-winged Blackbird 75
Common Grackle 25
Purple Finch 2
House Finch 5
Pine Siskin 14
American Goldfinch 100

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org/content/la/)

As Always, Good Birding!

Bill Wood 
Keithville, LA 
labirder08(at)bellsouth(dot)net

Bill Wood

 To all,

Looked out at the feeders this morning to see my first birds of the year on the platform feeder.  Ten Pine Siskins, several American Goldfinches, and three Northern Cardinals.

As Always, Good Birding!

Bill Wood 
Keithville, LA 
labirder08(at)bellsouth(dot)net

Joyce Bennett

A wounded red tailed hawk on I 20 before exit 10 going east.  I could not stop and did not have anything to rescue him with.  He was on the shoulder of the road if some kind birder would check it out

jabird(at)bellsouth(dot)net 

Hubert Hervey

BSG Members,

The first Harris Sparrow showed up on Christmas Day, 2008 at my feeders in Stonewall LA.  On the 27th a second showed up, on the 28th a third was present and this morning, the 30th of Dec, I had 4 Harris' Sparrows at the same time.  Usually they ignore each other to some extent, but by 10 AM they had decided they had enough to form a flock and were moving around together as a flock.  This is the first time in three years that Harris' Sparrows have returned to my location, where they were regulars each winter.  Pat spent Christmas Day in the hospital with double pneumonia, is home now and nearly recovered.  The sight of Harris' Sparrows always brightens up our day.

Happy New Year,
Hubert

Bill Wood

To all,

Added another bird to the yard list as a White-throated Sparrow was seen feeding below the sunflower feeders.  Think it is the first time I've seen one around a feeder.

I had another one of those amazing bird encounters this evening.  I took a walk to the woods out back after suffering though another disappointing Saints loss.  Think I would be used to it by now!

Anyway, I took my Screech Owl tape in hopes of finding some winter sparrows.  I stood beneath a short pine and began to play my tape.  A few White-throated Sparrows popped up along with several Yellow-rumped Warblers.  A pair of Carolina Chickadees came in and begin to scold and the action really picked up.  In less than a minute I was being mobbed by 3 Pine Warbler, 2 Tufted Titmouse, 2 Ruby-crowned Kinglet, 4 Carolina Chickadee, 2 White-breasted Nuthatch, a dozen Northern Cardinal, and more Yellow-rumped Warbler than I could count.  Also had 2 Red-bellied Woodpecker and one Yellow-bellied Sapsucker come in along with a single Brown Thrasher.  There were also flocks of Cedar Waxwing near by.

The White-breasted Nuthatch and Pine Warbler perched on a limb just a couple of feet from my face.  The Carolina Chickadee and Ruby-crowned Kinglet ventured in close as well.  It was a pretty cool and exciting 2 minutes.

Complete list follows:

Location: Keithville yard
Observation date: 12/28/08
Number of species: 24

Red-shouldered Hawk 1
Mourning Dove 4
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 2
Blue Jay 2
Carolina Chickadee 3
Tufted Titmouse 2
White-breasted Nuthatch 2
Carolina Wren 4
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 3
Eastern Bluebird 2
Northern Mockingbird 2
Brown Thrasher 1
Cedar Waxwing 50
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 50
Pine Warbler 3
Chipping Sparrow 14
White-throated Sparrow 22
White-crowned Sparrow 1
Dark-eyed Junco 21
Northern Cardinal 15
Red-winged Blackbird 15
House Finch 2
American Goldfinch 75

As Always, Good Birding!

Bill Wood 
Keithville, LA 
labirder08(at)bellsouth(dot)net

Bill Wood

To all,

Made a real quick drive though the park and noted the following.  No Bald Eagle encounter today.

Location: Bickham Dickson park
Observation date: 12/28/08
Number of species: 20

Wood Duck 6
Gadwall 45
Mallard 5
Northern Shoveler 3
Canvasback 55
Ruddy Duck 40
Pied-billed Grebe 21
American White Pelican 27
Double-crested Cormorant 75
Great Blue Heron 2
Great Egret 6
American Coot 200
Ring-billed Gull 11
Rock Pigeon 12
Mourning Dove 3
Eastern Bluebird 2
Northern Mockingbird 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 200
Northern Cardinal 4
Common Grackle 12

As Always, Good Birding!

Bill Wood 
Keithville, LA 
labirder08(at)bellsouth(dot)net

Bill Wood

To all,

This morning around 10:30 am I made a brief drive though at Bickham Dickson Park (Caddo Parish).  There were more ducks around including 75 plus Gadwall, 25 Canvasback, and 50 plus Ruddy Ducks.

The coolest encounter was watching an adult Bald Eagle harass a flock of coots.  I was sitting in my car near the boat launch and not more than 100 feet away watched for several minutes as it made several passes at the flock of coots.  Complete list follows:

Location: bickham dickson park
Observation date: 12/26/08
Number of species: 34

Wood Duck 2
Gadwall 75
Mallard (Domestic type) 2
Northern Shoveler 8
Canvasback 25
Ruddy Duck 50
Pied-billed Grebe 15
American White Pelican 6
Double-crested Cormorant 45
Anhinga 1
Great Blue Heron 1
Great Egret 4
Turkey Vulture 3
Bald Eagle 1
American Kestrel 1
American Coot 150
Killdeer 9
Ring-billed Gull 30
Rock Pigeon 12
Mourning Dove 35
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Northern Flicker 3
Eastern Phoebe 2
Blue Jay 2
Eastern Bluebird 2
Northern Mockingbird 1
American Pipit 17
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 250
Pine Warbler 2
Savannah Sparrow 2
Song Sparrow 2
Northern Cardinal 4
Common Grackle 12
American Goldfinch 6

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)

As Always, Good Birding!

Bill Wood 
Keithville, LA 
labirder08(at)bellsouth(dot)net

Phil Bradley

Hi All,

I have had a Harris's Sparrow at my house in Spring Ridge for three days.  It is not banded, so it is not the same one Jim Ingold banded in 2002 at the Dickson deer farm.

I had hundreds of Goldfinches and several dozen Pine Siskins, also.

There are more non Slate colored Dark-eyed Juncos than Slate colored ones.

One of the male slate colored Juncos is sporting a white crown.  I hope it survives and someone up north reports it so I can tell where it came from.

Phil Bradley

Velda Neilson

Hello, all!  And Merry Christmas!

At Jolly Roger Marina on north end of Toledo, had one Common Goldeneye!  So exciting!  Went on spur of moment and thankful we did!

Not as many ducks overall there as usual.  Didn't see a single coot.  Did see:

3 Mallards,
2 Gadwalls
12 L Scaup
1 C Goldeneye.

Saw about 24 species.  Sadly one Eur. Coll. Dove.

Our neighborhood must of had a bad run of West Nile early this fall.  My neighbor found 20 dead cardinals in her yard in one week in ? Sept or Aug.  I found 5 or 6 dead birds of different species myself.  None of us knew of anything we might have done to contribute to all these dying birds.

I had one late hummer in Oct. Only saw it twice - on back side of feeder, of course!

Take care all.  And may God grant you each a wonderful, blessed, and peaceful Christmas!

Velda

Hubert Hervey

BSG Members,

I have flocks of Pine Siskins, 20 to 25, in with large number of Am. Goldfinches this morning.  Seldom do I remember having this many Siskins at my feeders.  They are tearing up the thistle, and also readily use the seeds that Jim was nice enough to let us auction off last night at the Christmas Banquet.  Thanks to everyone who provided food, it was great, and also to all the participants who contributed auction items, and paid for the items offered for sale.  Everyone seemed to enjoy the evening.

Put out those thistles feeders today, and enjoy the feeding spectacular.

Hubert

James Ingold

From: Bulletin Board for Dissemination of Information on Louisiana Birds on behalf of Paul Dickson
Sent: Sat 11/29/2008 3:33 PM

Labird: I have three Pine Siskins at my feeder this afternoon.

Paul Dickson
Shreveport

Jeff Trahan

Jean and I went to Bickham Dickson this morning (Sunday).  We saw a total of 59 species including American Avocet, Purple Finch, and Vesper Sparrow.  November 23, is a late fall date for American Avocet in northwestern Louisiana.  The entire list can be found below.

The avocet was seen at the edge of the water at the boat launch near the pavilion.  It stayed there all morning, so it may hang around awhile.

Jeff Trahan

2 American Goldfinch 
25 House Finch 
1 Purple Finch 
1 Common Grackle 
5 Red-winged Blackbird 
7 Northern Cardinal 
20 White-throated Sparrow 
3 Swamp Sparrow 
2 Fox Sparrow 
6 Le Conte's Sparrow 
15 Savannah Sparrow 
2 Vesper Sparrow 
7 Field Sparrow 
4 Chipping Sparrow 
4 Pine Warbler 
130 Yellow-rumped Warbler 
3 Orange-crowned Warbler 
2 European Starling 
3 Brown Thrasher 
10 Northern Mockingbird 
6 Eastern Bluebird 
1 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 
25 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 
2 Carolina Wren 
7 Carolina Chickadee 
10 Fish Crow 
8 Blue Jay 
1 Blue-headed Vireo 
6 Eastern Phoebe 
1 Pileated Woodpecker 
6 Northern Flicker 
2 Downy Woodpecker 
4 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 
10 Red-bellied Woodpecker 
2 Belted Kingfisher 
2 Eastern Screech-Owl 
18 Mourning Dove 
28 Rock Pigeon 
9 Laughing Gull 
1 Wilson's Snipe 
5 Least Sandpiper 
1 Greater Yellowlegs 
1 American Avocet 
1 Killdeer 
150 American Coot 
2 Red-tailed Hawk 
2 Sharp-shinned Hawk 
2 Turkey Vulture 
8 Great Egret 
6 Great Blue Heron 
130 Double-crested Cormorant 
25 American White Pelican 
3 Pied-billed Grebe 
60 Ruddy Duck 
7 Ring-necked Duck 
9 Canvasback 
15 Northern Shoveler 
8 Mallard 
7 Gadwall 

James.Ingold

 I was at Ashley Ridge a noontime to pay my mortgage and went to the pond that the Redheads had been using in previous winters.  Nothing on the pond so I was looking at turtle on the far shore threw my binocs and when I looked up to the east a white bird was flying towards me.  It turned and I saw some black feathers dispersed throughout its plumage.  I thought Little Blue Heron turning into adult plumage.  When I looked at it through the binocs it was a hawk – buteo.  Mostly white with random black feathers dispersed on its body.  The white was very white not dingy.  It then flew north over some trees towards Charlie’s neighborhood and out of sight.

Jim

Charlie Lyon

 LA-birders,

I made a brief one hour evening boat run on Cross Lake from 4:45 pm until 5:45 pm today 11-03-08 and a few changes were noted.  I spent much of my time chasing a possible 1st winter CALIFORNIA GULL vs "runt" Herring Gull.  I've been fooled before on this one.  I put a few photos up on my web site at http://gallery.me.com/charleslyon and I would appreciate if others would look and give me their thoughts.  I've got more photos but these are some of the better ones.

Gull and Tern changes were:
Franklin's Gull 12
Bonaparte's Gull 1
Ring-billed Gull 110 big increase
Possible 1st winter CALIFORNIA GULL 1 ????
Herring Gull 1 
Forster's Tern 16 new arrivals

I was mainly gulling so not much else was noted.

Charlie Lyon

Shreveport, LA

Charlie Lyon

LA-birders,

Terry Davis and I made a three hour afternoon boat run on Cross Lake today 11-01-08 from 3:30pm until 6:30pm, and we were not able to relocate the first winter COMMON BLACK-HEADED GULL I found on 10-30-08.  I have posted a photo and a magnified second photo of the gull with size comparisons of nearby Ring-billed and Franklin's Gulls, and a lone Forster's Tern.  You can view this at http://gallery.me.com/charleslyon.

I've made three boat runs on Cross Lake since my last posting, and I'll give brief summaries.

10-25-08 10am until 12:15 pm sunny with light northerly winds 55-60 degrees.  Minimal activity with the highlight being one NEOTROPIC CORMORANT, which looked like a different individual from the two I found on 10-21-08.  There was a low level end of the season raptor migration with the following:

Black Vulture 90.  Vultures are raptors too and they are late migrants.
Turkey Vulture 9
Osprey 2 locals
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
Cooper's Hawk 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 2
American Coot 750.  Quite low for this time of year
NO gulls or terns
Winter Wren 1
Marsh Wren 1 FOS
Red-winged Blackbird 75 migrants.  They migrate too, although most of us are not really looking for them.

10-30-08 5-6:30pm se winds 10mph sunny 70 degrees

The big bird showed, and a few other notable changes occurred.  Duck numbers increased a bit, but numbers are still under par for this time of the season.

Gadwall 50
Northern Shoveler 36
Lesser Scaup 54
Hooded Merganser 1 female FOS
Ruddy Duck 1400 expected increase.  This is the most numerous wintering duck on the lake, and numbers are still quite low.
Common Loon 2 FOS
American Coot 300.  Way down and many have actually departed
BLACK-HEADED GULL 1.  1st winter bird and please see the only semi decent photo I could get before it flew and was lost forever.  I've also been looking for this species forever on Cross Lake, so as far as I'm concerned, it's long overdue.
Franklin's Gull 15 FOS
Bonaparte's Gull 2 FOS and right on time
Ring-billed Gull 26
Forster's Tern 2 and only two.  There should be a lot more by now.

11-01-08 approx 3:30 pm until 6:30 pm with Terry Davis partly cloudy 68-72 degrees with light 0-5 mph winds SE.  Low numbers of most everything for this time of year, and no Black-headed Gull.

Gadwall 21
Mallard 7
Northern Shoveler 5
Canvasback 3 FOS
Lesser Scaup 8
Ruddy Duck 1033
Pied-billed Grebe 26
Horned Grebe 2 FOS
Osprey 3.  Good numbers for this time of year, and it's possible they may be setting up winter territories. Historically this is a migrant up here, but their winter range seems to be extending northward. (and actually their
breeding range has been extending inland as well)
Bald Eagle 1 adult 
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
American Coot 324.  The herbicide used against the salvinia may have worked on more than just the salvinia...speculation of course.
Franklin's Gulls 23
Bonaparte's Gull 1
Ring-billed Gull 39 minor increase
Herring Gull 2 FOS
NO Forster's Terns so where are they?

I'll probably get out tomorrow afternoon for a boat run, but I suspect the Black-headed Gull was one minute wonder.

Charlie Lyon 
Shreveport, LA

Charlie Lyon

LA-birders,

I found a juvenile COMMON BLACK-HEADED GULL on Cross Lake yesterday evening but I only got brief views of it.  I managed to get off a photo which after I reviewed today I think is good enough to get it accepted.  I couldn't get on the lake today, but I'll be out there much of the weekend.  Locals can join me if they wish.  It will be a first state record if accepted.  I'll sent the photo to Van, Steve, and Donna.

Charlie Lyon
Shreveport, LA

Charlie Lyon

LA-birders,

I made a boat survey of Cross Lake this evening 10-21-08 and got in one hour and forty minutes from 5pm until 6:40pm, instead of my usual one hour.  It was another bluebird day with sunny skies and a pleasant 75 degrees.

List:

Gadwall 24
Mallard 6
Lesser Scaup 15
Ruddy Duck 6 I didn't make it to the east end
Pied-billed Grebe 6
NEOTROPIC CORMORANT 2 a new Cross Lake "high" count I got photos which I'll put on my site.  I had one at the Red River NWR Headquarters tract on 10-18-08, so keep your eyes open.  This species although uncommon is regular at Lake Tawakoni to our west in Texas, so perhaps it may become more regular here as well. I'm hoping for a CBC record in our future.
Double-crested Cormorant 350 still not many
Great Blue Heron 6
Great Egret 30
Bald Eagle 1 
American Coot 600 down from two days ago
Killdeer 4 
Least Sandpiper 4
Forster's Tern 6 still nothing happening in the world of gulls and terns
Mourning Dove 4
Belted Kingfisher 1
Red-bellied woodpecker 2
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1 FOS
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 1
Pileated Woodpecker 1
Eastern Phoebe 7
Carolina Chickadee 1
Carolina Wren 5
Winter Wren 2 FOS one was singing which some will do immediately upon
arrival, and then they remain mute for the rest of the winter (other than
kip, kip). It's a beautiful song, and you may want to play it if you are not familiar with it.
Eastern Bluebird only 1
Starling 1
White-throated Sparrow 6
Cardinal 5
Red-winged Blackbird 4

Overall not much is happening right now, and we need another cold front to advance the season to the next level.

Charlie Lyon 
Shreveport, LA

Charlie Lyon

LA-birders,

I've been scratching out about an hour a day to bird the last couple of days. n Sunday 10-19-08 I made a brief evening boat run on Cross Lake from about 5:30 to 6:30 pm with clear skies and temps in the high 60's.  It was pretty dull and literally a fair weather bluebird day.

Partial list:
Wood Duck 2
Mallard 2 (wild)
Blue-winged Teal 3
Lesser Scaup 4
Ruddy Duck 83 FOS thousands will arrive shortly
Pied-billed Grebe 16 more have departed than have come in
Double-crested Cormorant 350 still very few on the lake
Snowy Egret 2 
Osprey 1
Bald eagle 1
American Coot 1700 significant increase but not as near as many as expected something may be going on with the vegetation as well as the water...a lot of herbicide was sprayed this summer
Spotted Sandpiper 1
Forster's Tern 2 no other terns or larids
Eastern Bluebird 14 consistent with a significant bluebird movement
Pine Warbler 1
Like I said, pretty dull on the lake, but a beautiful sunset on the lake.

Today 10-20-08 I normally would have hit the lake again, but with yesterday's result and no significant change in the weather pattern, I decided to be a landlubber.  Charles Mills found a Chestnut-collared Longspur on Lake Millwood a couple of days ago, so I thought I would try Sentell Road about 8 miles north of Shreveport this evening after work.  I had a couple of Chestnut-collard Longsurs there last winter, so I thought why not try something different.  As is per usual, the destination site and longspurs were a bust, but I managed to find a few things of some significance.

List:
Wood Duck 2
Northern Harrier 1
Red-tailed Hawk 2 early in migration for them still
American Kestrel 6 numbers growing
Killdeer 20
Scuz dove 1  (Eurasian Collared-Dove, webguy)
Mourning Dove 2
Red-bellied woodpecker 2

OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER 1 On the top of a dead snag fly-catching near the Red river levee north of the sod farm.  This is a northern interior late date by almost a couple of weeks, and ties Lowery's late date for the state.  Van, what do you have for dates on this species in your book?  This one was the surprise of the day, and nothing similar to a longspur.

Eastern Phoebe 2
Loggerhead Shrike 5 good numbers
American Crow 1
House Wren 1

EASTERN BLUEBIRD 45 big numbers seem to be moving through

Northern Mockingbird 8
Yellow-rumped warbler 2

PALM WARBLER 1 western sp an uncommon low density migrant in NW LA Fall migration is protracted and can extend into December.  We actually have a fair number of CBC records of this species.

Lark Sparrow 5 lingering breeders
Savannah Sparrow 12
White-crowned Sparrow 4
Northern Cardinal 2
Red-winged Blackbird 600
Eastern Meadowlark 3
No pipits of either flavor, which was a bit surprising.

Another fair weather bluebird day...this is probably the prettiest time of year in NW LA.

Charlie Lyon
Shreveport, LA

Ellen Middleton

What a beautiful fall weekend.  Had my FOS golden crowned kinglet at Richard Fleming today, and several white-throated sparrows @ Elysian Fields yesterday.

Ellen Middleton

Charlie Lyon 

LA-birders,

NEXRAD last night showed a continued massive movement of birds behind the cold front of 10-16-08 so I did a little "ground truthing" this am at the headquarters tract of the Red River National Wildlife Refuge in Bossier Parish.  This is also the date of their annual wildlife celebration festival and they had a great turn out.

I started before dawn arriving just before 7am and left just before noon.  It was a really pleasant morning with 7am temperatures at 50 degrees and a light north wind.  The early morning fog yielded to clear blue skies, which made for excellent raptor migrant viewing conditions.  I found a couple of new species for the refuge list and established one NW LA late date.  It was a wonderful day to be out in the neighborhood.  First of the season migrants (FOS) are noted, so as to give readers a better idea of what came in new today post Thursday's frontal passage.  I noted other new arrivals on yesterday's post.

List:

Wood Duck 30 
Gadwall 125 coming through in bigger numbers now
American Wigeon 5 FOS
Ring-necked Duck 1 FOS
Pied-billed Grebe 10
American White Pelican 225 big increase in numbers
Double-crested Cormorant 650 major movement today

NEOTROPIC CORMORANT 1 adult new to the refuge list and rare in NW LA anytime of the year, and especially so in the fall and winter

ANHINGA 18 really big numbers for so late in the year
Great Blue Heron 8
Snowy Egrets 10 still good numbers
Tricolored Heron 5 ditto
Cattle Egret 125 The herons and egrets are roosting in the oxbow behind the headquarters area, but you need to get there either before sunrise or just before sunset to witness the spectacle.
Black-crowned Night-Heron 2 uncommon this time of year and more so as winter approaches.

Mini raptor migration:
Black Vulture 15
Turkey Vulture 4
Bald Eagle 1 adult
Cooper's Hawk 3
Red-shouldered Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 7
American Kestrel 1

American Coot 16
Killdeer 3
Rock Pigeon 14
Mourning Dove 60
Belted kingfisher 3
Red-bellied Woodpecker 3
Downy Woodpecker 4
Northern Flicker 6 fairly recent arrivals
Eastern Phoebe 9 ditto
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 14 migrating flock

WARBLING VIREO 1 NW LA late date

Blue-headed Vireo 1 not on the refuge list for some reason fairly early as well

Blue Jay 14
American Crow 3
Carolina Chickadee 6
Tufted Titmouse 2
Carolina Wren 10

BEWICK'S WREN 1 new to the refuge list and rare and local fall terminal migrant fairly early as well

House Wren 8 FOS good numbers
Sedge Wren 1 FOS
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 3 growing numbers
Blue-grey Gnatcatcher 2
American Robin 18 first of the robin flocks not impressive numbers yet
Northern Mockingbird 5
Brown Thrasher 3
Starling 1000
Nashville Warbler 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler 11 FOS

NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH 1 represents a NW LA fall late date

Common Yellowthroat 3
Savannah Sparrow 5
Lincoln's Sparrow 1 FOS
Swamp Sparrow 6
White-throated Sparrow 4 FOS
White-crowned Sparrow 4 FOS on the early side
Northern Cardinal 26
Indigo Bunting 9 about the last of the season
Red-winged Blackbird 175
Common Grackle 80
House Finch 6
Brown-headed Cowbird 2

Going home from the refuge, I had to negotiate my way through the concrete jungle of SE Shreveport.  What a contrast from the life on the refuge.  There seem the be a lot of folks of the human persuasion that just don't have a clue... Birding green places seem to be shrinking, and we need to protect the ones we have left.  Migration is in full swing, and it was a great day to be a part of it.

Charlie Lyon 
Shreveport, LA

Charlie Lyon

LA-birders,

Thursday's cold front (10-16-08) brought expected changes in the local avifauna, and I was able to make a few brief sorties to sample the changes.

Thursday 10-16-08 Cross Lake by boat 5:45pm to 6:45pm brief evening run in 64 degree overcast conditions

Partial list

Gadwall 50 first of the ducks finally broke through
Northern Shoveler 30 ditto
Green-winged Teal 2
Pied-billed Grebe 29 first big push
Double-crested Cormorant 250 no significant change with this front
Great Egret 125 all other egrets gone

PEREGRINE FALCON 1 adult the bird of the day and very rare on Cross Lake proper

American Coot 650 significant increase but not overwhelming
Ring-billed Gull 3 FOS
Forster's Tern 7 minimal increase

Friday 10-17-08 Natchitoches Fish Hatchery 12:45-1:30pm lunch break 72 degrees and sunny a mixture of old and new
Gadwall 7
Mallard 90 local breeding population appears to be exploding
Blue-winged Teal 5
Pied-billed Grebe 18 big numbers for this location and signifies a major movement
Double-crested Cormorant 4
Great Blue Heron 8
Great Egret 70
Snowy Egret 3
Little Blue Heron 2
Cattle Egret 1
White Ibis 42
Turkey Vulture 5
Red-tailed Hawk 1
American Coot 450 a major number for this site and consistent with a massive movement
Killdeer 6
Greater Yellowlegs 1
Spotted sandpiper 1
Least Sandpiper 30

DUNLIN 1 still an uncommon migrant in the northern interior of LA but showing up with increasing frequency

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 5 the last of the flocks
Fish Crow 5 
American Pipit 2 a bit on the early side and FOS
Savannah Sparrow 1 FOS
Common Grackle 6

Friday 10-17-08 Alligator Farm near Powhatan scenic way back to Shreveport 5pm to 5:30 pm Natchitoches Parish
Cattle Egret 325 200 took off and started heading south as I was there
Northern Harrier 1 female FOS
Red-tailed Hawk 2
American Kestrel 4 FOS
Killdeer 50
Least Sandpiper 6
Wilson's Snipe 1 FOS
Scuz dove 8  (Eurasian Collared-Dove, webguy)
Mourning Dove 30
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Downy Woodpecker 1
Eastern Phoebe 1
Loggerhead Shrike 1
American Crow 50
Carolina Chickadee 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2 FOS
Savannah Sparrow 3 FOS
Red-winged Blackbird 25
Brown-headed Cowbird 40

Friday 10-17-08 Lock and Dam #4 Red River Parish 5:45 to 6:10pm last scenic
stop on the way back to Shreveport
American white Pelican 1
Double-crested Cormorant 12
Anhinga 1
Great Blue Heron 2
Great Egret 5
Snowy Egret 12 still holding on
Cattle Egret 1
Turkey Vulture 5
AMERICAN AVOCET 7 the flock came in from the north and set down on the river at 6pm an uncommon interior north LA migrant
Swamp Sparrow 4 FOS see Paul Dickson's post

More changes are coming, and the next frontal passage should outdo this one.  Finally fall is coming.

Charlie Lyon 
Shreveport, LA

Ellen Middleton

On a drive through Bickham Dickson this afternoon I had a flock of 17 white pelicans.  Also, my FOS kestrel along Sligo Rd.

Ellen Middleton

Jim Ingold

From: okbirds [mailto:OKBIRDS@LISTS.OU.EDU] On Behalf Of David Arbour
Sent: Wednesday, October 15, 2008 8:24 PM

I was mowing down bulrushes with our tractor in unit 27A today in preparation for disking when I flushed up a Yellow Rail.  It flew out and landed in an area I had already mowed.  I grabbed my camera and approached it, but it flew before I spotted it and disappeared into heavy cover in an area too wet to mow.  Other birds flushed out while mowing today were:

American Bittern - 3
Virginia Rail - 7
Sora - 2
Sedge Wrens - lots!
Marsh Wrens - lots!
Wilson's Snipe - 3

Just a reminder, we are having a public Yellow Rail Rope drag on Oct. 26th. Meet at 9 a.m. at middle (Push Creek) parking lot on Mudline Road.

David Arbour
De Queen, AR

Visit the Red Slough Website: http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/ouachita/natural-resources/redslough/index.shtml

Personal Photo Galleries: http://www.pbase.com/sloughbirder

Charlie Lyon 

LA-birders,

I made an evening boat run on Cross Lake today 10-13-08 from 5:30 until 7pm, and relocated the two juvenile BROWN PELICANS that I presumed had already departed.  They also seem to have found each other and now are inseparable buddies.  I took a few photos of the pair and we now have Cross Lake's first Brown Pelican "flock".  Other than the pelicans, the lake was surprisingly devoid of bird life.  Coot and cormorant numbers are still quite low for this time of the fall, and there were only 3 Forster's Terns on the lake, with no other terns or gulls being present.  There were no ducks although I had my FOS Lesser Scaup on the lake 10-8-08.  Two Barn swallows seen today are getting late and my last Chimney Swifts were seen on 10-8-08.  It's pretty dull out there right now.

Charlie Lyon 
Shreveport, LA

Charlie Lyon 

 LA-birders,

I made a short evening boat survey of Cross Lake today 90-22-08 but I had to leave by 6:30 and couldn't stay for sunset, which is usually the most productive time.  I managed to relocate not only the lingering juvenile BROWN PELICAN, but in addition, a newly arrived second juvenile BROWN PELICAN.  This is certainly not as spectacular as the frigatebird of two days ago, but equally interesting.  It seems hurricane strays are still making their way southward nine days post Hurricane Ike.  Birding otherwise was quite dull on the lake, which is predictable for fair sunny fall days with prevailing east winds

Partial list of other species:

American White Pelican 3 (another two pelican species day in the far north)
 BROWN PELICAN 2 juveniles photos of both
Anhinga 1 same female
Snowy Egret 21 
Cattle Egret 1 (a lonely number)
Osprey 2
Bald Eagle 1 adult
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
Cooper's Hawk 1
American Coot 2 (The next cold front will bring big changes in coot numbers, as well a for many other species as well...there is a large bottleneck waiting to be unleashed)
Spotted Sandpiper 1
Black Tern 2 The ONLY terns/gulls on the lake.
Belted Kingfisher 6 A seasonal high count and I'm not sure where they all came from....local dispersal vs. true migrants?
Fish Crow 3 They have been absent until today
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 9 No other swallows, and these may be hold overs from two days ago.
Common Grackle 650 first large flocks starting to form

That's all for now.

Charlie Lyon 
Shreveport, LA

Charlie Lyon

LA-birders,

I did a birding survey by boat on Cross Lake this evening 9-20-08 from about 5:15pm until 7:15pm, and had a pretty productive run.  Bird numbers overall were low, but an adult female MAGNIFICENT FRIGATEBIRD was quite a bonus.
It's been 7 days since the passage of Hurricane Ike, so I thought I had missed this species.  At about 5:30 as I was heading out of the Shreveport Yacht Club on the south side of Cross Lake, I spotted what appeared to be a distant frigatebird over the north end of lake.  I gave chase but the bird disappeared as I approached, and I thought it was the bird that got away.  About an hour or so later I found it perched in a cypress tree on the far west end of the lake, as I was going for my usual cormorant count.  Some times mundane tasks turn out to be more exciting than they are billed.  I took numerous photos some of which I've put on my site.  There are a couple of photos of the lingering immature Brown Pelican as well.

My photo site is http://gallery.me.com/charleslyon  I've also got some Sooty Tern photos up as well.

Cross Lake 9-20-08 partial list only

BROWN PELICAN 1 immature still lingering and it moves all over the lake.  I also found it Monday 9-15-08 on the west end, and today it was at mid lake on the north end on a pier in the back yard of a urology friend of mine who also has White-winged Scoter on his yard list.
MAGNIFICENT FRIGATEBIRD 1 adult female.   It first appeared from the north at about 5:30pm and I wonder how far it had been blown inland to just now be arriving in Shreveport, LA one week post Hurricane Ike.  It will be spending the night on the west end of Cross Lake, but who knows after that.  We have a baseball game tomorrow afternoon so I don't think I'll be able to get out tomorrow.  I will try to get out Monday evening after work around 5:30 pm, so any of the locals are welcome to call me and you can join me on the boat if you wish.
Double-crested Cormorant 85 only slight increase
Anhinga 1 female
Snowy Egret 11 good numbers still
Cattle Egret 15 almost all gone from Buzzard Island
Osprey 2 I had 4 on Monday 9-15-08, was is my max number for migrants on Cross Lake.
American Coot 2 pioneers
LAUGHING GULL 2 both juveniles.  They both came in at sunset from the direction of the Red River, and perhaps they are lingerers that feed on the river and roost on Cross Lake.  I did have one juvenile Laughing Gull on
Cross Lake Monday 9-15-08.
Caspian Tern 3 more likely migrants from the north and not misdirected hurricane strays
Forster's Tern 1 came in with the Caspian Terns
Black Tern 12
Tree Swallow 7 migrants
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 18 migrants from the north
Cliff Swallow 2 ditto
Barn Swallow 45 ditto.  These numbers of swallow on Cross Lake this time of year are suggestive of a large scale swallow movement.

Every day is a new day on the lake, and no day is ever the same.

Charlie Lyon 
Shreveport, LA

Charlie Lyon

LA-birders,

I managed to do a 45 minute boat run on Cross Lake from 6:45pm until 7:30pm on Monday 9-15-08 and noted:

BROWN PELICAN 1 immature (continuing presence of yesterday's bird)
White Pelican 76 (another two species pelican day)
LAUGHING GULL 1 immature
Black Tern 35

Not much else.

It will be interesting to see how much longer coastal hurricane strays persist.

Charlie Lyon 
Shreveport, LA

Hubert Hervey

 BSG Members,

A few minutes ago, 10:45 AM, Monday 15 Sep I had 63 Broad-winged Hawks, way high streaming SW on strong northerly winds, binocular only birds.  This is a hawk moving day!

Yesterday, Sunday at Lock & Dam 4, in Red River Parish, Pat and I had 1 adult Magnificent Frigate birds heading back south, 10 Black Terns feeding, 1 Bald Eagle going south, 1 Royal Tern going south, 1 Caspian Tern staying, and the two ( or more) regular Purple Gallinules on the way in.

Fun stuff, back to hawkwatching, sorry I couldn't save them until Saturday.

Hubert

Paul Dickson

Ike sightings of coastal species from the Red River and extreme south Caddo Parish:

Saturday, September 15: Sooty Tern 2, Royal Tern 1 imm., Mag. Frigatebird 1 imm.

Sunday: Mottled Duck (first Parish and area record)

Paul Dickson

Charlie Lyon

LA-birders,

I made in out in the boat this evening 5:40pm until 7:40 pm for a Cross Lake bird survey, and although no mega rarities were noted, a few birds of interest showed up.  This morning's Laughing Gulls had departed, but I did have a mini fallout of terns, White Pelicans, and Cattle Egrets.

American White Pelican 92 This cold front will open the dam for a number of migrants.
BROWN PELCAN 1 immature My first ever two pelican species day for NW LA
Double-crested Cormorant 52 early numbers slowly building
Snowy Egret 12 big pull out
Little Blue Heron 5 ditto
Tricolored Heron 1
Cattle Egret 1200 1000+ were high flying migrants coming from the north
Osprey 2
American Coot 2 pioneers
Spotted Sandpiper 2
COMMON TERN 7 basic, alternate, transitional, and immature plumages.  I'll post photos to my site later.  These fell out of the sky, fed for about 15 minutes, circled and drafted upwards and left.  This is a typical pattern for tern and gull migrants over bodies of water. 
Forster's Tern 17
Black Tern 110
Chimney Swift 4
N. Rough-winged Swallow 6 northern migrants
Barn Swallow 4 ditto
Still no Sabine's Gulls. They seem to be showing up in all ARK-LA-TEX bodies of water except Cross Lake.  It was a beautiful day to be out on the lake.

Charlie Lyon
Shreveport, LA

Charlie Lyon

LA-birders,

From the deck on my house in south Shreveport, 8 SOOTY TERNS in a compact flock heading westward at 6:30 pm yesterday 9-13-08 as the remnants of Ike's eye was to our west in east Texas.

From the pier of the Shreveport Yacht Club on the south side of Cross Lake this am from 9am until 10:15 am today 9-14-08 ( No electricity at the yacht club so I couldn't get my boat out):

150 Blue-winged Teal
2 LAUGHING GULLS (one adult, one immature)
1 Black Tern
5 Forster's Terns
2 Bald Eagles (adults with one fishing in front of me)
21 WHITE-FACED IBIS (moving south with the winds shifting more northerly)
Cross Lake high count
6 Cliff Swallows
1 Tree Swallow 
14 Barn Swallows
20 Chimney Swifts
Other usual things
NO frigates, NO Sabine's Gulls Charles Mills has already had a number of Sabine's Gulls including three in one day on Lake Millwood in SW Arkansas, so I'm surprised at least one hasn't showed up yet.

I'll try again this evening either from the pier or on the boat if we get the power back on.

Charlie Lyon
Shreveport, LA

Rosemary Seidler

No electricity but I finally got to a computer.

I was at the Stoner Boar Launch yesterday for about 4 hours from about 11 to 3. Not much activity but interesting.

1 Magnificent Frigatebird (juvenal) high and gliding north.
1 Willet (late according to BSG records) headed north
27 Black Vultures flying south!
48 Common Nighthawks
30+ Chimney Swifts

Rosemary Seidler
Shreveport, LA

Paul Dickson

I watched two Sooty Terns drift NNE ahead and northeast of Ike this morning at 8:00 AM at Pinola in northern Red River Parish.  They were 200' AGL and drifting with the southerly winds.  This sighting is the first time I have seen how these storm waifs get up here.  I have always wondered if they are in the eye, in the tempest or off the edge fleeing the stronger winds and rain.  In this case they were off the edge and were being pushed ahead the storm.  Conditions in the airspace were not harsh, no rain, just clouds and wind SSW at the surface at about 10-20 mph and gusty.  Winds above the surface appeared to be considerably stronger and more steady.  These Sooty Terns appeared to be drifting in winds that were of greater speed than the surface winds and were not fighting the prevailing wind.  They were just allowing themselves to be pushed inland.

Paul Dickson

Velda Neilson

Hello, again!

PS  Also found at L&D 4 was 2 pieces of pink flagging.

Thanks, Hubert!

Velda

Velda Neilson

Hello, all!

No skimmers this morning at L&D 4 that we could find.

Did see to speak of:
4 Wood Ducks - 2 in eclipse plumage.
2 Blue-winged Teal
2 Baltimore Oriole
12 Caspian Terns
60 E. Kingbirds
3 coots
2 moorhens
1 Pied-billed
5 DC Corm.
100 Common Grackles
1 chickadee 
lots of Great, Snowys, and Cattle Egret and a few Great Blues.

North on LA 1 also saw 15 Scissor-tails!

Have fun and God bless,
Velda

Hubert Hervey

BSG Members,

Pat and I had two Black Skimmers at Lock and Dam 4 in Red River Parish today Sep 3, 2008.  The entrance to L & D 4 is between Armistead and Powhatan.  We found them at 9:30 AM.  They were joined by as many as 10 Caspian Terns, 6 Forsters Terns, and 1 Black Tern.  I tried to get pics but the distance precludes anything very special, as the birds were all in a group in very shallow water next to the channel.  I tied some pink surveyors tape to the guard rail to mark the exact spot.

It would not surprise me if they are still there in the morning, as we saw them as late as 2 PM.  They were feeding in characteristic skimmer fashion, skimming the Red River waters in the shallow waters near the channel.  There is a 4 pronged snag marking the proper pool, the third pool from the south end as you are driving along the sweeping curve heading south.

I needed better optics to rule out all of the possibility of Royal Tern mixed with the Caspians, but I saw nothing to make me think Royal.  Also there were two Double-crested Cormorants in the same location, I looked for Neotropic but don't think they were.  There seemed to be a continuing influx of birds interested in that exact location and anything coastal could be present in the morning, but if the weather is nice as is predicted they might move on out.

Hubert

Paul Dickson

BSG: Hubert just called me and reported that he has found two black skimmers at Lock & Dam #4.  They are near the road and can be easily viewed.  Hubert says that they are skimming and seem to be satisfied enough to stay put awhile.  This is the first record for Black Skimmer in this area as this species is hardly ever seen away from the coast.  Clearly these are storm displaced birds.  He says to look for them from the entrance road to the lock at the end of the second dike near the main river channel.  They were sitting on debris with Caspian and Forster’s Terns.

Paul

Paul Dickson

Labird: I got a frustratingly insufficient long distance view of either a Sooty or Bridled Tern on Red River at Bishop Point this morning.  It was just too far off and the lighting too poor to differentiate the two species for sure.  I suspect it was a Sooty.  I needed to be in a boat but had to take this quick look and then go to work instead.  Hubert Hervey is going out on the Red River all day today so hopefully he will turn up more storm vagrants.  I found three Laughing Gulls yesterday, at Lock & Dam #5 which may not be storm related but they are rare up here none the less.

Paul Dickson
Caddo Parish

Hubert Hervey

BSG Members,

10 Roseate Spoonbills 2 miles north of Bishop Point in Pool 5.  51 adult least terns with 25 fledged juveniles 3 miles north of BP.  That is a pretty good ration adult//juv.  10 Black Terns, Forsters Tern, Stilt SP, White Pelican numbers increasing, 5 Blue-winged Teal, 6 Tri-colored Herons.   The least terns were gathering from nesting areas to the north, and just taking advantage of the great fish hatch present.  No least terns were left at Boyce Island.  This survey made with Michael Seymour of recent Jabiru fame.

Hubert

Hubert Hervey

BSG Members,

I just had 3 Wood Storks on a tiny pond behind the pecan orchard here on the farm at Stonewall.  They would be gone before anyone could get here tonight, but they might return tomorrow evening.  They flew in about six and were still feeding at 6:45, with 2 Little Blues, 1 Great Blue, ! Snowy and 1 Great Egret.

Hubert

James Ingold

I just got off the phone with a farmer that saw two kites this morning just north of Clark’s Marina between 71 and the levee.

Jim

Hubert Hervey

BS G Members,

If I wanted to go birding this weekend I would look real close at ways to get on the Red River.  Any part of it could prove productive, but Pool 5, 1 to 2 miles north of Bishop Point could certainly be a target.

I covered 100 miles of Arkansas' portion of Red River, from Index into La last week.  The least terns had a great year up there with a count of 234 adults, raising 94 fledged juveniles.  We had about 20 still incubating eggs on July 24th, which is a little bit late.  The islands are in good condition, with lots of sand and very little vegetation, thanks to late spring high water levels.  Best birds seen other than terns were 9 Red Knots, and a Semipalmated-Plover.  The migrating shorebirds seem to have a near daily turnover in numbers as they work their way toward the coast.  Last week it was Marbled Godwits, Piping Plover, LB Dowitchers, Willet and 4 sp of peeps, this week lots of peeps, and I know every day I'm not on the river I am missing some exciting species of bird.

Hubert

Hubert Hervey

BSG Members,

Last weekend 20 Purple Martins and Cliff Swallows, and 1 Least Tern were shot at Cash Point Sandbar/ Island by someone using a 16 gauge shotgun.  If you remember a report from about 3 years ago a similar number of the first two species were shot just two miles south at Cattle Island.  These locations are on opposite sides of the river.  Access to the areas was by large 4 wheelers.  USACE personnel turned both incidents over to local LDW&F enforcement agents, met with the Lieutenant personally Tuesday morning and we are assured that it will be investigated by people who are not afraid to make cases against game law breakers.  The fact that an endangered species was involved may add impetus to this investigation.  Both times the shooting was just shortly after July 4 and on a week-end.  Sad to report this to you.

The Least Tern season is starting to wind down and they seem to have done well in some locations and not so well in others.

Hubert

Hubert Hervey

BSG Members,

We don't often bird the sewage treatment plant but sometimes it is worth the effort, like during shorebird migration, which is well underway.  Certainly it is not Bishop Point and Pool 5, but it is more aromatic.  I had two Spotted Sandpipers (none seen on two days on the river) and a semipalmated plover there this morning, Friday.  I drove up to the closed gate CLOSE spoke into a box, got no answer, but the gate opened.  The lady at the Admin Office thought I was teasing when I asked permission to bird, but if enough of you will bird there, maybe she will realize there is more to life than treating everything that Shreveport sends that way.

Hubert

Hubert Hervey

BSG Members,

I took LDWF and USFWS ornithologist and endangered species expert on the Red River with me Tuesday and Wednesday surveying Least Tern colonies.  We started at Spring Bank Ferry near Doddridge Arkansas and ended at Bishop Point, covering over 80 miles of river.  We counted 122 adult least terns, 6 fledged LT's and 15 chicks.  Trip total was 143 terns, plus another 23 eggs.  The largest colony was in Arkansas about 1 mile north of La border at Palmer Lake Revetment.  Here were 34 adults, 2 fledged, and 14 juveniles mostly 10 to 18 days old.

I witnessed an interesting "attack" by a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher on a Least Tern chick about a week old.  The Flycatcher darted from a nearby perch and hit the chick, sending it tumbling in the sand.  This was immediately followed by one of the parent terns hitting the flycatcher and chasing it away.  This island had 34 adults yet appears will fledge only 16 young.  This is approximately 1 bird per pair, which is better than average.

At another colony I saw a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher fly up from its perch and attack an adult Least Tern that was carrying a small fish in its bill.  The tern was under sufficient duress to drop the fish.  The flycatcher was not interested in the fish, nor was it protecting its own young or territory, it was just mean hearted, kind of like a Jaeger.

We had 3 Bald Eagles scattered along 25 miles of river in Louisiana north of Shreveport, 2 adults and 1 younger bird. They were not together.

I learn something every day on the Red River even after the temperature reaches 95 degrees.

Hubert 

Hubert Hervey

 BSG Members,

About a mile north of Bishop Point in the Shaw Lake Area we found 1 Marbled Godwit, 1 Piping Plover, 12 Semipalmated Sandpipers, 7 Least Sandpipers, 1 Western Sandpiper, 7 Greater Yellowlegs, and 1 Black Necked Stilt, along with all the other species to be expected in the Summer in Pool 5.  LDWF's Beau Gregory, USFWS's Ben Thatcher, and Hubert Hervey were completing the run from Cash Point thru Pool 5 doing Least Tern Survey Wednesday, 9 July 08 and observed the above listed birds plus, the Least Tern colony there which has dwindled to 14 adults which fledged 4 young at the most improbable location in Pool 5, mere inches above the water level.  Many Black-necked Stilts attempted to nest in the same area, but the rise in late June took out all of their nests.

I will go into detail about totals and interesting observations in an email to follow shortly.

Hubert 

Paul Dickson

BSG: After some study I am now sure that I saw a dark phase Short-tailed Hawk, probably adult or second summer, at my farm on Leonard Road on Sunday.  I have not seen it since.  I encourage a search for this bird which would be a first state record if we get physical evidence since it is not on the LRBC review list.  Physical evidence is a video, still photo or specimen.  Try La. 1 and adjoining roads from the south edge of Shreveport to Yearwood Rd.  Short-tailed Hawks perch in leafy tree canopies, not on wires or bare limbs.  They hunt the edge of woodland and fields and tree rows in fields.  Along La.1 that means trees such as large Pecans in pastures and farm fields.  We have good habitat for this species and it is expanding its range in Texas.  They soar frequently and at high altitude, often with vultures.  A characteristic behavior is kiting, often very high up.  If you see a Buteo kiting it can only be this bird or a Red-tailed which is larger and kite only close to the ground.  If you see a hawk kiting more than 150’ above the ground it is probably this bird.  This bird is all black except the undersurface of the primaries and secondaries and tail which appear silvery-gray as they are vermiculated black and white.  The tail is banded.

Paul

Paul Dickson

BSG: I got a brief but close look at a dark phase hawk just a few moments ago at my farm on Leonard Rd.  I cannot determine species based on what I saw but I can narrow it down to dark forms of Rough-leg (highly unlikely by season), Broad-winged (dark form nests only in Alberta so again, too early and out of range), or Short-tailed.  I suspect Short-tailed but again I just didn't see it for long enough and did not have my binoculars with me.  I am headed back out now to look for it.  Feel free to come onto my property, the gate will be open.  Alternately, since I am searching there, I would travel Hwy.1 and Robson Rd. as well.  If I get it pegged down, I will send another e-mail.  Hawks, are however, rarely in one spot for very long.

Paul

Velda Neilson

Hello, all!

Kept pondering the Miss. Kites at Bickham Dickson.  Seemed so strange a sighting.  Even tried to make them into another species but nothing fit except the Miss. Kites - and this fit perfectly!.  So, finally I thought to read all the info in Geographic concerning this species. ---DUH!

It says "Miss. Kites are gregarious, often nesting in loose colonies.  Found in open woodlands and swamps..."
I learned something today!

Also, we are once again the host of nesting Barn Swallows on the front porch!  I don't know if this is the first or second clutch this summer for this pair.  The Carolina Wrens raised 2 babies in their straw nest atop the swallow nest early this year.  The swallows checked out the nest back in ? late May but it didn't suit them.  Still, too much loose straw, I suppose.  But, they are there now and Jill seems to be getting the nest all tidy!  I thought this would be the first summer since 2001 that we have not raised baby Barn Swallows!  But we really do enjoy them!  Tis so good to have Jack 2nd and Jill 3rd back home!

May God bless!
Velda

Velda Neilson

Hello, all!

Thanks for all the postings concerning ducks at Bickson Dickson Park.

Went there yesterday, Thursday, at 10:45. The 2 BBW Ducks were way back to the right of the boat launch near the far end shoreline.  They were in the corner to the right of the concrete ? pier, eventually flying out of sight into the bottom, right corner of the inlet.

The Ruddy Duck was still near the pavilion across the circle from the launch. Also there was a Tricolored Heron and a Little Blue.  A Green-backed Heron flew over.

Inside the circle was 5 Yellow-crowned Night Herons, several Killdeer, another Little Blue, Snowy Egrets and several Great Egrets throughout the park.

On the far end of the circle and across the road we found a female Mallard and 8 ducklings!  So cute!  Residents, likely.  Also 3 E. Kingbirds.

On the side of the river where the launch is located were 20 Purple Martins hanging out in the dead trees.  Are they swarming already for migration?  Or may they have nested inside these dead tree cavities?  I suppose that's what they did before man started building them houses so I suppose they still may!

Driving past the launch with the launch on the right, we found a male Mallard - likely one of the locals but still pretty!

We also saw an Imm. Yellow-crown in the right turn after the boat launch.  He was stalking from 2 parallel ? train ties/fence post floating in the water.  His plumage was more advanced than any immature I've ever seen.  His back was already turning gray and his yellow crown was developing.  Was this bird more likely to be one of last year's immatures just coming into adult plumage?  I don't recall having seen this advanced plumage stage ever. However, most of my immature YCNH were seen on migration birding trips.  So if that was spring migration trips, then I suppose this plumage would be just on time!

The most interesting thing the Lord blessed us with was 7 Mississippi Kites!  Yes, 7!  After the boat launch on the right, then the slight right turn, is a sharp left turn where the water edges the grove of Tallow Trees and such on the right side of the road.  We were watching and had ID'd one Miss. Kite when suddenly more began to show up!  Wow!  4, then 5, then 7!  they were about 80 foot out from the road and were landing in the edges of the water. They were just sitting there, some raising their wings, some taking off and circling back.  No real bathing.  I couldn't tell they were feeding.  They just seemed to be sitting there - like cows standing in a cool pond.  So, I thought they may be just cooling off!  All appeared to have adult plumages as they sat.  In flight, they also appeared in adult plumage from above.  However, there was 1 bird for sure that had quite a bit of brown seemingly in its tail from underneath yet the tail was not barred.  Too many for one brood I would think.  Any one have any thoughts?  I would have thought they would be territorial this time of year.  Do they migrate in groups of immatures?  Hummmmmm.

Yoohoo!  Birds!  So much fun and full of surprises!

May God bless!
Velda

Hubert Hervey

BSG Members,

I made a trip from the Hy2 Bridge N to Ark, and then S to Glycerine revetment Wednesday, 18 June 08.  The only large colony was at Palmer Lake which is astraddle of the state line, with 32 terns and 6 nests.  Other colonies were at Missionary Rev, and Cavett Rev.  52 Least Terns total for the day.  The islands are all washed clean of vegetation, but those south of the bridge have lost a foot or two in elevation.  The river is now up 6 feet above the level when we ran the survey on the 9th, making access easier, but threatening some areas.  The main area threatened is the Pool five colony where four nests were located Tuesday.  This area had less than six inches nest elevation and Pool 5 at Shreveport is expected to peak tomorrow at a level that I expect will take out than entire area.  40 least terns, and one black tern were still present near Bishop Point as of Tuesday.  Also several Black-necked Stilts are nesting in the same area.

Change of Subject; I just visited with a friend who killed 5 rat snakes over a two day period in his purple martin houses.  He has the poles protected with baffles but the cable to raise and lower the houses was just like an escalator for the snakes.  He had installed a product sold at Wal-Mart called bird wire in a loose skirt shape above the baffles.  The snakes cannot elude the bird wire (so named because it is used to protect fruit trees from birds), get tangled in the webbing and either die or are dispatched to snake heaven.  I hope this info is useful to those of you that have noticed a decline in your Purple Martin colony population.

Hubert

Ellen Middleton

I cruised through the park this evening in hopes of seeing the whistling ducks.  No luck there.  I did have nice looks at a preening anhinga, a redheaded woodpecker, and a beautiful common moorhen.  Maybe better luck tomorrow.

Ellen Middleton

Paul Dickson

Rosemary:

No I didn't introduce them!  BBWD has been slowly but steadily expanding breeding range in the Red River Valley for 30 years.  SW Arkansas/SE OK rice fields has a sizable population of several thousand pairs.  Pairs have been in our area for at least 6 or 7 years but mostly on private duck ponds/rice fields.  I saw a pair on the RRNWR Yates tract rice fields two years before we bought it.  Educated guessers say that they came up through central Texas to Oklahoma in 70's "Rio Grande invasion" years that also brought WWDO and Inca Dove and that this population established in SW Arkansas along the Red.  That could be the source of our recent pioneers or ours could be coming from SW LA.  I tend towards the TX-OK-AR theory.  The Arkansas BBWD do migrate up and down our part of the Red in spring and fall as I have seen such migrant flocks on several occasions in South Caddo and Red River Parishes.  A free flying captive population kept near Grand Cane, LA in the 70's and early 80's did not establish in the wild.

Paul

Rosemary Seidler

Paul,

Are the BBWD on your property at Pinola wild or did you introduce them?
Could the Bickham-Dickson birds be some of "your" birds?

Rosemary

Linda Adrion

Tuesday, 17 June 2008 Seen by Shirley Huss, Pat Lonnecker and Linda Adrion a pair of Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks at C. Bickham Dickson Park in Shreveport

Hubert Hervey

BSG Members,

I surveyed the Boyce Island Least Tern Colony today.  We counted 18 Least Terns, 6 nests and 16 eggs.

Our three day totals are:  148 Least Terns with 22 nests and 61 eggs. 

From this it is easy to see that many terns have not yet started to nest, but the date is still early.  The ones that are nesting are in top physical shape as the ratio of eggs to nests is close to the top limit 3.  This is only a partial survey of 105 miles of the 270 mile length of river in Louisiana.  I don't expect to survey the 100 miles below Alexandria, but hope to survey all above Shreveport three times and Arkansas from Index to Louisiana once, in a couple of weeks.  My next survey with the USACE is scheduled for the second week in July.

Hubert

Hubert Hervey

BSG Members,

I went with USACE and LDW&F personell from Cash Point upriver 12 miles then downriver to Teague Launch in Bossier City Monday, 9 Jun 08.  The Cat Island area has several beautiful sandy islands and terns are nesting in decent numbers just two miles north of the launch and about a mile south of the launch.

We counted 54 adult least terns nesting or starting to nest on three islands, 11 nests with 31 eggs.  The river at Fulton gauge reading is 0, which is a little low for taking a boat upriver to the Cat Island area, but with river skill it can still be done.  At ten miles upriver from launch we saw an immature (just fledged) Bald Eagle, and on the return trip an adult had joined the young one in a huge dead tree.  Also had one Broad-winged Hawk. 

Tomorrow we survey part of Pool 5, all of Pool 4 and most of Pool 3 to St. Maurice.  We had an LDW&F biologist with us collecting plants.  He collected several uncommon species of plants: I remember a sedge, and an environmental indicator red stem pig-weed. and loco plant.  Maybe it has had an effect unbeknownst here-to-fore on some riverine birders.

Hubert.

Jerry Bertrand

Hi, all,

The webguy got this today and I thought I'd post it here in case any of you want to go look at the pictures she posted or make any additional comments.

Jerry Bertrand

From: Basham, Cathy [mailto:cbasham(at)ktbs(dot)com] 
Subject:  Nesting Night Herons

I found your email by looking on birding websites in LA.  I wanted to see if you would answer some questions for me… My niece lives in Spring Lake.  I went over to her house Sunday morning to look at some nests that she has in trees surrounding her property.  Much to my surprise, she has four nests containing 3- 4 baby yellow crowned night herons each.  They range in age from very young and fluffy to adolescents who are learning how to fly.  I just wanted to ask, how unusual is it for that type of bird to nest in an urban area and do they usually all nest in one place?  Why would there be 4 nests so close together?  And where are the mom and pop herons going get shellfish to feed their young?  Or do they feed them just fish?

I took a few pictures of the birds and you can see them on my Webshots album.  They are about 75 ft up in the trees around her house.
My Webshots Album Link
Here is the address if the link above doesn't work.  http://pets.webshots.com/album/563745290iyXKqC

Also, I was thinking about coming to your meeting tonight.  Which building is the Life Sciences building on the LSUS campus?

Thanks,
Cathy Basham

(My reply to her)

Cathy,

We find nesting Yellow-crowned Night Herons in Broadmoor Terrace (only a couple of miles east from Spring Lake) most every year. We usually find them nesting within a few houses of each other. Sometimes 2 nests in the same tree and sometimes 3 or 4 nests within the same block. That doesn’t sound too unusual to me. Mom and pop herons are regurgitating anything they eat for the young. It usually includes small fish and lots of crawfish. In Spring Lake, that would include the small lakes there and Bayou Pierre.

I hope you made the meeting.  It is usually very interesting.  In case you missed it, tonight  Clyde Massey was showing slides and telling of his trip to Panama.  I apologize for the late answer as I was working late and didn’t make it to the meeting myself.  If you didn’t make it to the meeting tonight, the next one is in September. If you need more info, e-mail me again.

There is a map on the LSUS campus on our Locate Us page of the website.
http://www.birdstudygroup.org/bsghq.html

Jerry Bertrand (bsgwebguy)

Bill Wood

To all,

Not sure of the end results but the nest of the Lark Sparrows was empty when I checked this past Saturday, May 24.  The female was on the nest on Friday, May 23.  It appeared the female was sitting higher on the nest around May 12th so I assumed the eggs had hatched.  On May 14 we got over 11 inches of rain but I checked the nest the next day and the female was still on the nest.  On Saturday, May 24 the nest didn't looked disturbed and I'm guessing the chicks were in the nest for at 10 days.  Not sure if that was enough time for them to fledge.

The Barn Swallows on the back overhang are feeding chicks.  Not sure how many as it is too high up to see but when the chicks are being fed you can see a few heads stick up.

My brother's Eastern Phoebe have laid the eggs of their second brood with the first two eggs laid on May 19, two more by the 21st and a fifth on the 22nd.

As Always, Good Birding!

Bill Wood 
Keithville, LA 
labirder08(at)bellsouth(dot)net

Bill Wood 

To all,

This evening while at work and listening to a Chuck-wills-widow calling, I heard and saw a single goose fly over.  What is a goose doing here?

It appears the eggs have hatched on the Lark Sparrow nest as the female is sitting much higher on the nest.  Hadn't tried to look inside yet.  How it managed to survive the down pour that we had the last few days is beyond me.

Barn swallow around back is constantly sitting on the nest as well.  Much smarter than the Lark Sparrow as their nest stayed high and dry under the eaves of the patios.

As Always, Good Birding!

Bill Wood 
Keithville, LA 
labirder08(at)bellsouth(dot)net

Jeff Trahan

Bickham Dickson Park is closed again to vehicles because of the rising water from the recent rains.  I did walk in all the way to the boat launch this morning (Thursday).  The Lesser Yellowlegs and most of the Least Sandpipers that were there Saturday are now gone.  However, I did see six Willet, a Bald Eagle, an Orchard Oriole, and two Black-necked Stilts.  You can find the entire list and a photo of five of the Willet below.

Jeff Trahan

3 Wood Duck
16 Mallard
5 Blue-winged Teal
1 Anhinga
3 Great Egret
5 Snowy Egret
1 Tricolored Heron
5 Cattle Egret
5 Green Heron
3 Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
1 Bald Eagle
2 Black-necked Stilt
6 Willet
15 Spotted Sandpiper
8 Least Sandpiper
1 Mourning Dove
1 Yellow-billed Cuckoo
5 Red-headed Woodpecker
3 Red-bellied Woodpecker
1 Pileated Woodpecker
1 Eastern Wood-Pewee
2 White-eyed Vireo
4 Fish Crow
8 Purple Martin
1 Carolina Chickadee
1 Tufted Titmouse
1 Carolina Wren
3 Eastern Bluebird
2 Northern Mockingbird
6 European Starling
1 Common Yellowthroat
5 Northern Cardinal
8 Common Grackle
1 Orchard Oriole
12 House Sparrow

Jay Huner

My wife wanted to go to the court house in Arcadia to "look for relatives" so I birded around the court house.  We then went looking for Mount Driskill.  We found the entrance but it was late, my wife was wearing shoes unsuitable for walking any distance, and there was a "no trespassing" sign at the gate which seemed to be related to a communication tower at the site but it sure wasn't clear what was posted!  So, that will be another trip!

At the Driskill site, I heard an Alder Flycatcher calling and found at least two Prairie Warblers in "proper" cut over, replanted pine "woods".  The roadrunner was running across the road between the LA 797 x LA 507 intersection and the LA 797 and LA 147 intersection.

I found several fledgling robins at the Arcadia court house.

IF THIS PART OF BIENVILLE PARISH IS IN THE SBSG REPORTING AREA, COULD SOMEONE SEND THIS REPORT TO THE PROPER LOCATION FOR RECORDING THE DATA?

Jay Huner
Location: Bienville Parish, LA, US
Observation date: 5/13/08
Notes: Birding along LA 147 to Arcadia, birding around courthouse complex in Arcadia, and birding along LA 797 & 507 to "Mount Driskill".
Number of species: 40

Green Heron 2
Black Vulture 1
Turkey Vulture 4
Mississippi Kite 1
Killdeer 1
Eurasian Collared-Dove 6
Mourning Dove 7
Inca Dove 1
Greater Roadrunner 1
Chimney Swift 15
Red-headed Woodpecker 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 4
Northern Flicker 1
Alder Flycatcher 1
Great Crested Flycatcher 3
White-eyed Vireo 2
Blue Jay 25
American Crow 4
Fish Crow 4
Purple Martin 3
Barn Swallow 20
Carolina Chickadee 1
Tufted Titmouse 4
Carolina Wren 5
Eastern Bluebird 12
American Robin 9
Gray Catbird 1
Northern Mockingbird 30
Brown Thrasher 12
European Starling 8
Pine Warbler 1
Prairie Warbler 2
Common Yellowthroat 2
Yellow-breasted Chat 1
Summer Tanager 1
Northern Cardinal 15
Indigo Bunting 1
Common Grackle 1
Orchard Oriole 6
House Sparrow 1
This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)

Amanda (Crnkovic) Lewis

The Cassin’s sparrow is still present at the same location at 8:15 this morning.

It fed in the road and then perched and sang from the fence.

Amanda (Crnkovic) Lewis

Assistant to the Director
Red River Watershed Management Institute
Louisiana State University in Shreveport
One University Place
Shreveport, LA 71115
(318) 797-5215

Charlie Lyon

LA-birders,

I was in SE Arizona this weekend where I was lucky enough to see the Tufted Flycatcher.  This area is also part of the normal range of Cassin's Sparrow, so I was quite surprised to find that Terry had found a singing male in Bossier Parish during my brief absence.  He's been talking about finding one up here for the last couple of years, so maybe I shouldn't be that surprised after all.

I took an hour lunch break today, and got some video of the bird singing, as well as a series of photos.  I've posted four on my website at:

http://gallery.mac.com/charleslyon

 Go to My Gallery and double click on the images to enlarge them.  I'm not sure I can get my video on the net, but I've got video of the bird singing as well.

Thanks again, Terry...how about a Cassin's kingbird for an encore?

Charlie Lyon
Shreveport, LA

Bill Wood

To all,

There are quite a few shorebirds at Bickham Dickson Park.  Those observed around noon included Pectoral and Stilt Sandpipers.  Also had a pair of Blue-winged Teal and a flyover Anhinga.

The road is littered with limbs but is passable.

As Always, Good Birding!

Bill Wood
Keithville, LA
labirder08(at)bellsouth(dot)net

Bill Wood

To all,

Thanks to Terry Davis' keen, almost bionic, hearing ability in locating a singing Cassin's Sparrow I was able to see a life bird this morning.  I drove to the Viking Drive location in Bossier City and found Terry, Jim Ingold and Roger Breedlove.  I knew I was in the right spot.  On several occasion the bird was heard, but not by me as my ability to hear high frequency sounds is almost zero.  After a bit of a wait the bird was kind enough to perch on some tall grass that afford great looks with a scope.  We also observed the bird's "skylarking" behavior.

Nice way to start the day. Thanks Terry!

As Always, Good Birding!

Bill Wood
Keithville, LA 
labirder08(at)bellsouth(dot)net

Bill Wood

To all,

Yesterday I found a nest with four eggs in it.  The nest is located about 7 feet up in recently planted small live oak tree.  The 10 foot live oak is planted in the sidewalk in front of the Village Market Cafe that I manage and located in south Shreveport.

The bird was on the nest yesterday but all I could see was the tail sticking out.  The bird finally flew from the nest and I could see a good deal of white in the outer tail feathers.  My first though was Vesper Sparrow but I didn't think they nested here.  I needed to get a better look and try for some pics.  Of course I had left my bins and camera at the house.

Today the bird was on the nest and based on the white in the outer tail feathers and what little of the face I could see I thought it might be a Lark Sparrow.  If my memory serves me correctly they are rare breeders in North Louisiana.  As I was taking pics of the nest the bird flew to the parking lots and began to flutter its wing.  I got a few pics of the 4 eggs and one pic of the Lark Sparrow in the parking lot.  Not a great pic but enough to see the distinctive facial marks.  From the parking lot it flew to another live oak and was joined by another Lark Sparrow. Not a Cassin by any means but a really odd place for a nesting Lark Sparrow.

I'll post the pics tonight when I get home from work.

If anyone is interested in getting a look you can call me at work at 318-686-6200.  I'll be here until nine tonight.

BTW, I'm going to post this nest record to the LSU nest record database but does this also warrant a 3 x 5 card and if so can that be done online?

As Always, Good Birding!

Bill Wood 
Keithville, LA 
labirder08(at)bellsouth(dot)net

Paul  Dickson

Labird:

I met Terry Davis, Jim Ingold and Jeff Trahan near the end of Viking Drive just north of Bossier City to see the Cassin's Sparrow.  I was lucky as it gave its closest show of the afternoon just as I arrived.  I got good close HD video of it singing on a fence.  When I learn more about posting videos on the web I will get it somewhere that can be reached by a link.  Maybe tomorrow.  This bird is acting like it will stick around for a while, so without making any more rash statements like that, I at least encourage all you State listers to give it a shot and at least see NW La. on a good Sunday for grounded migrants.  We are supposed to have strong north winds and nice cool temps tomorrow which usually means good spring migrant watching even if this bird turns out to be a one day phenom.

Paul Dickson

Bill Wood 

To all,

I was able to get a few pics of the nesting Lark Sparrow at the Village Market Café that I work at.  They can be seen at:

http://www.pbase.com/labirder/lark_sparrow

One odd place for a Lark Sparrow to nest.  We also have two Barn Swallow nest under the covered walkways, on in the front and another in the back.

As Always, Good Birding!

Bill Wood 
Keithville, LA 
labirder08(at)bellsouth(dot)net

Clyde Massey

Hey there BSGers,

I met Terry Davis on Viking Drive this morning about 7:30am and we quickly found the Cassin's Sparrow.  The bird was cooperative and displayed several song flights as well as perching on the top of dock plants allowing several good scope views.  Hopefully, it will hang around for a while.

After getting my fill of the Cassin's Sparrow, I went to Cane's Landing to chase down the Willow Flycatchers that Terry told me about.  They were there also giving their "fitz-bew" call (heard two).  I got good scope views of one singing male.

Gee, I wonder what Terry will find next week?

On another note, the Cooper's Hawks have returned to the yard for the third year in a row, but have built a new nest.  The old nest appears to have been damaged by weather.  Also, three yellow-crowned night herons are nesting in my neighbor's front yard.

Good Birding!

Clyde

Paul Dickson

Labird:

Terry Davis has done it again by recognizing the song of Cassin's Sparrow while driving along at 20 mph.  The bird was found around 1:00PM today and has been seen and photographed by several area birders.  It is constantly displaying in characteristic song flight.  Location is Viking Drive west of Benton Road, in Bossier City just north of I-220.  Terry says its at the end of the road behind the gravel piles.  If I understand his description of the location correctly, the coordinates should be 32-33'-60"N 93-44'-7"W.

Paul Dickson

Bill Wood 

To all,

While at work today I had a sparrow fly from a nest in a small live oak tree.  The nest is only 6 feet or so up and the live oak isn't more than 10 feet.  Didn't have my binos but could see a lot of white in the outer tail feathers and is was a browish color.  I thought Vesper because of the white in the tail feathers but thought they were ground nesters.  Any ideas?

As Always, Good Birding! 

Bill Wood 
Keithville, LA 
labirder08(at)bellsouth(dot)net

James Ingold

I had 2 female YEHB at the sod farm this morning.  If you go to the pond, they were in the cattle paddock that has a single cow in it.

Jim

Jay Huner

Good Morning,

Thought you might be interested in what's going on down this way just south of the SBSG "recording" area.

For whatever it is worth, I had Scissor-tailed Flycatchers yesterday and this morning between here and Alexandria and a pair of Painted Buntings nearby.  This morning I had a White-winged Dove fly across the road going to Alexandria and a female Blackpoll Warbler in Compton Park in Alexandria near a mulberry tree being attacked by a number of Gray Catbirds and American Robins and being "defended" by a very harried mocker.

Jay Huner

Location: Cotile Lake - Rapides Parish, LA

 Observation date: 5/4/08

 Notes: Cotile Lake, LA 1200 to LA 121, Browns Creek Road x Camp Ground Cemetery Road, and Hoyt Road Causeway.  Did not properly census rookery - probably 500+ Cattle Egrets and 50+ Little Blue Herons at site. Big misses Hooded Warbler (wrong time of day) and Inca Dove (probably on nest).  Northern Parulas silent - probably on nests.  Big deals - Breeding White-breasted Nuthatch and passing Black-billed Cuckoo.

Number of species: 57

Wood Duck 2
Anhinga 12
Great Blue Heron 2
Great Egret 3
Snowy Egret 1
Little Blue Heron 1
Cattle Egret 125
Green Heron 4
Turkey Vulture 1
Purple Gallinule 7
Killdeer 1
Spotted Sandpiper 3
Eurasian Collared-Dove 6
Mourning Dove 12
Black-billed Cuckoo 1
Chimney Swift 10
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 6
Red-headed Woodpecker 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker 5
Downy Woodpecker 2
Northern Flicker 1
Pileated Woodpecker 3
Eastern Wood-Pewee 3
Great Crested Flycatcher 3
Eastern Kingbird 5
White-eyed Vireo 4
Blue Jay 15
American Crow 6
Fish Crow 3
Purple Martin 45
Tree Swallow 1
Cliff Swallow 1
Barn Swallow 20
Carolina Chickadee 3
Tufted Titmouse 8
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
Brown-headed Nuthatch 3
Carolina Wren 5
Eastern Bluebird 15
Northern Mockingbird 20
Brown Thrasher 2
European Starling 3
Yellow-rumped Warbler 1
Black-throated Green Warbler 1
Pine Warbler 4
Summer Tanager 5
Eastern Towhee 1
Chipping Sparrow 3
Northern Cardinal 15
Indigo Bunting 2
Red-winged Blackbird 2
Common Grackle 15
Brown-headed Cowbird 3
Orchard Oriole 6
House Finch 3
American Goldfinch 1
House Sparrow 2

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)

Bill Wood

To all,

Had four Rose-breasted Grosbeaks at the feeders this afternoon after seeing a single female yesterday.  A walk to the woods produced a pair of Carolina Wrens, two singing White-eyed Vireos and a small flock of Cedar Waxwings.  No attacks from the nesting Red-shouldered Hawks but could see two chicks on the nest.

As Always, Good Birding!

Bill Wood
Keithville, LA
labirder08(at)bellsouth(dot)net

Velda Neilson

Hello, all!

Just noticed 2 unusual birds in the backyard near the bird pond within a minute of each other.

First, a hybrid Baltimore-Bullock's Oriole.  Then a tailless YB Chat.  I mean, not one tail feather!

Still have 9 RB Grosbeaks today - 5 male, 4 females.  No sighting of the female Black-headed.

Lots of birds out there today!  Yoohoo!

And God bless,

Velda

Velda Neilson

Hello, all!

Well, leave it to a Kansasite in nw LA during spring migration to spot a female Black-headed Grosbeak!  Yoohoo!

Seriously, Nelda is from very sw KS and is very familiar with both Rose-breasteds and Black-headed Grosbeaks.  She has been visiting me for a week.  Last Sat. she spotted what she said was a female Black-headed.  I just sorta passed it off telling her we didn't have those here.  Finally Sunday I began to pay attention.  Surely enough from all I can tell, she is correct!

Nelda says up there the Rose-breasteds come, then the Black-headeds.  I'd had Rose-breasteds for 3 days already when this one appeared.  On Sunday a female of both species appeared at the same feeder and I could tell the difference . I've had 3 - 6 Rose-breasteds for 9 days now.  That's a record for me!

Lowery says though uncommon Black-headeds have been recorded from Mansfield, Natch., S'port and Monroe.

We saw the female Black-headed Sat., Sun., and last today, Thursday, at 1:30 pm.  Nelda left this morning.  Both shall be sorely missed.

While Nelda was here she recorded 33 species never leaving my yard or birding any farther than the windows or swings.

We are blessed!

Velda

James Ingold

I had 10 Bobolinks on Saturday on Huckabay Rd in north Caddo Parish.  Go north on 71 just past Gilliam, Huckabay Rd in on the left.  Just up ahead on the right is Thunder Road that goes to the raceway.

The birds were 0.35 miles down Huckabay from 71 along a fence on the left perpendicular to Huckabay Rd. 

Jim

Bill Wood

To all,

All five eggs from my brother's Eastern Phoebe nest hatched this past weekend. This will be the 9th (in five years) brood from this nest site for a total of 37 (first 8 broods) successfully fledged Eastern Phoebes.  In addition I found a Northern Cardinal nest in some hedges bordering his front porch that has 3 chicks in it.

A pair of Barn Swallows are building a nest in the over hang at the work.  Nest building started several days ago but it appears they spend most of their time chasing off other Barn Swallows.

Back at my place the Red-shouldered Hawk is still on the nest but I have been unable to see any fledglings yet.

All nest records have been entered into the LSU Nest Database.

As Always, Good Birding!

Bill Wood 
Keithville, LA 
labirder08(at)bellsouth(dot)net

Velda Neilson

Hello, all!

The weather and birds sure have been wonderful last week plus.  Thanks to all who send out bird info in the field and home. I enjoy them all!

Today in my yard I've had a couple male Baltimore Orioles feeding at the hummer feeder.  Several Indigoes and waxwings eating the mulberries.  Our tree is full of berries this year!  The catbird, Mourning Doves, and orioles all love the berries as well.  Had a chat feeding under the tree also.  Lots of cardinals.  Have lots of warblers but i can't find them.  Know there are Hooded around.  Saw a Common Yellowthroat in the woods and an Orchard Oriole.  Also had 3 Rose-breasteds this morning.  2 male and 1 female.  Hear the WE Vireoes and RE Vireoes.  Plus the Chuck-wills Widow.

I have few hummers this year but enjoying what there are.

Stepped out on the porch at 8 am to find 2 baby C Wrens who have just fledged!  They are still trying to find their wings.  Thank goodness my dog didn't find them!  These are the birds that took over the swallow nest on front porch.  Did see the swallow once more but never found a mate, I suppose.

Several pairs of martins singing beautifully!

All makes a wonderful world even more awesome!

May God keep blessing!
Velda

Hubert Hervey

BSG Members'

35 Swainson's Hawks counted 20 April 2008 in Caddo Parish.
Terry Davis and Hubert Hervey started at the sod farm on Sentell Road north of Shreveport and worked the river road and side roads trying for a big day on Swainson's Hawks.  By the time we got to Missionary Plantation we had counted 35 Swainson's Hawks.  I don't know the previous record but would speculate that this is one of the highest records for the state.  The hawks were in all modes, on the ground, foraging, gliding low over plowed fields, and soaring high.  The high flying birds were moving northward rapidly on the moderate south breeze.  Other birds seemed to be in no particular hurry to go anyplace.  The preferred habitat was freshly plowed fields, not yet planted.  They were seen in groups up to five at a time, but the larger groups held together only loosely.  With a little experience Swainson's separate easily from other area hawks, esp. Red-tailed Hawks, by their long winged shape, dark flight feathers, and long tail which it can twist while in flight, unlike the Red-tailed.  They were most active from 11 AM to 5 PM.

While concentrating on Swainson's Hawks we none-the-less started at daylight and ended after dark in a variety of habitats from Cross Lake to Wardview.  Our day total was 132 species, which is pretty decent for a two parish (Caddo and Bossier) big day.

Specific locations for Swainson's Hawk: Sod Farm on Sentell Rd. south of Belcher, Belcher River Rd, Dixon Rd, Cedar Bluff Rd, Hwy. 3049 at Hwy. 2, Hwy. 3049 at box # 16265 and Dominic # 2 Rd.

Also noteworthy at cattail ponds at Hwy. 3049 at Hwy. 2 were:

35 Sora, 
2 Virginia Rail, 
1 American Bittern, 
3 Least Bitterns
At the sod farm:
6 Grasshopper Sparrows
8 Spragues' Pipits
1 Am. White Pelican
Cross Lake at The Cove;
1 Osprey carrying a yellow bass (sand bass), good show
1 Golden- winged Warbler
Cross Lake below the dam off Blanchard Rd.
1 Bl. Cr. Night-heron in the very active rookery
Many Cliff Swallows starting a colony under I-220 Bridge
In Bossier Parish hill country south and east of Wardview
Swainson's Warbler
Worm-eating Warbler
Prairie Warbler

PS: The White-tailed Kite was not seen.

Hubert Hervey

Bill Wood

To all,

Last night at work I had a Chuck-wills-widow calling at dusk.  Also had another calling this evening at home.  About 6:30 p.m.  I looked outside to check the feeders and noticed a half dozen Indigo Buntings feeding below the feeders.  I had been seeing a dozen or so for the last few days.  Today, to my surprise and delight, within a couple of minutes I tallied 32 male Indigo Buntings.

As Always, Good Birding!

Bill Wood
Keithville, LA
labirder08(at)bellsouth(dot)net

Jerry Bertrand

Hey all,

John Dillon just called from Lake Claiborne saying that he thinks he has a Cassin's Vireo at Hwy 2 and Beaver Creek. If anyone wants to come and help him get a positive ID and/or a picture, his cell phone number is: 318-243-2284.

Jerry Bertrand

Ron and Susan Martin

Susan and I are watching a male rose-breasted grosbeak at our feeder at 7 pm.  Perhaps the same one seen by us on April 8?

Ron and Susan Martin

Sharon Felts

Birders:

I have a 2-3 yr old red mulberry if anyone is interested.  Also have several Kafir Lilies (Clivia miniata) for sale.  Not necessarily for the birds but beautiful (considered rare) plant.  Call me at 222-3467.

Sharon Felts

Bill Wood

To all,

The yard was filled with birds this morning including FOS Baltimore Oriole and Prothonotary Warbler.  Also had a dozen Indigo Buntings and even more American Goldfinches along with Northern Cardinals, Mourning Doves,  one Inca Dove (first in months), Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, Carolina Chickadee, Red-winged Blackbirds, House Finch and Northern Mockingbird.

Wish I didn't have to go to work!

As Always, Good Birding!

Bill Wood
Keithville, LA
labirder08(at)bellsouth(dot)net

Paul Dickson

This morning I was greeted by a Rose-breasted Grosbeak at my feeders along with 20 Indigo Buntings and one second year male Painted Bunting.  Yesterday at Loggy Bayou I chased the song of a Connecticut Warbler without getting more than a quick look at it. I am confident that it was the song of a Connecticut which is the earliest record for the state by a week however I did not see the bird well.  Also got Ovenbird, lots of summer residents on territory. Looks like a very good day to look for migrants today.

Paul

Bill Wood 

To all,

Checked the feeders before leaving for work around 11 a.m. and spotted six Indigo Buntings feeding along with a dozen or so American Goldfinches.

As Always, Good Birding! 
Bill Wood 
Keithville, LA 
labirder08(at)bellsouth(dot)net

Hubert Hervey

BSG Members,

This morning FOS Male Painted Bunting at feeder just like he knew it was there and couldn't wait to chow down.  Also saw three Broad-wing Hawks gliding N to NE very high and very fast, between 11:30 and Noon.  Certainly many BRHA's are passing thru today with these great conditions.

Hubert

Bill Wood 

To all,

While walking the woods behind where I live I had a way too close encounter with a Red-shouldered Hawk that is nesting in a large pine.  After getting a harmless frontal assault last weekend, I have made it a point to not walk the open area and walk along the hedgerow with some protection provided by plenty of tree cover.  The walk down to the pond was uneventful and I had stopped to check out some butterflies.  Next thing I knew I felt the hair, which I have very little of, on the back of my neck stand on ends.  The Red-shouldered Hawk launched an assault from the rear and came within a foot of plucking my LSU camouflage hat off my head.  I felt the wind from its wings!  It landed in a tree close by and gave me a death stare.  I took the hint and headed back home. 

As Always, Good Birding!

Bill Wood
Keithville, LA
labirder08(at)bellsouth(dot)net

Jay Huner

I thought you "up north" folks might be interested in what's what in CENLA. The NSU Aquaculture Research Center is a really good birding place.  I nominated it for the 'inland birding trails' and, for no apparent reason, it 
was not even surveyed!

I did not bird much around home because I was away from 7 AM - 3:30 PM.  But, I made a run to the dam on Cotile Lake a bit before sunset and managed a Common Loon which has apparently been around for at least the past week plus a Double-crested Cormorant, a Killdeer and 6 Spotted Sandpipers.  I had 16 birds around Cotile Lake that I did not find at the NSU site for a day total of 68: Common Loon, Spotted Sandpiper, Mourning Dove, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Belted Kingfisher, Downy Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, Great Crested Flycatcher, Purple Martin, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Brown Thrasher, Chipping Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, and American Goldfinch.

I don't really know how large the Cliff Swallow colonies are on the Locks and Dams north of Colfax but suspect they are large.  I wonder if the Cave Swallows I saw today were "passing through" or joining their "look alike" 
cousins to nest in the same areas?  Maybe Paul Dickson, Jim Ingold, or Charlie Lyon have an opinion?

Jay Huner

Location: Natchitoches County, LA, US
Observation date: 4/15/08
Notes: Birding at Northwestern State University Aquaculture Center on west side of Red River at Lock and Dam No. 4.  Tremendous diversity of  swallows.  Estimate of 300 Cliff Swallows was probably low.  Cliff Swallows were flying to and from mud nests on the west side of the dam.  I saw at least 4 Cave Swallows but there may have been more in amongst all of the swallows present.  Red-tailed Hawk was a Krider's hawk.  Birded from about 8-11 AM.  Site is accessible to birders.  Even when the Center is closed, there is a Corps of Engineers park with excellent bathroom facilities. 

Director of the NSU unit is Dr. Julie Delabbio.

Number of species: 52

 Gadwall 1
Blue-winged Teal 90
Pied-billed Grebe 15
American White Pelican 5
Double-crested Cormorant 2
Great Blue Heron 2
Great Egret 6
Snowy Egret 20
Little Blue Heron 4
Tricolored Heron 1
Cattle Egret 10
Green Heron 1
White Ibis 20
Turkey Vulture 8
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Sora 9
Common Moorhen 6
American Coot 75
Killdeer 5
Solitary Sandpiper 1
Greater Yellowlegs 4
Lesser Yellowlegs 8
Semipalmated Sandpiper 3
Least Sandpiper 35
Wilson's Snipe 6
Rock Pigeon 8
Eurasian Collared-Dove 2
Red-headed Woodpecker 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 3
Eastern Kingbird 1
White-eyed Vireo 1
American Crow 10
Fish Crow 2
Tree Swallow 10
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 30
Bank Swallow 1
Cliff Swallow 300
Cave Swallow 4
Barn Swallow 35
Carolina Wren 1
Sedge Wren 1
Eastern Bluebird 3
Northern Mockingbird 1
European Starling 8
Palm Warbler 1
Prothonotary Warbler 3
Savannah Sparrow 35
Swamp Sparrow 5
Northern Cardinal 2
Red-winged Blackbird 400
Eastern Meadowlark 30
Common Grackle 10

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)

Hubert Hervey

BSG Members,

Pat and I had an Osprey this AM cruised over 9 ponds along Missile Base Rd NE of Stonewall LA.  It stopped and hovered at each pond, made low level passes over two of them, working from NE to SW and out of site after 20 minutes.  I took pics of an Eurasian Collared Dove nest at Pat Loftus' house on the south end of Missile Base Rd. It is 8 ft up in an eastern red cedar located in the NE corner of his yard.  You may see it easily but call 925-0702 for permission.  It is even flimsier than a Mourning Dove nest if that is possible.  It blew out in a storm a couple of weeks ago, has been rebuilt, and the hen is incubating on it today.  He also had 4 Eastern Bluebird eggs in a bluebird box in his front yard.  There were two Upland Sandpipers in a field down Powell Rd, between Loftus place and Hervey place.  Also 3 Broad-winged Hawks passed by between 9 and 10:30 this AM.

More on the Osprey, this is the first time I have observed an Osprey pond hopping, pretty neat behavior for a hungry Osprey during the spring when largemouth bass are spawning in shallow waters.

Today would be a good day to be in the field.

Hubert Hervey

Jim Ingold

On Sentell Road this morning I had 7 Swainson’s Hawks – 5 on the north end of the road just before the pecan orchard and 2 at the sod farm.  Also on the sod farm were lots of American Golden Plovers and a handful of Buff-breasted Sandpipers near the road as your turn right and leave the sod farm.

I also had 13 Upland Sandpipers in the back of the sod farm over the fence in the neighbors’ field.

And one Dickcissel just south of the sod farm – a singing male.

Jim

Ellen Middleton

A new bird for my yard list, seen about 11:00 - Indigo Bunting.

Ellen Middleton
Broadmoor Terrace
Shreveport

Bill Wood

To all,

I birded Eddie Jones Park on Friday for an hour or so walking down to the ponds and back.  A nice day but windy.  The birds were few!  Only species noted: Northern Cardinal, Carolina Chickadee, Eastern Bluebird, 2 singing White-eyed Vireos and a lingering Ruby-crowned Kinglet.

Butterflies far out numbered the birds.  Species seen included Zebra, Black, Eastern Tiger, and Giant Swallowtails, Cloudless Sulphur, Pearl Crescent, American Lady, Goatweed Leafwing, Common Wood-Nymph, Monarch, and Horace's Duskywing.

As Always, Good Birding!

Bill Wood 
Keithville, LA 
labirder08(at)bellsouth(dot)net

Jeff & Jean Trahan

Baltimore Orioles arrived in our yard yesterday (April 11) and have been present since then.  Today (April 12) we had a surprise--an immature male Orchard Oriole.  I thought this was a new bird for the yard list, but after checking the records, we saw one in the yard last year on April 13.  The yard list now stands at 120 species.  The orchard Oriole was nectaring on the flowers of the Red Buckeye.

Jeff and Jean Trahan

Had a new yard list bird this afternoon-a pair of blue-gray gnatcatchers.

Ellen Middleton 
Broadmoor Terrace
Shreveport

Rachel Demascal

Good afternoon fellow interpreters,

I have been working on planning a festival centering on Dragonflies and I need your help in promotion.  Can you please help me by getting this out to anyone you know that may have an interest in dragonflies, butterflies, insects, birding, the outdoors, wildlife, etc.?  Please ask those people to continue by passing along the info to anyone they may know.

Also, if you have any ideas on how I can continue to spread the word about this event, your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.  The event is about a month away and I would hate to do all of this planning and have no one show up.  You know what I am talking about!

Thanks so much for your help and have a wonderful day! 

Rachel 

**********************
Forwarded article below
**********************

Dragonflying Is the New Birding

“Dragonfly Days” May 15-18 Showcases New Pursuit

Media Contact: Katy Pine 512-389-4577, katy(dot)pine(at)tpwd(dot)state(dot)tx(dot)us or Tom Harvey 512-389-4453, tom(dot)harvey(at)tpwd(dot)state(dot)tx(dot)us

WESLACO, Texas – The birding industry has established universal appeal, but birds and butterflies are not the only winged migrants to attract a crowd.  Dragonflies and damselflies are gaining popularity among wildlife enthusiasts, and southern Texas is home to 93 species, making it one of the most biologically diverse regions in the United States.

The 9th annual Dragonfly Days weekend is a chance to see why dragonflying is becoming as popular as birding in some places.  The event takes place in Weslaco May 15-18 and is sponsored by the Estero Llano Grande State Park World Birding Center site near Weslaco and the Valley Nature Center.

For those who want to learn how to tell a skimmer from a glider, and understand how these colorful insects play an interesting and vital role in maintaining a healthy environment, Dragonfly Days will offer seminars, field trips, social events and a banquet with a silent auction.

“This is an opportunity for people to discover a new passion and rediscover the Lower Rio Grande Valley, where one third of the total Texas population of dragonflies can be found,” said Jennifer Owen-White, Estero Llano Grande State Park natural resource specialist.  White said most of the events will be held at the event’s host hotel, the Holiday Inn Express.

One keynote speaker, Tim Manolis, plans to discuss ways amateur dragonfly enthusiasts can begin to explore secrets waiting to be revealed about dragonflies worldwide.  Other experts will be guiding field trips to area wetlands with the greatest dragonfly diversity.

Organizers say visitors should make sure to bring binoculars, sturdy shoes and protection from the sun.

For local families and children, the Valley Nature Center is also hosting the Dragonfly Family Nature Day on Saturday May 10, from 10am to 2pm.

For more details about Dragonfly Days and the Dragonfly Family Nature Day, call (956) 969-2475 or e-mail info(at)valleynaturecenter(dot)org.  Pre-registration is required for all seminars, field trips and the banquet.  Register by April 30 to avoid a price increase.  More information can also be found on the Valley Nature Center’s Web page. 

On the Net:

http://www.valleynaturecenter.org/dragonflydays/2008/dragonfly2008.html

Jennifer Owen-White
Natural Resource Specialist
Estero Llano Grande State Park
World Birding Center
154A Lakeview Dr.
Weslaco, Texas 78596
956-565-3919 ext. 258
-- 
Mary Ramos
Administrative Assistant
Stephen F. Austin State University
419 E. College
P.O. Box 6109
Nacogdoches, Tx 75962-6109
936-468-1365
936-468-7322 (fax)
http://www2.sfasu.edu/msri/

Paul Dickson

BSG:
Radar shows good fallout of migrants today along the storm front.  Birding late this afternoon or tomorrow could be good

Paul

There is a Baltimore Oriole in the sycamore trees here on Reily Lane.  If he was here yesterday, he didn't say so, but today he is singing.  My first sighting of the season!

Rachel

Velda Neilson

Hello, all!

Well, seems I may have spoken too soon!  Just after sending the "no nesting swallows" email yesterday, I had one Barn Swallow on the porch!  I know it was likely one of our offspring because of the white markings on the hip.  The bird went over to the old mud nest and was doing some inspecting of the ledge near the old nest.  I wondered if he/she was not considering building a new nest next to the old?  It did look as they he was adding mud to the ledge but I can see no appreciable layers for a nest.  Time will tell!

Yesterday evening I noticed that the Carolina Wren was definitely on the nest!  From the time of day I will have to believe she is sitting on eggs.

Now I wonder if the two species could coexist so closely together.  I look forward to the possibilities of this outcome!

May God bless us all with good birding and good health!

Velda

Bill Wood

To all,

I had four Anhingas circling overhead on the northwest shores of Wallace Lake this morning.

As Always, Good Birding!

Bill Wood
Keithville, LA
labirder08(at)bellsouth(dot)net

Velda Neilson

Hello, all!

Well, much to my disappointment we have no Barn Swallows on our porch this year.  The Carolina Wrens have built a nest on top of Jack and Jill's mud nest and do seem to be nesting there.  I have not checked for eggs as the entry hole is so near the porch ceiling.  Neither have I seen Barn Swallows for 2 weeks now.  One hung around for a couple of weeks but never did a mate appear.

Such is the loss of the after-fire-nesting swallows and the anticipation of the babies growth and flight.  Truly, it brings a sadness to me.

Yet, as God proves o'er and o'er - life goes on.  Though it is not always in the direction of our choosing, life is always good!  So let's enjoy and be blessed!

Have a great spring migration! And may God bless,

Velda

Bill Wood

To all,

I have had several female and male Ruby-throated Hummingbirds for the last several days.

Latest on my brother's Phoebe nest on his back porch: 
March 31- one egg
April 1 - two eggs
April 3 - four eggs
April 4 - five eggs.

As always, good birding.

Bill Wood

Jerry Bertrand

Hey all,

The e-mail below was received by the bsgwebguy this afternoon.  Anyone heard of a Northern Cardinal with an all black head?  Is there anything else this bird could possibly be?

Jerry

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Sent: Friday, April 04, 2008 2:39 PM
To:
Subject: Cardinal

We have an unusual, for us at least, male Cardinal who has been coming to our feeder for two years.  He has a solid black head with no crest.  Do you have an explanation? 

------------------------------------------

And a follow-up e-mail a little while later:

------------------------------------------

Sent: Friday, April 04, 2008 5:37 PM
To: Jerry
Subject: Re: cardinal

We don't see any feathers on his head at all just a leathery black head.  Could it be some kind of disease as we did have one other that appeared to be going bald also.? 

Thanks so much ,

Evans Family in Keithville

Hubert Hervey

BSG Members,

Terry Davis and Hubert Hervey birded NE Caddo Parish and NW Caddo Parish all day Thursday, April 3, 2004.  The top bird of the day was an adult White-tailed Kite in the Wardview area.  The kite was hunting via kiting over the fields toward the end of Pittman Rd, the first road that turns east off Hy 537 once one is back in the river bottoms approaching Wardview.  This is the NW corner of Bossier Parish.  This bird was missing a flight feather or two on left wing, in the area where the primaries and secondaries meet, yet was able to kite in the moderate southerly breezes without a lot of effort.  We suggest there is a possibility of nesting, as this habitat is very similar to that in the Loggy Bayou area where White-tailed Kites nested in the 70's?

We had a very responsive Swainson's Warbler in Caddo Parish south of Mooringsport on Hy 538, 150 yards south of Barnet Rd. in a swampy area adjacent to the Hy.  This is one of the earlier dates for this part of the state.  
We had an 11 sp.s raptor day with Harrier, Kestrel, Broad-wing Hawks and:  also seen well were 3 Bald Eagles together over 12 mile bayou, flying to the south at the bridge on Hy 169.  Two were adults, the third was possibly a fourth year bird.

Using rail tapes, Terry was able to locate 1 Virginia Rail, and 10 Sora at the Cattails on Hy 2 before reaching Parish Rd 23 at Swampy Bayou.

We had an adult Krider's Hawk, a possible juv. Kriders on Old River Rd, near Gilliam at address 9685.  The Juv was 1/2 mile or so south of the adult.

Lots of Hooded Warblers, several E. Towhee's, and vireo's (White-eyed, Red-eyed, Blue Headed 1, Yellow throated were singing)

One Golden Plover was lingering at the Sentell Rd sod farm, plus 7 Spragues Pipits, in the area that had been sprayed with herbicide south of the center road and looks too barren to hide any birds at all, over half way down.  
To top the evening off we observed many Monarch Butterflies flitting in to the trees along Stackhouse Road, located NE of Wardview, about 7 PM, and settling down for the night.  This section of road runs east - west and turn off north of the main intersection at the busy burg of Wardview.

We totaled 93 species for the day after losing the first 2 hours due to flat tire and tire replacement, mounting, alignment etc. problems.  Oh well, it was very foggy anyway and I needed two new tires.

Let me know if you go to Wardview, especially, since I am interested in learning if the White-tailed Kite stays, and finds a mate.

Hubert Hervey

Jeff Trahan

There were five Yellow-crowned Night-Herons in the live oaks at the intersection of River Road and Gaylyn in Broadmoor Terrace today.  This species has nested in the two trees on River Road on the southeast corner of the intersection for the past three years.  I counted three nests.  The nests remind me of Mourning Dove nests because there is not much there.  I can see the sky through them.

Jeff Trahan

Bill Wood

To all,

Noted three first of season (FOS) species today during the day long down pours here in Keithville.  A male Ruby-throated Hummingbird was seen around noon and has been seen several times since.  A Chimney Swift and a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher made brief pass-overs.  A walk down to the woods only managed to get me dived-bombed by the nesting Red-shouldered Hawk.

I still have quite a few American Goldfinches as well.

As always, Good Birding!

Bill Wood

Keithville, LA

Bill Wood

To all,

While grilling steaks for Easter Dinner at my brother's Keithville home we saw an Eastern Phoebe building a nest on his back porch. This makes the fifth consecutive year that a Eastern Phoebe's has built a nest in the same spot. No way to know if this is the same pair but I wouldn't be surprised if it was. 

At my place, also in Keithville, I was lucky enough to see one of the nesting Red-shouldered Hawks catch a frog at one of the small ponds. It took the frog to its nest but I was unable to tell if it was for self consumption or being feed to a chick.

I also had a pair of Eastern Phoebe's by the same pond and a single male Purple Finch at the feeder around noon. Do have a couple of American Goldfinches still hanging around.

Butterflies were on the move today seeing Horace's Duskywing, Silver-spotted Skipper, Falcate Orangetip, Giant Swallowtail, American Snout, Monarch, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail and Pearl Crescent.

As always, Good Birding!

Bill Wood

Keithville, LA

Caddo Parish

Paul Dickson

Bird group: I detected a micro-fall out in my backyard from the north winds yesterday.  A Hooded Warbler was early, this morning more timely was B&W warbler and Parula singing.

Paul

Jeff Trahan

I saw my first Yellow-crowned Night-Heron of the year yesterday (Wednesday, March 19).  It was sitting in a live oak where they usually nest in my Broadmoor Terrace neighborhood.

Jeff Trahan

Jim Ingold

From: Linda Adrion

To: Ingold, James

Hi Jim,

Mary Ellen called to say she had a hummerbird this morning. Too dark to ID the species.  FOS for her.  Since neither one of us knows how to post on bird alert or LABird we know you will do this for us, will you please.

Linda

Jim Ingold

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=4410845

Bill Wood

To all,

Looked outside this morning to see snow falling here in NW Louisiana.  An additional surprise were the nine Purple Finches on the feeders!  Tons of American Goldfinches as well and dozens of Northern cardinals.

Wednesday I walked the woods and found a Red-Shouldered Hawk sitting on the nest that raised at least one offspring last year.  Not much else other than a dozen or so White-throated Sparrows.

Good Birding,

Bill Wood

Jim Ingold

A couple of birders from NE Texas saw the Gray Flycatcher on Saturday so it is still around.  Unfortunately for Mac Hardy, Terry Davis, and me, the same was not true for the Fork-tailed yesterday; still had a great time birding on the West Ravenna Road.

Jim

Velda Neilson

Yoohoo!

First 2 Purple Martins showed up here this eve!  Now I just gotta get those starlings out of their box!

The Barn Swallow went about today tearing apart the wren's nest built on top of the swallow nest.  Still only one swallow this evening.

May God bless,

Velda

Jim Ingold

Terry Davis called to say he and Jeff Trahan has a singing Northern Parula at Eddied Jones Park in SW Caddo Parish.

Jim 

Velda Neilson

Hello, again!

The arrival of the Barn Swallow on our porch lost to the earliest arrival date by 2 days in 9 years of records.  Jill arrived in 2006 on the 27th of Feb.

Gracious!
Velda

Velda Neilson

Hello, all!

Just noticed a Barn Swallow under our front porch!  As some may recall, Jill died last summer preparing for her second brood.  Jack hung around till the Fall.  The present bird appears to have the hint of white hip patches that Jill had but not Jack.  Therefore, I do not think it is Jack but possibly one of their offspring from years past.

We have had Barn Swallows nesting here for 7 years - since the fire of 2000 took out so many acres creating so much open space.  We named them Jack and Jill.  Of course, the birds are not the original nesting pair but the names stay the same.  They have raised 60? babies here.  As was the case last year, Carolina Wrens have built a crazy looking, straw nest/house atop the 7 year-old mud nest.  It is quite tall now having a fresh layer of mud added before each new brood of swallows.  We'll have to see if the swallow finds a mate and who wins the nesting site.

Yoohoo! 

May God bless,
Velda

Paul Dickson

Labird: A skein of 80 Sandhill Cranes were flying up Red River this afternoon at about 1500 feet agl.  They paused noisily, to soar on a thermal gaining several hundred feet in the process, then resumed their northward course.  I am located north of the wintering area so a flock of this size is only seen here passing through in migration.

Paul Dickson
Red River Parish

Jim Ingold

Is anyone up for a trip to SE LA this weekend to see the Fork-tailed Flycatcher?  I can’t drive but I can help to pay for gas.

Jim

Hubert Hervey 

I have been looking at the maps generated by the Great Backyard Bird Count and find that the Gray Flycatcher in Benton area of Bossier Parish has not been reported.  If anyone in either of these organizations saw the flycatcher between Feb. 15 and Feb 18 would you please report it.  The only reports are four from south Ariz, and four from south Calif.  It is too important a finding to ignore.

Thanks for your time.

Hubert Hervey 

Ron Martin

While owling in Grand Cane quad Monday Feb 18 at about 6:15 pm, Susan and I flushed a nighthawk from the edge of Claude Dance Road.  Briefly seen for several seconds in the left portion of the auto beam, the bird was definitely a common or lesser nighthawk.  It was quite dark in color and had the white bands on the wings.  No call heard.  We called it a common nighthawk largely due to lack of any report of a lesser in the BSG database and an older report of a common on Feb 5.  We returned 30 minutes later and did not relocate it.  Tuesday evening, Jeff Trahan and I searched again unsuccessfully for the bird.

Location: from Grand Cane, approximately 1 mile east on LA 3015 and north on Claude Dance Road. Bird seen 0.5 -1 mile from turn onto Claude Dance Road.

Ron Martin

Velda Neilson

Hello, all!

Just had a request from a Baton Rouge birder to see the Gray Flycatcher.  Does anyone know if it is still here?'

She is coming to Shreveport this Thursday, the 21st and would like to see it.

Also, if she is interested in someone local helping locate the bird, is anyone interested? -- Course, I am!  I'm just not available that day.

Please let me know so I can forward her the info ASAP!

Thanks all. And may God bless

Velda

Jeff Trahan

Jean and I went to Bickham Dickson this afternoon.  We saw the Eared Grebe and the Horned Grebe at the boat launch.  They seem to be pretty regular.  In the back of the park we had a Spotted Towhee whose picture is attached.

Jeff Trahan

Spotted Towhee

Jim Ingold

Terry and I saw the bird at 5:15 Friday afternoon.  The rain from yesterday has made the field muddy so wear appropriate footwear.

Jim

Velda Neilson

Howdy!

Did anyone see the Gray Flycatcher today, Thursday?  My neighbor would like to count it as a lifer!

Thanks all,

Velda

Velda Neilson

Hello, all!

My neighbor came for a visit today and we began looking thru the book for an owl she saw last week 1/4 mile north of my house just off the road.  She looked at the Snowy Owl and said, That's got to be it".  I almost fainted.  We went over all the details and all the other owl pics.

Sharon, the neighbor who had the imm. Rufous last fall, did call and tell me a day or two later about this bird but we had a definite miscommunication . I did not understand the entire bird was white.  She really believes a Snowy is what she saw. 

Thursday, the 24th, is when she saw the bird.  Yes, I certainly know how unlikely a Snowy is here.  The weather was quite cold, windy, and rainy all last weekend.  But I don't know it would be deemed "bad enough" here or from the north.  Or if it would have stayed this long in this milder weather.  Yet, as Paul says, "Birds do have wings.  They can fly anywhere.  And they can't read the map!"

So, as unlikely as it is, keep your eyes open.  After all, who'da thought a Gray Flycatcher would be hanging around Bossier!

Gracious and God bless,

Velda

Velda Neilson

Hello, all!

Praise the Lord and hallelujah!  We found the Gray Flycatcher this morning about 11:20.  Got to the area just after the rain stopped about 10:30.  We were taking one last cruise by the open barn when there he sat!  All gray and greenish in the sun!  It was so exciting!  My first life bird in 2 yrs!

We spotted the bird about 30-50 ?? yds to the north from Dean Point Rd.  He was feeding on the east side of the open barn on the east side of the first fence row that runs north and south. clear as mud?  We found him after the sun came out. yoohoo!  We watched him for about 20 mins, leaving about noon.  We also met the land owner, Mrs. Wyche as we were cruising Wyche Road.  She stopped to chat so I showed her a picture of the bird and its range map.  She wondered why only one came.  Said she owned a couple hundred acres and a young ran his cattle on it including where "Gray" is.

We also met Mr. Patten from Covington who had come to see the bird.  (Not Dave Patton but he does know him.) said he had been to southern Mexico to get the bird and missed it there.  This was a life bird for him, too!

Here's a typical stupid, funny, Velda story!  Mr. Patten was on the west side of the fence row when I spotted him from the east side.  As I drove by him to park my vehicle, I directed him to the bird.  Well, wouldn't you know I couldn't get my doors unlocked!  Honestly!  My vehicle unlocks the doors when you put it in park.  It just wouldn't unlock them.  I punched the button 2 or 3 times and still I was locked in.  So I re-cranked my vehicle twice putting it in gear the first time, then actually driving it forward the second time.  Neither time would my doors unlock.  I was truly trying to figure out which way would be the easiest to get out of the car - head or feet first?  LOL!  then I took one last look at my friend's window and there was the red showing on the door lock latch!  I honestly had not even thought of them!  I have gotten so used to the electric door locks that I forgot about the manual methods!  Praise the Lord, I opened the door and got out!  Mr. Patten already had gotten his scope out and on the bird!  I got to see all the characteristics!  It was awesome!  We were so blessed!  And I was so blessed Mr. Patten had his scope.  I truly did appreciate his swiftness of locating the bird and sharing it!

I called terry Davis this afternoon about 2:30. he and Jeff Trahan were viewing the bird then and trying to get better pictures.  Oh, it was wonderful and a beautiful bird!  Thanks to all of you who kept us posted of it's whereabouts!

May God bless,

Velda

ps!  To all you folks on "Two Faced Tours" south Texas trip - concerning Mr. Patten - I should have gotten a business card!

Jeff Trahan

Thanks to everyone who replied.  The consensus seems to be that they are Cedar Waxwings rather than swallows.

Jeff Trahan

Jeff Trahan

I was in Bickham Dickson Park this afternoon.  I saw what appeared to be about 30 swallows flying over the lake.  They were very high.  I took some pictures of them which I have placed below.  Do you think they could be Purple Martins?  They certainly were not Tree swallows.

Jeff Trahan

CBD swallows1

CBD swallows2

CBD swallows3

Jeff Trahan

Late yesterday afternoon (Sunday), there were both an Eared Grebe and a Horned Grebe at Bickham Dickson Park.  They seemed to be pals because they often swam together--side by side.  Both were seen from the boat launch.  Their pictures are below.

Jeff Trahan

Horned Grebe

Eared Grebe

Clyde Massey

Hi BSGers, 

Yesterday morning I went with Larry Raymond and Mac Hardy to see the Gray Flycatcher at Wyche Road and Deen Point Road.  When we arrived, Terry Davis was already there with some people from Baton Rouge. 

The bird was there, working along the fence row next to Deen Point Road.  We watched it from the open barn. The bird also worked along the row of trees just east of the barn and also out in the field just past the trees, flying from one low bush to another.  It was fairly easy to locate since the tail-wagging makes it easy to spot.  It moved around a lot though, but stayed in the same general area.

Before we left, another group from Baton Rouge showed up and they saw the bird also.

Clyde Massey

Jim Ingold for Hubert Hervey

Jim,

The Gray Flycatcher was seen by me as late as 2 PM when the rain started coming down harder.  Directions may differ slightly from those already printed:  The bird flew from the ground about 100 yds west of Wyche Rd into trees on the east side of Wyche Rd, near the small barn that is seriously leaning.  A pair of Mockingbirds gave it little peace wherever it went in the trees, to the small old barn or around the large tree that has an old reddish cattle trailer nearby.  All the best viewing was from Wyche Rd, not Dean Point Rd.  It looked much as Jeff Trahan's excellent pics, but the back looked darker (probably wet).  I would like a better study, under better viewing conditions, and hope to return in the morning.  Please post this for me to Bird Alert and LA Bird.

Thanks, Hubert Hervey

Jim Ingold

The bird was still being seen after 1:00 pm by Hubert Hervey.

This morning the bird was seen by Terry Davis and Marty Guidry and both Paul Dickson and Charlie Lyon got video of it.

Jim Ingold

Jim Ingold

On Airline drive 3.5 mi s of the town of Benton 

Off airline drive east, 2.5 mile on Dean Point Road and go 50 yards past Wyche Rd.  There is a shed without walls and with metal posts on the left side of Dean Point Road the bird is hanging around in the trees around the shed.

Jim Ingold

Jim Ingold

Jeff Trahan and Terry Davis have a Gray Flycatcher on Dean Point Road in Bossier Parish north of Bossier City (just out of my quad and in Jeff Trahan’s Benton quad).  They have lots of photos and detailed description.  It possibly may be a Dusky Flycatcher but it’s pumping its tail like a Gray.

Jim Ingold

1/11/2008

Nancy

Menasco

Lindsay Coldiron, Wildlife Biologist in Training for the Red River National Wildlife Refuge, just called me.  She had 175 Sandhill Cranes fly over her and land in a field on LA 1 just north of Powhatan.  The nearest mailbox says 216 Hwy 1. GPS coordinates are N. 31 degrees 54.528' W. 093 degrees 16.655'.

Nancy Menasco
nmcpa@aol.com
Shreveport, LA

12/17/2007

Jeff

Trahan

I spent a few minutes at Bickham Dickson Park this morning (at about 11:00 am) and saw a Bald Eagle, Redhead, Snowy Egret Louisiana Heron (the last two are rare in December), and an Eared Grebe. This is the first time that I have seen an Eared Grebe at the park. I have photo of the grebe below. It was very far away so the photo is fuzzy. All of these were seen from the loop near the boat launch. The grebe was seen from the boat launch.

Jeff Trahan
Shreveport

12/09/2007

Jeff

Trahan

Jean and I spent the morning at Bickham Dickson Park today. We saw a total of 58 species including Bald Eagle, Horned Grebe, Vesper Sparrow, Coopers Hawk, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Snowy Egrets (7), and Louisiana Herons (6). The Horned Grebe was seen on the lake from the boat launch. I had not seen a Horned Grebe in the park previously. Also, I think that it is very unusual to have Snowy Egrets and Louisiana Herons in Caddo Parish in December. It must be the warm weather. The full list is below.

Jeff Trahan

3 Wood Duck 
125 Gadwall 
2 American Wigeon 
25 Mallard 
200 Northern Shoveler 
2 Green-winged Teal 
2 Canvasback 
15 Ring-necked Duck 
15 Ruddy Duck 
12 Pied-billed Grebe 
1 Horned Grebe 
10 Double-crested Cormorant 
2 Great Blue Heron 
6 Great Egret 
7 Snowy Egret 
6 Tricolored Heron 
3 White Ibis 
7 Turkey Vulture 
1 Bald Eagle 
1 Sharp-shinned Hawk 
1 Cooper's Hawk 
1 Red-shouldered Hawk 
1 American Kestrel 
1200 American Coot 
7 Killdeer 
22 Least Sandpiper 
3 Wilson's Snipe 
8 Ring-billed Gull 
18 Mourning Dove 
2 Belted Kingfisher 
8 Red-bellied Woodpecker 
2 Downy Woodpecker 
3 Northern Flicker 
2 Pileated Woodpecker 
2 Eastern Phoebe 
11 Blue Jay 
12 Carolina Chickadee 
3 Carolina Wren 
2 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 
1 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 
6 Eastern Bluebird 
8 American Robin 
3 Northern Mockingbird 
45 European Starling 
60 American Pipit 
40 Cedar Waxwing 
55 Yellow-rumped Warbler 
4 Field Sparrow 
1 Vesper Sparrow 
10 Savannah Sparrow 
1 Fox Sparrow 
5 Song Sparrow 
2 Swamp Sparrow 
5 Northern Cardinal 
85 Red-winged Blackbird 
30 Common Grackle 
6 House Finch 
2 American Goldfinch 

Jeff Trahan
Shreveport

12/03/2007

Jim

Ingold

The first Saturday of December is the Caddo Lake Winter Bird Count. The BSG participants bird the Louisiana side. The count circle is 17 miles so we can get the complete lake included. It is not an official CBC because with the large number of official CBCs in NW LA and NE TX it is too hard to get a day when enough birders can do this count - plus the 17 mile diameter is too large.

This was the 14th count! Here are the Louisiana results.

Jim Ingold

Snow Goose - 40
Cackling Goose - 8
Wood Duck - 4
Mallard - 1
Canvasback - 1
Lesser Scaup - 1
Hooded Merganser - 20
Ruddy Duck - 1
American White Pelican - 2
Double-crested Cormorant - 1835
Great Blue Heron - 16
Great Egret - 16
Black Vulture - 54
Turkey Vulture - 73
Osprey - 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
Red-shouldered Hawk - 7
Red-tailed Hawk - 11
American Kestrel - 1
American Coot - 77
Killdeer - 7
Wilson's Snipe - 1
Ring-billed Gull - 231
Rock Pigeon - 32
Mourning Dove - 8
Inca Dove - 5
Barred Owl -1
Belted Kingfisher - 3
Red-headed Woodpecker - 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 22
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - 15
Downy Woodpecker - 8
Hairy Woodpecker - 1
Northern Flicker - 14
Pileated Woodpecker - 5
Eastern Phoebe - 19
Loggerhead Shrike - 4
Blue Jay - 74
American Crow - 148
Fish Crow - 8
Carolina Chickadee - 46
Tufted Titmouse - 22
Brown Creeper -1
Carolina Wren - 33
House Wren - 2
Marsh Wren -1
Golden-crowned Kinglet - 4
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 54
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher -1
Eastern Bluebird - 56
Hermit Thrush - 8
American Robin - 179
Northern Mockingbird - 20
Brown Thrasher - 6
European Starling - 7
American Pipit - 60
Cedar Waxwing - 25
Yellow-rumped Warbler - 72
Pine Warbler - 12
Common Yellowthroat -2
Eastern Towhee - 8
Chipping Sparrow - 118
Field Sparrow - 5
Savannah Sparrow - 11
Le Conte's Sparrow - 1
Fox Sparrow - 7
Song Sparrow - 13
Lincoln's Sparrow - 1
Swamp Sparrow - 30
White-throated Sparrow - 153
Dark-eyed Junco - 50
Northern Cardinal - 62
Red-winged Blackbird - 97
Meadowlark sp. - 18
Common Grackle - 57
Brown-headed Cowbird - 2
House Finch - 2
American Goldfinch - 97
House Sparrow - 2

12/02/2007

Bill

Wood

To all,

Walked outside after a brief rain shower and noticed the sweet gum tree was alive with birds. A dozen or so Yellow-rumped Warbler were active and pair of American Goldfinches were also seen. Best bird of course was a Red-breasted Nuthatch coming to the seed and suet feeds. Also had Brown-headed Nuthatch. Other FOS birds included a small flock of Cedar Waxwings and a pair of Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. There is a cold front pushing our way, maybe it will bring more winter birds tomorrow.

As Always, Good Birding!

Bill Wood
Keithville, LA

E-mail:labirder(at)bellsouth(dot)net
Blog: http://labirder(dot)blogspot(dot)com/
Photos: http://www(dot)pbase(dot)com/labirder/
Video: http://www(dot)putfile(dot)com/labirder

12/02/2007

Bill Wood

To all,

Made a return trip this morning to Bickham Dickson Park and there are still lots of waterfowl and coots to be seen. Coots, Pied-billed Grebes, Northern Shoveler, and Gadwalls are still there in good numbers with an increase in Ruddy and Ring-necked Duck numbers since last weekend. Also spotted was a first of season flock of 40 American White Pelicans along with 15 White Ibis and lingering Snowy Egret (12) and Tri-colored Heron (7). With only a single Yellow-rumped Warbler sighting a week ago it was surprising to see a 100 plus in one spot on such a warm and muggy day.

Complete list follows:

Location: bickham dickson park
Observation date: 12/2/07
Number of species: 26

Canada Goose 6 (not sure if they were park geese or wild flock fly over?)
Gadwall 75
Mallard 50
Northern Shoveler 100
Canvasback 15
Ring-necked Duck 12
Ruddy Duck 50
Pied-billed Grebe 25
American White Pelican 40
Double-crested Cormorant 6
Great Blue Heron 5
Great Egret 11
Snowy Egret 15
Tricolored Heron 7
White Ibis 12
Turkey Vulture 6
American Coot 1000
Ring-billed Gull 8
Mourning Dove 6
Belted Kingfisher 1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1
Eastern Phoebe 2
Eastern Bluebird 2
Yellow-rumped Warbler 100
Savannah Sparrow 2
Common Grackle 15

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)

As Always, Good Birding!

Bill Wood
Keithville, LA

E-mail:labirder(at)bellsouth(dot)net
Blog: http://labirder(dot)blogspot(dot)com/
Photos: http://www(dot)pbase(dot)com/labirder/
Video: http://www(dot)putfile(dot)com/labirder

11/29/2007

Charlie

 Lyon

LA-birders,

It did my heart good this morning to see a native predator strike fear into the hearts of non-native casino wandering Rock Pigeons.  As I was heading eastward across the I-20 Red River bridge into Bossier Parish, I noted a flock of 30-40 Rock Pigeons speeding in terror formation away from the clutches of a pursuing Peregrine Falcon.

The lady wishing to show her son a Peregrine Falcon can spend the night at one of our casinos, and if she picks the right room, watch the Peregrine from her window.

Charlie Lyon
Shreveport, LA

11/29/2007

Charlie

 Lyon

11/27/2007

Jeff Trahan

I was able to get some pictures of the Couch's/Tropical Kingbird that Terry Davis and I saw at Cane's Landing in Bossier Parish. You can see them at

http://www.jtrahan.com/temp/birds.htm

Jeff Trahan

11/27/2007

Jim Ingold

Terry Davis just called to say a Tropical/Couch's Kingbird flew over his and Jeff Trahan’s head at Canes Landing in Bossier City.

Jim

11/27/2007

Jim Ingold

Terry Davis and Charlie Lyon re-found the Ash-throated Flycatcher this morning at Canes Landing in Bossier City and Charlie got video of it. I believe that this is the first record of this species for our part of the state.

Jim Ingold

11/26/2007

Jim Ingold

Terry just called to say he has an Ash-throated Flycatcher at Canes Landing; it’s tame and is calling.
.
Jim Ingold

11/25/2007

Bill

Wood

To all,

After reading several post about the ducks seen at Bickham Dickson Park (Caddo Parish) I braved the wet and cold today and drove to the park. I enjoyed an hour and a half of good birding from the confines of my car as there was a steady rain. There were of course a 1000+ coots and more Pied-bellied Grebes than I think I have ever seen there, maybe 150. Also seen in good numbers were Mallards (not the park variety), Northern Shovelers and Gadwalls. There were fair numbers of Canvasbacks, and a spattering of Ringed-necked Ducks and Green-winged Teal, and solitary Ruddy Duck and American Wigeon. Complete list follows.

Shorebirds included Least (for sure) and Western Sandpiper (I think), Killdeer and Wilson's Snipes. Also had a flock of 50 or so American Pipits. Best bird of the day was a Tricolored Heron.

Was surprised not to see a single gull or cormorant.

Location: Bickham Dickson park
Observation date: 11/25/07
Notes: weather condition cold and wet, all birding done by car.
Number of species: 22

Wood Duck 4
Gadwall 75
American Wigeon 1
Mallard 50
Northern Shoveler 75
Green-winged Teal 10
Canvasback 25
Ring-necked Duck 3
American Wigeon 1
Ruddy Duck 1
Pied-billed Grebe 100
Great Blue Heron 4
Great Egret 3
Snowy Egret 1
Tricolored Heron 1
American Coot 1000
Killdeer 14
Western Sandpiper 12
Least Sandpiper 25
Wilson's Snipe 10
American Pipit 50
Yellow-rumped Warbler 14

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)

As Always, Good Birding!

Bill Wood
Keithville, LA

E-mail:labirder(at)bellsouth(dot)net
Blog: http://labirder(dot)blogspot(dot)com/
Photos: http://www(dot)pbase(dot)com/labirder/
Video: http://www(dot)putfile(dot)com/labirder

11/25/2007

Jay Huner

Here is a report from Sabine Parish. The "Beckman Park" reports are interesting. Lousy weather gets lots of different things to find "hidey" holes. Wonder if the "odd ball grebe" will turn out to be an Eared Grebe?

Jay Huner

We took mother in law to visit her half sister near Many. Weather was lousy. But, found some decent birds including 3 new parish birds so I'm 7 away from my target 100 for Sabine Parish. 

A lot is said about the horrid invasive tallow tree. I am a "lister" but do take time, some times, to watch birds. The flock of robins is the first that I've seen in the state away from a lowland area this winter. I figure they were working on invertebrates - probably a lot of worms - flushed out of the ground by the soaked soil. Well, the most ground loving of the woodpeckers were well represented in amongst the flock of robins. I've never seen that many "yellow-hammers" in one place at one time. Darned if I didn't see a flash of "red" as about 15 of them went into a copse of tallow trees. Anyway, I did see the flickers working on tallow seeds. I might have gotten a better view of the "flash of red" except that the darned bassett kept trying to jump on me! 


Location: Sabine County, LA, US 
Observation date: 11/25/07 
Notes: The flock of Northern Flickers was 20-30 birds. I used 21 for this report. The birds were in a soaking wet pasture feeding in amongst a good number of robins. When "jumped", a number settled in a copse of tallow trees and were apparently consuming tallow seeds! 

Really lousy day to bird. Location was about 5 miles NE of Many, LA. 
Number of species: 22 

Great Egret 3 
Turkey Vulture 1 
Red-shouldered Hawk 2 
Killdeer 3 
Red-bellied Woodpecker 4 
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1 
Hairy Woodpecker 1 
Northern Flicker 21 
Pileated Woodpecker 1 
Blue Jay 3 
American Crow 45 
Carolina Chickadee 1 
Tufted Titmouse 2 
Eastern Bluebird 25 
American Robin 60 
Northern Mockingbird 1 
European Starling 1 
Yellow-rumped Warbler 5 
Pine Warbler 35 
Chipping Sparrow 3 
Dark-eyed Junco 2 
American Goldfinch 5 

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org) E-mail:labirder(at)bellsouth(dot)net
Blog: http://labirder(dot)blogspot(dot)com/
Photos: http://www(dot)pbase(dot)com/labirder/
Video: http://www(dot)putfile(dot)com/labirder

11/24/2007

Jim Ingold

Charlie Lyons asked me to post the following:

Using the car a blind on this rainy Saturday the birds at CBD were quite accommodating, esp. American Pipits and Wilson Snipe. Lots of ducks: 1 female redhead, Canvasbacks, ring-necked ducks, lots of N. Shovelers and Gadwall and many pied-billed grebe, snowy egrets, and 5 white ibis near the pond at the horse barn.
.
Jim Ingold

11/23/2007

Jeff Trahan

Terry Davis asked me to post his sighting of a Roseate Spoonbill seen at 7:00 a.m. this morning (Friday) at Stoner Woods traveling NNW.

Jeff Trahan

11/19/2007

Jim Ingold

From: okbirds [mailto:OKBIRDS@lists.ou.edu] On Behalf Of David Arbour
Sent: Monday, November 19, 2007 8:15 AM
To: OKBIRDS@lists.ou.edu
Subject: Snow Buntings in Arkansas!

Charles Mills found two Snow Buntings on the OK levee at Millwood Lake yesterday in southwest Arkansas. This site is only about 50 miles as the crow flies from Red Slough where we had a Snow Bunting a little over a week ago. This could be an invasion year for them. They like rocky areas near reservoirs such as levees, beaches, points and islands. Keep your eyes open, there should be more around.

David Arbour
De Queen, AR

11/11/2007

Jay Huner

I decided to make an effort to get a count on birds here at Cotile Lake NW of Alexandria this past Friday and made an effort to at least drive by most of the places I bird. I also enjoyed a morning afield the next day at my deer lease in SW Rapides Parish near Glenmora and visited friends at the "club house" around noon in NW Evangeline Parish. My main ebird list for the Cotile Lake area is presented below along with lists for Rapides Parish and Evangeline Parish on the 10th.

Although I had no Yellow-rumped Warblers on either day, I did manage a single bird walking around the neighborhood today. I "think" I've been hearing some House Finches but haven't seen one of the little critters for about a week. Sparrows including juncos are not very apparent nor are, for that matter, mockers, cardinals, and jays. Doves have been hard to come by. I last saw a Mourning Dove around the lake last Thursday and had the first Inca Dove in a week today. 

On Friday, a Brown Creeper was a first of fall bird. Had a passing flock of Lesser Scaup at dawn which, although not first for fall, were the first I've had at Cotile Lake. 

The deer are pretty much nocturnal after being hunted now since late September - bow season - followed by muzzleloader season followed by "gun" season. It was pleasant so I took a nap in hopes Mr. or Ms. Bambi might try to sneak up on me and was awakened by a passing flock of first of fall Snow Geese. Later, at the "club house", I pished up a flock of foraging song birds that included my first of fall Hermit Thrush. I also had my new Evangeline Parish List Red-breasted Nuthatch. 

Anyway, the weekend total from Friday through Sunday was 43 species.

Jay Huner

11/11/2007

Charlie Lyon

LA-birders,

I had a rare full day to do some local birding yesterday 11-10-07. I decided to to go north of Shreveport and check out the degraded ag lands in north Caddo Parish west of the Red River. I still fell we'll eventually turn up a Prairie Falcon or Lark Bunting in this area, but thus far nada. I did do pretty well however and managed to find a small flock of Chestnut-collared Longspurs, which is only my second record for this species in Louisiana.
I then took Terry Davis and the Boslers on the boat for a Cross Lake run.
Here is a brief summary of more interesting sightings from the various
locations:

Private farm north of 12-mile bayou 1st stop

Ring-necked Duck 160 numbers finally building Northern Flicker 15 big movement and one flock of 8 Eastern Phoebe 10 numbers building House Wren 5 same here Ruby-crowned Kinglet 14 first big wave of the season for me Eastern Bluebird 42 big movement here as well Hermit Thrush 2 starting to come in now in decent numbers American Robin 31 only small flocks so far for this time of the season Orange-crowned Warbler 1 FOS Yellow-rumped Warbler 30 numbers just starting to build

Sparrows:
Still small numbers overall with abundant food supplies available when birds eventually arrive
Field sparrow 1
Savannah sparrow 60
Fox sparrow 1
Song Sparrow 7
White-throated sparrow 30
White-crowned sparrow 8
Dark-eyed Junco 1

American Goldfinch 8 still small numbers/ no siskins

Sentell Road and sod farm 2nd stop best stop of the day Thanks to Jim Ingold for getting us access to this private farm.

Northern Flicker 3

Loggerhead Shrike 4 The only shrikes seen during the day were at this location. Although I don't survey north Caddo Parish that often, my impression is that numbers are down, not just in this area but throughout NW LA. Local birders should carefully monitor shrike numbers.

Horned Lark 6

American Pipit 107
Sprague's Pipit 2 The Red River Valley area of north Caddo Parish is one of the most reliable areas of the state to find this species.

Vesper Sparrow 4
Savannah Sparrow 35

CHESTNUT-COLLARED LONGSPUR 3 I walked from the parked vehicle closing in on a mixed species flock of American Pipit and Horned Lark, and I first heard the diagnostic tillyup call note of a Chestnut-collared Longspur. A single bird flew up with an American Pipit nearby and circled away from me far to the right, but I froze and got lucky. It eventually arched around and flew over me slightly to my left side giving me an excellent flight view, showing its small notched tail and white with black triangle tail pattern. Other than that it was just a small dingy brown appearing longspur, but it continually gave its diagnostic flight call. It then made another high flying arch again coming far in front of me and was joined by two other birds that morphologically appeared the same, and all disappeared to the north where I lost them over some other fields.

Belcher, Gilliam, and north of LA 2 close to the Arkansas line 3rd stop

Raptor numbers are still minimal for this time of year in this area. In all areas I found a total of:

Northern Harrier 2
Sharp-shinned Hawk1
Red-tailed Hawk 7
American Kestrel 7

We'll see hoe the numbers build as the season progresses.

Northern Flicker 7

Eastern Phoebe 6

SCISSOR-TAILED FLYCATCHER 1 adult male getting late

WHITE-EYED VIREO 1 1st winter bird very late

Brown Creeper 1 FOS

BEWICK'S WREN 1 FOS uncommon but small numbers expected up here

GRAY CATBIRD 1 late for up here

LARK SPARROW 1 breeds in this area and a few may over winter

Cross Lake by boat 4th stop

10 species of ducks with fairly low numbers overall

Canvasback 175 numbers slowly climbing
Redhead 40 stable flock size
Ring-necked Duck 12 minimal numbers for this time of year Lesser Scaup 15 really minimal numbers for this time of year Bufflehead 8 starting to come in FOS was a week ago Ruddy Duck 3000 good numbers have been in for a couple of weeks

Anhinga 1 female late for the lake proper SNOWY EGRET 20 big numbers for so late Cattle Egret 45 small numbers still holding on but dwindling at Buzzard Island American Coot 18,700 biggest numbers of the year so far

Franklin's Gull 22 most have been to the west of us thus far this year Ring-billed Gull 250 evening roost numbers slowly climbing

That's all for now.

Charlie Lyon
Shreveport, LA

11/8/2007

Jim Ingold

11/7/2007

Bill Wood

Made a walk down to the pond this a.m. and found a flock of 12 or so White-throated Sparrows and a single Ruby-crowned Kinglet.

As Always, Good Birding!

Bill Wood
Keithville, LA

E-mail:labirder(at)bellsouth(dot)net
Blog: http://labirder(dot)blogspot(dot)com/
Photos: http://www(dot)pbase(dot)com/labirder/
Video: http://www(dot)putfile(dot)com/labirder

11/1/2007

Jim Ingold

Terry just called to say he thinks the Peregrine that spent the winter on Sam’s Town Casino last year is back. To see it go to Bass Pro and park in the gravel parking lot on the north/west side of the building. It was sitting on a ledger on the sw corner.

Jim

10/23/2007

Jay Huner

Yesterday, 22 October, I had Orange-crowned and Yellow-rumped Warblers plus Ruby-crowned Kinglet and Chipping Sparrow. Today, I found a few yellow-rumps and a single Dark-eyed Junco. Eastern Phoebes showed up about 7-8 days ago but I had one by the lake this afternoon after not seeing any for a time. I saw a flock of ducks in the distance near dark and would "guess Gadwall" based on size and flight pattern but I'd never list them on ebird with that look. 

There are plenty of Pine Warblers around but how would one separate local birds from some incoming migrants?

Sort of expect to find some White-throated Sparrows tomorrow!

Also, had at least two, possibly three, Red-headed Woodpeckers yesterday after not encountering this species for several weeks.

Closest thing to a gull was a Caspian Tern the other day.

Regards,
Jay Huner

10/22/2007

Charlie Lyon

LA-birders,

I've had a bit more time to bird lately and have resumed my Cross Lake surveys by boat...still not much time to post however. On today's survey I found a juvenile SABINE'S GULL settling in at sunset with a flock of Franklin's Gulls. A juvenile Sabine's Gull was spotted on Lake Millwood in Arkansas earlier this am, and although highly speculative, it is interesting to consider if this is the same individual. I've noted a number of fairly recent records in Texas, and there was an earlier sighting at Lake Millwood as well. Sabine's Gull is probably a more regular fall transient in the inland Ark-La-Tex than what we have detected, but this is by far my latest fall record, with all previous inland LA records...at least by me...being in September. They do migrate into early November off the West Coast, so I guess the date isn't that late overall, but it does seem to be of some interest. Could the later migration of an arctic breeder tie into global warming??

On my survey of Cross Lake on 10-17-07, just a few days ago, I had a small migrant flock of 3 Yellow-throated Warblers. Our NW LA late date is 10-17 if one excludes the occasional straggler. These were true migrants noted on Bird Island which is part of my survey route, and none had been there in the preceding weeks. On the Alabama list serve I've noted a couple of reports of late Yellow-throated Warblers as well, and something may be going on...possibly another global warming correlation??

Ducks continue to trickle in with FOS Ruddy Duck 3

Waders are still holding with:

Snowy Egret 24 high numbers for this late Little Blue Heron 7 Cattle Egret 1100 Buzzard Island rookery/roost numbers far diminished this year White-faced Ibis last seen on 10-17-07

American Coot 8400 numbers slowly rising and should increase further with the next cold front

Long-billed Dowitcher 7 My first Cross Lake boat survey record. Although hydrilla is still abundant on the far west side of the lake, there is no suitable habitat for this species on the lake. This sighting is consistent with a prefrontal movement of this species. Strong flying "windbirds" will appear on the front end of the weather passage.

Franklin's Gull 41 numbers will build into the thousands by mid-late November, and Cross Lake is truly the fall Franklin's Gull capital of LA It can be an amazing spectacle.

Ring-billed Gull 22 the sunset lake roost is starting to evolve into what will become thousands of birds by December. These are the type of patterns you miss from land and you need to be in the middle of the lake to discover this.

SABINE'S GULL 1 juvenile It came in at sunset with a flock of Franklin's Gulls and should be present in the early am if locals are interested.
Rosemary Seidler posted directions earlier on the birdalert. All prior Cross Lake records are one day wonders, so this one probably won't stay long either.

Forster's Tern 21 numbers building and winter roosting flocks now are often over 500 individuals

Northern Flicker 5 numbers increasing as migrating northern birds move in for the winter

Eastern Phoebe 6 ditto

House Wren 1 FOS
Winter Wren 11 FOS

Hermit Thrush 1 FOS

Red-winged Blackbird 120 These are migrants consistent with a significant migration from the north...not something most of us are looking for, but of some interest.

That¹s all for now

Charlie Lyon
Shreveport, LA

10/19/2007

Jay Huner

Good Morning,

Cotile Lake - NW Rapides Parish, LA

I have had at least one pair of White-breasted Nuthatches here since detecting them last June. There are two or three nesting pairs of Brown-headed Nuthatches here as permanent residents. I first found White-breasted Nuthatches here in mid-summer last year but they did not seem to stay around in the fall and winter. 

Anyway, this morning, I heard tooting that I associated with White-breasted Nuthatches and then took a walk around the neighborhood and found a group of 4-5 Brown-headed Nuthatches. When I got back to the house, I heard "odd" tooting and decided to get a visual contact on the bird. Well, there were at least three tooting birds within 75 yards of each other. The one that I got an up close view of was a Red-breasted Nuthatch - state year bird No. 273! 

Don't know if the Red-breasted Nuthatch(es?) will stay around but we'll see. It/they may have been around for the past week or more as when I hear tooting, I automatically default to White-breasted Nuthatch.

Jay Huner

10/7/2007

Jim Ingold

10/5/2007

Jim Ingold

Stop by this a.m. on my way to school about 9:00 a.m. They were on the right side as you drive in towards the loop. Lot’s of ibis, and egrets etc.

Jim

10/4/2007

Jim Ingold

Went to the park at 12:30 today saw no spoonbills but quite a few Northern Shoveler some of which were sitting out of the water on the boat launch road; lots of Blue-winged Teal too.

Jim

10/4/2007

Jim Ingold

One of our botanists was at the park this morning and had 6 spoonbills.

Jim

09/20/2007

Velda Neilson

hello, gang!

just left a neighbors house where there is definitely an imm or female rusty hummer. my best GUESS is a Rufous Hummer. lots of rust down sides coming towards the chest and definitely a lot of rust in tail. only got one good flash of it, but i believe it was edged in white. never could see the length of the back of the bird.

she has lots of hummers. uses 1/2 cup sugar to 1 cup of water. hope that's not dangerous for the hummers. but she insists and the birds love it!

paul, she is to try and watch to see how late the bird is there this evening. i told her you may want to come band it at 6:30 am or so and she agreed. i can't give out her number without permission so i'll contact you this evening if you are interested.

lots of birds in my yard this am at 7am! all invigorated by the cool temps!

thanks and may God bless,
velda

9/16/2007

Bill Wood

To all,

Made a late afternoon visit to Bickham Dickson Park (Shreveport) and drove the back road loop. There are lots of waders and peeps in and around the loop area. Lots of White Ibis, mostly immatures, Snowy Egrets, Great Egrets and Little Blue Herons along with a sighting of a single Roseate Spoonbill. As for shorebirds and peeps there were
4-5 mixed flocks of 20-30 birds flying about. I could ID at least 9 Pectoral Sandpipers, 6 yellowlegs but most of the others I not sure about.

By far the best bird for me was a Buff-breasted Sandpiper, at least I pretty sure that's what it is. Any comments on it and the UID peep (maybe a least) photos would be appreciated.

Links to the photos:

Buff-breasted Sandpiper
http://www.pbase.com/labirder/image/85696392

UID Peep
http://www.pbase.com/labirder/image/85696822

As Always, Good Birding!

Bill Wood
Keithville, LA

E-mail:labirder(at)bellsouth(dot)net
Blog: http://labirder(dot)blogspot(dot)com/
Photos: http://www(dot)pbase(dot)com/labirder/
Video: http://www(dot)putfile(dot)com/labirder

9/15/2007

Dennis

Forshee

Had 8 spoonbills this AM in the loop. Still lots of peeps and one Merlin.

Dennis Forshee
Wild Bird Center
7034 Youree Dr
Shreveport, LA 71105
Phone 318-797-2473 

9/13/2007

Paul

Dickson

BSG: I missed the whole flock this morning!  This afternoon I counted 16 Roseate Spoonbills at Cross Keys which is the largest flock that I have ever seen in N. La.  All were immatures which is expected.

The location is the willow lined pond on the east side of Hwy.1 about 1/4 miles south of Yearwood Rd.

Paul

9/13/2007

Paul Dickson

I saw three Roseate Spoonbills today east of Hwy.1 at Cross Keys. They were in the willow lined slew to the left of the highway if you are driving south. This is across the highway from the sometimes flooded field where we often see wetland birds and before the larger cypress lined bayou at Cross Keys. 

Paul 

9/13/2007

Amanda Crnkovic

Hubert Hervey asked me to post this information:

Yesterday (September 12th) he saw 40 Woodstorks, 4 Roseatte Spoonbills, plus lots of the “usual birds” while on the Red River (at mile marker 269.8, Scott’s Slew). He also saw 1 adult Bald Eagle at mile marker 279 (Ark/LA stateline).

Amanda Crnkovic
Instructor, Department of Biological Sciences
Collections Manager, Museum of Life Sciences
Louisiana State University in Shreveport
One University Place

9/6/2007

James Ingold

The first BSG Meeting of the year will be next Tuesday. Refreshments start at 6:30 p.m. and the program starts at 7:00. The first speaker of the year will be Mac Hardy. The title of his talk is: “A View from Wallace’s Line.” He will talk about a trip he took this August to Borneo, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

The newsletter may not reach people before the meeting; so please pass the word on to all your friends in the BSG.

Jim Ingold

9/5/2007

James Ingold

From: okbirds [mailto:OKBIRDS@lists.ou.edu] On Behalf Of David Arbour
Sent: Tuesday, September 04, 2007 8:02 PM
To: OKBIRDS@lists.ou.edu
Subject: New Red Slough Website Now Online!

There is a new improved Red Slough Website online now. The address is the same as the old one. We have added several hundred new photos including upgrading many poor images that were on the old site. A new gallery has been added called "Tours & Field Trips" which has pictures of birders and college groups that have visited the slough. We also have the new map added that can be printed plus a "Google Map" of the area so you can zoom in and look for Jabirus or whatever. :-) Also we have added the brand new Red Slough Bird Checklist which hasn't been printed yet. It is in pdf format. Another new feature included are articles written on Red Slough and its wildlife. You will see the most changes in the Bird and Dragonfly galleries. If we failed to give credit for a photo or you notice any mistakes or errors please let us know. Enjoy!

David Arbour
De Queen, AR

Visit the New(!) Red Slough Website: http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/ouachita/natural-resources/redslough/index.shtml

9/2/2007

Nancy Menasco

Dear All,

It's 9:55 a.m. Sunday. The Trahans just called from CBD to say there are Wood Storks, Piping Plovers, Black-necked Stilts, a big assortment of heronoid types, & shorebirds there.  They are in the loop area.  You will have to walk to the loop as although the park is now open and you can drive into the park, the 1st gate is still locked.

Nancy Menasco

8/25/2007

James Ingold

As reported by a botanist in my department.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Banks, Stephen 
Sent: Saturday, August 25, 2007 1:47 PM
Subject: State of the Park 8.25.07

I went into the BD park today (Saturday 25 Sept) to photograph the effects of two months of flooding with my Nikon 50D .

Jim-White Ibis a whole flock of turkey buzzards chowing down on the rotting fish

Flocks of egret. Also some white and tri color herons little green herons some yellow crowned night herons small blue herons. Also one brown/russet colored hawk-a real beauty!

in the park. 

Best Wishes,

Steve

8/21/2007

Dennis Forshee

Subject:  Feeder Watchers Wanted!

"PROJECT WILDBIRD is a landmark study of seed and feeder preferences of wild birds in the United States and Canada. From September 2005 through August 2008, PROJECT WILDBIRD will scientifically study the feeds and feeders preferred by birds in different eco-regions and seasons. Upon completion, PROJECT WILDBIRD will be the most comprehensive study on bird feeding ever performed. The study results will provide people who feed birds with scientifically-substantiated recommendations on the best feeds and feeders to attract birds." 

Visit www.projectwildbird.org for all the details. There are two levels of participation. The experimental approach provides participants with the feeders required and free seed for a year that they keep upon completion of the study! 

Participants are really needed west of the Mississippi. As far I know, there's no one in Louisiana signed up. Submissions can be entered online or mailed in. If you know someone not online that would make a good observer, pass along Project Wildbird contact info or have them contact any Wild Bird Center. Time is running out, if I understood correctly, this December is the deadline to join the study.

Dennis Forshee
Wild Bird Center
7034 Youree Dr
Shreveport, LA 71105

 8/8/2007

Paul Dickson

BSG: This morning Terry found what he believes to be either a Couch’s or a Tropical Kingbird at Cane’s Landing north of Bass Pro Shop in Bossier. He saw the bird for less than a minute in flight as it left a tree. It did not vocalize. He saw it to the left of the first road that enters the thicket on the south end of the river side thickets that we collectively refer to as “Cane’s”. To reach it, go to the parking lot at Bass Pro, drive off the lot onto the dirt tire tracks and drive toward the river across the open ground. You must stay south of a line of concrete barriers. Park just before you reach the thick undergrowth and scattered cottonwood-sycamore forest that lines the river. Terry saw the bird fly from a tree to the left of the road. When making an identification in this genus remember that Western Kingbird now breeds in our area and in the area of Cane’s though not at Cane’s as far as anyone has found. You need to see the tail pattern, bill size, extent and tone of the yellow and best of all, hear it or get it to respond to a recording. Any Kingbird certainly identified other than Eastern or Western should be reported to the Louisiana Bird Records Committee by way of a “long form” found on the LOS web site. 

Paul Dickson

7/30/2007

James Ingold

From: Birding discussion list for Texas
[mailto:TEXBIRDS@LISTSERV.UH.EDU] On Behalf Of Khara Strum
Sent: Monday, July 30, 2007 12:38 PM
To: TEXBIRDS@LISTSERV.UH.EDU
Subject: [TEXBIRDS] Banded Buff-breasted Sandpipers

---> Texbird help file http://www.texbirds.org <---

Greetings Texas Birders-

As fall migration gets underway and you visit your favorite upland shorebird haunts, please keep your eyes peeled for any banded Buff-breasted Sandpipers. Buff-breasted Sandpipers were banded in Texas, Argentina and Uruguay last year through a project at Kansas State University. This species has also been banded recently in Nebraska by Joel Jorgensen, John McCarty and LaReesa Wolfenbarger at the University of Nebraska, Omaha and in Brazil by Juliana Almeida at University of Nevada, Reno. If you happen across a Buff-breasted Sandpiper with leg bands please record as much information about the colors and locations of the bands and the bird (i.e. habitat, location) as possible and forward on the information. Bands may be on the upper and lower portions of the leg and it is important to note the location of each color band in relation to the other.

Thank you in advance!

Khara Strum

Graduate Research Assistant 

Kansas State University

Thought you folks who are not on LABIRD might find this report of interest. 

I literally had Forster's, Least, and Black Terns in sight at one time yesterday in the middle of the state of Louisiana away from rivers and reservoirs!  I'm not sure what was "going on" but the Laughing Gull surely wasn't expected either.

Regards, Jay Huner

----- Original Message -----
From: <do-not-reply@ebird.org>
To: <piku@classicnet.net>
Sent: Sunday, July 15, 2007 1:55 PM
Subject: eBird Report - Rapides Quad , 7/15/07


Location: Rapides Quad
Observation date: 7/15/07
Notes: 1 hr 50 min. 2.0 miles duration. Abandoned fish farm west of Alexandria near western edge of Red River Valley. American Bittern was solitary, unexpected, and not to be confused with immature night-herons. Tree Swallow had metallic back and snow white belly extending under chin. Several have been recorded in past two spring-summer periods, apparently nesting, at nearby Cotile Lake. Significant movement of Least Sandpipers has been noted in south-central Louisiana in the previous week. While the Glossy Ibis could be confused with White-faced Ibis, several birds were close enough to view carefully with 10 x 40 binoculars. The Forster's, Least, and Black Terns and the Laughing Gull (immature) were not expected in central Louisiana. Coots have been recorded at site in June of this year and during the summer of 2006. No evidence of breeding - chicks - has been found.
Number of species: 51

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck 2
Wood Duck 34
Northern Bobwhite 1
Pied-billed Grebe 36
Anhinga 1
American Bittern 1
Great Blue Heron 9
Great Egret 39
Snowy Egret 86
Little Blue Heron 88
Tricolored Heron 4
Cattle Egret 43
Green Heron 8
Black-crowned Night-Heron 5
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron 3
White Ibis 35
Glossy Ibis 8
Red-shouldered Hawk 1
Common Moorhen 43
American Coot 2
Killdeer 18
Black-necked Stilt 3
Greater Yellowlegs 3
Lesser Yellowlegs 35
Solitary Sandpiper 1
Least Sandpiper 11
Pectoral Sandpiper 20
Stilt Sandpiper 2
Long-billed Dowitcher 8
Laughing Gull 1
Forster's Tern 1
Least Tern 7
Black Tern 4
Mourning Dove 6
Chimney Swift 1
Pileated Woodpecker 2
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 4
Loggerhead Shrike 1
American Crow 7
Purple Martin 1
Tree Swallow 1
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 12
Barn Swallow 1
Carolina Wren 4
Northern Mockingbird 1
European Starling 3
Common Yellowthroat 7
Northern Cardinal 6
Dickcissel 6
Red-winged Blackbird 325
Common Grackle 20

BSG members and all,

I had a flock of 30 White Ibis, both adult and immatures, in a flooded field between Linwood and I-49 about a 3/4 of a mile south of Barron Road. Also saw bunches of Cattle Egret and one Little Blue Heron.

As Always, Good Birding!

Bill Wood
Keithville, LA
E-mail:labirder(at)bellsouth(dot)net
Blog: http://labirder(dot)blogspot(dot)com/
Photos: http://www(dot)pbase(dot)com/labirder/
Video: http://www(dot)putfile(dot)com/labirder

Go to: http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage

Search for eagle!

Direct link: http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007707040330

Jim Ingold

BSG members and all,

The Ruby-throated Hummingbirds have been putting on quite a show this
afternoon following another heavy thunderstorm that moved though the
area.  At least 8-10 are fighting over the six feeders.  I've only
seen 3 males with the rest of the crew made up of females and immatures.

A pair of immature males has been the most entertaining. One will be
on the feeder when it is dive-bombed by the other and they begin this
midair joust were they face off and fly about 20 to 30 feet straight
up.  Sometimes they will slowly descend and repeat the score.  Other
times they come tumbling down in the grasp of one another, not
letting lose of each other until they almost hit the ground.

I have noticed that a couple of the feeders have seen a changing of
the guard in the last few days.  The feeder outside my computer room
window is presently owned by a immature male.  It was the domain of
an adult male (no way to tell if it was the same one) for the last
several months.

It's amazing how much fun you can have with some water and a couple
of pounds of sugar!


As Always, Good Birding!

Bill Wood
Keithville, LA
E-mail:labirder(at)bellsouth(dot)net
Blog: http://labirder(dot)blogspot(dot)com/
Photos: http://www(dot)pbase(dot)com/labirder/
Video: http://www(dot)putfile(dot)com/labirder

BSG members and all,

I've noticed a few immature Ruby-throated Hummingbirds around the last couple of days. The activity at the feeders was busy yesterday after the big storm rolled though.
Went for a walk this mourning and saw and heard several Prothonotary Warblers, a single Indigo Bunting, and lots of Northern Cardinals. Butterflies seen included Question Mark, Red Admiral and Cloudless Sulphur.
Yellow-bellied Cuckoos have been quite easy to see around the house along with the occasional Summer Tanager.   Several families of Northern Cardinals are coming to the feeders as are House Finches and Brown-head Cowbirds.
As Always, Good Birding!
Bill Wood
Keithville, LA
E-mail:labirder(at)bellsouth(dot)net
Blog: http://labirder(dot)blogspot(dot)com/
Photos: http://www(dot)pbase(dot)com/labirder/
Video: http://www(dot)putfile(dot)com/labirder 

6/06/2007

Bill Wood

BSG members,

The 2 of the 4 chicks from the last brood of Eastern Phoebe chicks from my brother's nest fledged but unfortunately two failed to survive. One was found beneath the nest while another very small chick with few feathers was found inside the nest.

Also on a personal note I just wanted to let my fellow birders know that as of today I am no longer employed at Fairfield Grocery. Thanks to all that stopped by and shared their bird sighting.


As Always, Good Birding!

Bill Wood
Keithville, LA
E-mail:labirder(at)bellsouth(dot)net
Blog: http://labirder(dot)blogspot(dot)com/
Photos: http://www(dot)pbase(dot)com/labirder/
Video: http://www(dot)putfile(dot)com/labirder

6/02/2007

Ron and Susan Martin

5/29/2007

Clyde Massey

Dear Fellow BSGers,

The Cooper's Hawks nesting in my yard now have one young chick (white and downy).  Can't be more than a few days old.  Also have 3 Yellow-crowned Night Heron nests, one of which has young birds.  Keep you updated on their progress...

Clyde Massey

5/28/2007

Bill Wood

As Always, Good Birding!

Bill Wood
Keithville, LA
E-mail:labirder(at)bellsouth(dot)net
Blog: http://labirder(dot)blogspot(dot)com/
Photos: http://www(dot)pbase(dot)com/labirder/
Video: http://www(dot)putfile(dot)com/labirder

5/19/2007

Bill Hall

5/17/2007

Jay Huner

Folks - For those of you not on LABIRD, I thought this might interest you. Nancy's warblers and thrushes overflew us here. Paul's hummers may be sucking my feeders dry. - Jay

----- Original Message -----
From: <jjhuner(at)mindspring.com>
To: "Bulletin Board for Dissemination of Information on Louisiana Birds"

Had to go to town around 12:30 PM CDST today - Alexandria from Cotile Lake. Two birds stood out - one sort of expected and one seen rarely by my anywhere in the parish.

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher - one bird flying across Robison Road near its intersection with LA 28 W.

SWALLOW-TAILED KITE - one bird "on the deck" in the blustery, gusting north winds on the east side of LA 496 just past its intersection with LA 121 along Bayou Rapides Road. This is the third time I've seen Swallow-tailed Kites in the parish - once flying across the SE arm of Cotile Lake and once flying across LA 121 at Hineston by the Calcasieu River bridge. [My wife saw a kite at the Hineston site one other time.] I am sort of suspecting that there may be a breeding kite presence in the "lake district" of the Kincaid/Cotile/Valentine lakes region.

Other birds found today in the Cotile Lake and Alexandria areas: Double-crested Cormorant [1 "young gray-bellied bird that forgot to fly north OR is the off-spring of a local area breeding event?!], Great Egret, Little Blue Heron, Cattle Egret, Turkey Vulture, Red-shouldered Hawk, Killdeer, Rock Pigeon, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Inca Dove, Chimney Swift, Ruby-throated Hummingbird [sucking up sugar water big time this week!], Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Great Crested Flycatcher, Eastern Kingbird, Loggerhead Shrike, Red-eyed Vireo, Blue Jay, Fish Crow, Purple Martin, Barn Swallow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Brown-headed Nuthatch, Carolina Wren, Eastern Bluebird, American Robin, Northern Mockingbird, Northern Parula, Pine Warbler, Summer Tanager, Chipping Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird, House Finch, House Sparrow.

Missed around home but still "possible" today - present yesterday and clearly breeding in the area: Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Eastern Wood-Pewee, and Orchard Oriole. Might pick up Great Blue Heron, Green Heron, and Common Nighthawk before nightfall. Didn't go by the rookery where I would probably have found Purple Gallinule.

I really appreciate learning about birds anywhere in the state and hope posts like this are useful. I really thought that the posts that Bill, Nancy, and Paul sent from the Shreveport area were interesting as were the reports from the Monroe, New Orleans and Baton Rouge areas. The weekend posts from Cameron were especially appreciated.

Jay Huner

5/17/2007
Nancy Menasco

I spent a couple of hours at the Red River NWR Headquarters Unit in Bossier City this morning. I had 8 species of warbler, including Nashville, Yellow, Chestnut-sided, Magnolia, Blackburnian (male & female), Black-and-white, Mourning, and Wilson's Warblers, plus Red-eyed Vireo, Swainson's Thrush in one small area of the pecan orchard before I had to leave. I was just about standing in one place the entire time, maybe walking 50 ft each way. The pecan trees are huge, old trees with lots of vines (poison ivy, Virginia creeper, grape) on them. Understory includes mulberries, elderberry, and tons of blackberry thickets. The entire list is below.

Nancy Menasco
nmcpa(at)aol.com
Shreveport, LA

Wood Duck 2
Great Egret 1
Mourning Dove 6
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Downy Woodpecker 1
Eastern Wood-Pewee 1
Red-eyed Vireo 3
Blue Jay 2
Purple Martin 8
Carolina Chickadee 7
Tufted Titmouse 3
Carolina Wren 1
Swainson's Thrush 1
American Robin 13
Northern Mockingbird 4
Nashville Warbler 1
Yellow Warbler 2
Chestnut-sided Warbler 2
Magnolia Warbler 1
Blackburnian Warbler 2
Black-and-white Warbler 1
Mourning Warbler 1
Wilson's Warbler 1
Summer Tanager 1
Northern Cardinal 5
Indigo Bunting 4
Common Grackle 3
Brown-headed Cowbird 6

5/17/2007
Paul Dickson

Subject: [Birdalert] wave of migrant hummers in NW La

For the past two weeks hummingbird usage of feeders in my yard has been low and the few birds captured for banding have been low on fat, previously banded or showing signs of egg laying, all indicators of local residents. I can usually catch only 1 or 2 in the first hour of the day. Sunday and Monday I noticed a dramatic surge in numbers at feeders and flowers. This phenomena was reported to Dennis Forshee at the Wild Bird Center by his customers from all over the Shreveport-Bossier City area such that people were coming in and buying more feeders. Rain was present at first which at times explains higher feeder usage but after the rain ended the numbers remained high at the feeders. This morning I captured 15 in the first hour of the day, 13 of which were un-banded prior to May 13 when this surge began. Observations of birds in hand during banding over the period suggest that most of these are migrants. Many had fat levels at 4 or 5 which I usually see here only in fall migration. North Louisiana often gets over flown by north bound migrants but perhaps this was a fall out due to the thunderstorms. May 17th seems late for such a wave of migrants but apparently there are still plenty passing through at this latitude. The fat deposits would suggest that some of these fat birds have staged a short distance to the south of here long enough to build the fat before making this move northward. The gender of fat and unmarked birds that I captured, which I suggest are migrants, was evenly distributed between males and females.

Paul Dickson
Shreveport, Louisiana

5/16/2007
Bill Wood

Subject: [Birdalert] Yard Birds, Nesting Mockers and moths

To all,

During a break in the weather this morning I sat on the swing out back and saw a nice array of birds in just 30 minutes.  Of course Northern Cardinals were seen with a few feeding recently fledged young.  Also saw both Prothonotary and Pine Warblers, Downy and Red-bellied Woodpeckers,  a first year male Summer Tanager, several Chimney Swifts, a very low flying Mississippi Kite, Mourning Doves, half-dozen Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, a pair of Carolina Chickadees, Eastern Bluebird, Brown Thrasher, Brown-headed Cowbird, Common Grackle and several Northern Mockingbirds.
Speaking of Mockingbirds, a pair has built a nest on the dining patio where I work, Fairfield Grocery Market and Cafe (Shreveport).  The nest is in some vines growing up the trellis of one of the planter boxes.  The eggs hatched a week ago Sunday and at present four chicks are being feed.  This nest is just a few feet away from several of the patio tables.  Surprising no one has been attacked yet!  Photo can been seen at:
http://www.pbase(dot)com/labirder/mockingbird_nest

On a non-birding note my brother called me this past Monday to tell me about a really strange looking moth he found.  I rushed over with my camera and took a few photo of what I learned was a Cecopia Moth.  It has a very interesting life cycle and it is our largest moth.  It's a very striking moth and the first I have ever seen. Photos at:
http://">http://www.pbase(dot)com/labirder/moths

BTW, my brother's nesting Eastern Phoebes fledged five about two weeks ago and a week later the nest had another 5 eggs in it. This will make the eighth brood in four years.

As Always, Good Birding!

Bill Wood
Keithville, LA
E-mail: http://labirder(at)bellsouth(dot)net
Blog: http://labirder(dot)blogspot(dot)com/
Photos: http://www(dot).pbase(dot)com/labirder/

Subject: [Birdalert] Claiborne Field Trip May 19 RSVP

If you are planning on going on the Claiborne Parish field trip on Saturday, May 19, and you didn't sign up at the BSG meeting Tuesday night, please RSVP to me as soon as possible. Our hostess, M.E. Lewis, called to say she will be providing a lunch of chicken salad and carrot salad and bread for sandwiches, plus drinks, chips, and cookies, so she needs to know how many are coming. She also said don't bother to bring a chair; she has plenty

The caravan/carpool will leave LSUS at 7:00 a.m. on Saturday, May 19. Note that this is a week from this Saturday. Below is a list of who's signed up so far; if you're on this list, you don't need to RSVP again. If you know anyone who's planning to come but isn't on the BirdAlert, please pass this on.

Nancy Menasco
868-3255

Field trippers:
1. M.E. Lewis
2. John Dillon
3. Nancy Menasco
4. Jerry Bertrand
5. Linda Adrion
6. Rosemary Seidler
7. Vicki LeFevers
8. Jim Ingold (maybe)
9. Janet Murray (maybe)
10. Jean Trahan
11. Jeff Trahan
12. Martha Lennard
13. Nora McClure

Subject: [Birdalert] Bickham Dickson Park - shorebirds and more

Although it was raining , I made a quick drive though the back loop at BD Park and saw the most Wood Ducks I have ever seen there. I counted a total of 56 with one group of 22 with others in groups of 2-6, had 8 blue-winged teal as well. Lots of snowy egret, yellow-crowned night-herons and 100's of swallows, mostly barn with a few rough-winged mixed in. At the boat launch area I had 3 Pectoral, 6 Least, and 1 Spotted Sandpiper. Also had a lesser yellow-legs in the same area.

Could be really good after the ran stops.

Good Birding

Bill Wood

Subject: [Birdalert] Rose-breasted Grosbeaks and more

BSG members and all,

Had a few migrants around the house and woods out back. Sunday had a White-eyed Vireo, Gray Catbird and a female Summer Tanager in the woods. Also saw a chick on the Red-shouldered Hawk nest while two Mississippi Kites and a dozen Chimney Swifts were soaring overhead. The feeders had both male and female Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Indigo Buntings along with other year around residents.

As Always, Good Birding!

Bill Wood
Keithville, LA
E-mail: labirder(at)bellsouth(dot)net
Blog: http://labirder(dot)blogspot(dot)com/
Photos: http://www(dot)pbase(dot)com/labirder/
Video: http://www(dot)putfile(dot)com/labirder

Subject: [Birdalert] Red River NWR Headquarters Sunday

I spent a couple of hours at the Red River NWR Headquarters Unit in Bossier City late Sunday morning mainly in the pecan orchard. There are a number of small mulberries trees growing up; 2 Rose-breasted Grosbeaks and 9 Gray Catbirds and a small flock of Cedar Waxwings were munching on the berries. Only had 2 warblers, an American Redstart & a Common Yellowthroat. The refuge is a good spot to find migrating Lincoln's Sparrows; had 3 on Sunday. One of the resident Great Horned Owls was also hanging out in the pecan grove. Also had a Broad-winged Hawk overhead. Complete list follows.

Nancy Menasco
Shreveport, LA

Complete list:
Pied-billed Grebe 2
Turkey Vulture 3
Broad-winged Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
American Coot 6
Mourning Dove 10
Great Horned Owl 1
Chimney Swift 4
Red-bellied Woodpecker 4
Downy Woodpecker 2
Eastern Wood-Pewee 2
Great Crested Flycatcher 2
Blue Jay 10
Purple Martin 8
Carolina Chickadee 6
Tufted Titmouse 1
Carolina Wren 3
House Wren 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1
American Robin 14
Gray Catbird 9
Northern Mockingbird 4
Brown Thrasher 2
European Starling 2
Cedar Waxwing 18
American Redstart 1
Common Yellowthroat 1
Summer Tanager 1
Lincoln's Sparrow 3
White-throated Sparrow 6
Northern Cardinal 12
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 2
Indigo Bunting 26
Orchard Oriole 2
House Sparrow 2

Subject: [Birdalert] North Caddo birding Saturday

Linda Adrion and I birded northeastern Caddo Parish last Saturday. We picked up a number of the area specialties, including 5 Swainson's Hawks & a Yellow-headed Blackbird at the Sentell Road sod farm, 3 Upland Sandpipers & 5 Pectoral Sandpipers & a Western Kingbird elsewhere on Sentell Road, another Western Kingbird and a Grasshopper Sparrow on Gilliam Levee Road, and 5 Lark Sparrows in various places. At the sod farm, we ran into Mr. Netherton, who told us he had 20+ Yellow-headed Blackbirds there earlier in the day and kindly opened the gate to the road to the cattle pens so we could see the one that was still sitting there. Our main miss was Bobolink; nothing at the usual hangout on Thunder Road. Dickcissels were EVERYWHERE.

Area covered included Thunder Road, Gilliam Levee Road, Gilliam Airport Road, Gilliam Scott Slough Road, LA 2 Red River bridge, Hosston Miller's Bluff Road, Sentell Road, the Sentell Road sod farm, and some of Old River Road/LA 3049. This area is mainly agricultural fields along the Red River with a smattering of woods here & there. Complete list is below.

Nancy Menasco
Shreveport, Caddo Parish, LA

Complete list:
Wood Duck 1
Pied-billed Grebe 5
Great Blue Heron 2
Turkey Vulture 3
Swainson's Hawk 5
Red-tailed Hawk 1
American Kestrel 1
Killdeer 6
Upland Sandpiper 3
Pectoral Sandpiper 5
Rock Pigeon 14
Eurasian Collared-Dove 2
Mourning Dove 6
Chimney Swift 4
Red-bellied Woodpecker 3
Eastern Wood-Pewee 4
Great Crested Flycatcher 1
Western Kingbird 2
Eastern Kingbird 11
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 27
Blue Jay 2
American Crow 9
Fish Crow 1
Purple Martin 22
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 2
Cliff Swallow 200
Barn Swallow 4
Carolina Chickadee 8
Tufted Titmouse 1
Carolina Wren 2
Eastern Bluebird 8
American Robin 4
Northern Mockingbird 18
European Starling 8
Cedar Waxwing 10
Yellow-breasted Chat 1
Lark Sparrow 5
Savannah Sparrow 8
Grasshopper Sparrow 1
White-throated Sparrow 2
White-crowned Sparrow 8
Northern Cardinal 14
Blue Grosbeak 1
Indigo Bunting 4
Dickcissel 110
Red-winged Blackbird 270
Eastern Meadowlark 7
Yellow-headed Blackbird 1
Common Grackle 1
Brown-headed Cowbird 57
Orchard Oriole 3
Baltimore Oriole 3
House Sparrow 1

Subject: [Birdalert] Fw: NEXRAD observed bird migration, 4-27 - Alexandria, LA Area 4-28 and Bald Eagles and Wading Birds at Cotile Lake

Thought you folks might find this report of interest. Also, over the past 10 days, I've seen one or two adult Bald Eagles on at least 4 separate days here at Cotile Lake. This is the first time I've seen eagles at the lake since late January. However, I live half way between the head of the lake and the dam. My friend who lives near the head of the lake, reports seeing eagles hanging around his home throughout the winter. But, I rarely run my boat up that direction.

Also, the heronry on the SW Arm of the lake is in "FULL OPERATION" with at least 75 pairs of Little Blue Herons and 200 or more pairs of Cattle Egrets nesting there now. There are apparently 3-4 pairs of Snowy Egrets and at least one pair of Tricolored Herons nesting there along with 5 or more pairs of Anhingas. The Purple Gallinules showed up at least 2.5 weeks ago. The Common Moorhens either left or are off away from my line of vision nesting.

I've yet to find any nesting Great Egrets. There are probably a few pairs of Green Herons nesting in the area.

Jay Huner

----- Original Message -----
Sent: Saturday, April 28, 2007 6:03 PM
Subject: NEXRAD observed bird migration, 4-27 - Alexandria, LA Area 4-28

I woke up to find Rose-breasted Grosbeaks at my feeders along with Indigo Buntings - Cotile Lake. We went to Alexandria - Jackson Street Extension - to Marigold House where my mother in law is now staying. There are several large mulberry trees along the fence on one side of the property. I found Swainson's Thrush, Gray Catbird, and Rose-breasted Grosbeak there around noon. These are clearly migrants and probably ones that rode the favorable south winds northward away from the coast. There were also many waxwings, probably fueling up for their northward travels, and 3 or 4 "resident" American Robins.

Jay Huner

Subject: [Birdalert] bobolinks

Hello, All!

Went out yesterday morning to Smithport Lake Dam, around Carmel, and over to Lock and Dam #4.found 4 male Bobolinks at #4! beautiful! Got to hear them bubbly bobolink for the first time! Sweet!

Did get a total of 69 species. not anything real unusual but all beautiful just the same.

Had N. Parula at the Smithport Dam and an Anhinga and YB Cuckoo.

Also had Anhinga at #4 and a pair of Blue-winged Teal.

Have a blessed day,

Velda

Subject: [Birdalert] fallout!

BSG: This afternoon the signs of a big fall out were apparent. Radar shows it, the weather is appropriate and I saw birds dropping in from the sky late this afternoon at Pinola. The first thing I noticed when I got down there from work about 6:00PM were large flocks of Indigo Buntings and groups of Blue Grosbeaks. Though I have had Indigo Buntings all week these were the first big flocks. In addition I saw a male Scarlet Tanager and a male Rose-breasted Grosbeak drop into pecan trees from the sky. Oriole chatter was everywhere. Catbirds were darting across the road. I did not see any canopy action (warblers) in the pecans but then it was windy and late and I wouldn't expect to see them under those conditions. Tomorrow morning as soon as the storms subside it should be really really good birding.

Paul

Subject: [Birdalert] cooper's hawks

Hey BSGers,

The Cooper's Hawks are back on the nest in my yard. The female is currently sitting on the eggs. If successful, hatching should occur the latter part of May (?).The male is an adult (same as last year?), but the female is a different bird: a first year immature! She seems to be a good Mom, though. She's been fighting off squirrels.

Over the past few days a pair of Yellow-crowned Night Herons have been building a nest in another Oak tree in my neighbors yard. We'll see how they do.

Other than watching my yard, I haven't been able to do much birding this Spring.

I will be out of town some over the next two weekends, and after that I should be here for a while. If you are interested in seeing the nest/birds, please call me so we can arrange a time.

Clyde Massey
868-9537 Home
393-4941 Cell

BSG members, Labirders and all,

Bill Wood
Keithville, LA
E-mail: labirder(at)bellsouth(dot)net
Blog: http://labirder(dot)blogspot(dot)com/
Photos: http://www(dot)pbase(dot)com/labirder/
Video: http://www(dot)putfile(dot)com/labirder

BSG members, Labirders and all,

Bickham Dickson Park, 04-22-07

Number of Species: 37

As Always, Good Birding!

Hello, All!

Take care all and God bless,

I SAW (6) MALE BLUE GROSBEAKS IN MY BACKYARD, WHICH IS IN WOODLAKE SOUTH ON BLACK BAYOU AT BENTON. THEY WERE FEEDING ON THE GROUND UNDERNEATH SOME BIRD FEEDERS

What is this bird?

Mail responses to birdalert please.

Caddo Parish birders, well done. Now get out there, find nests, and report them!  Rosemary Seidler
___________________________________________________________________

Folks, The final parish standings from the 2006 Louisiana Nest Record Database are

As an update to the faithful nest card submitters, the 2007 standings can be found on the website. Here are the top three.
East Baton Rouge - 1st with a whopping 7 nests
Ouchita - 2nd with 6 nests
Caddo and Orleans - 3rd with 3 nests

Robb Brumfield, Assistant Curator/Professor
Museum of Natural Science
119 Foster Hall
Louisiana State University
Baton Rouge, LA 70803

Subject: Tailless Hummer!

Hello, All!

Thought this was interesting -- I had a tail-less hummer yesterday! I mean zero tail feathers! he looked like a miniature chimney swift. thought about a Calliope but even they have short tails.

This bird reminded me so much of "Rusty", the Rufous Hummer, that visited here for a week in the Fall of 2003.He came with only 6 tail feathers and after our local hummingbird bander (whose shall be nameless) finished with his positive ID and proof for the records, Rusty left here with only 4 tail feathers! I referred to it as a 'match stick tail'.

I caught a quick glimpse of this tailless hummer as he flew up to the kitchen window feeder. Thought maybe it was a hummingbird moth but other than the tail, it looked just like a male hummer so I kept watching and sure enough - here he came again! He was just as fast and furious a flyer as the other male chasing him!

How much fun the world of nature!

Also had my FOSpring male Orchard Oriole and YT Vireo yesterday. had quite a few birds in the yard in the early morning hours.

Yesterday evening I had a spring plumaged Yellow Rump. Quite pretty!

May God bless you all with a great day and great birds!

Velda

Subject: [Birdalert] Correction!!!

BSG members and all,

Don't know what I was thinking, obviously I wasn't, but as Jim Ingold pointed out for me those are Yellow-crowned Night-Herons. Senior moment!

As Always, Good Birding!

Bill Wood
Keithville, LA
E-mail:   labirder(at)bellsouth.net
Blog:       http://labirder(dot)blogspot.com/
Photos:  http://www.pbase(dot)com/labirder/
Video:     http://www.putfile(dot)com/labirder 

Subject: [Birdalert] North Caddo Parish birds - no Easter Eggs :-(

Terry Davis and I went to the sod farm in north Caddo Parish early this afternoon.

Highlights:

297 American Golden Plovers
1 Upland Sandpiper
3 Sprague’s Pipits
7 – American Kestrels (all very close together - migrants we think – a little over a week ago I had only 2 in the same area)

Jim Ingold

Subject: [Birdalert] Bickham Dickson Park birds

BSG members,

I spent a few hours at Bickham Dickson Park (Caddo Parish) this afternoon. The trails in the woods were dead. One lone Red-headed

Woodpecker was all that was seen around the back loop drive I got nice looks of several Black-crowned Night-herons. Pics can be seen at http://www.pbase(dot)com/labirder/bickham_dickson_park.

Not a lot else other than some Barn Swallow, Purple Martins and few Great Egrets. There were still a good number of American Coots and Pied-billed Grebes on the ox-bow lake along with a pair of Blue-winged Teal.

More pics and my blog at: http://labirder(dot)blogspot.com/

As Always, Good Birding!

Bill Wood
Keithville, LA
Blog:       http://labirder(dot)blogspot.com/
Photos:  http://www.pbase(dot)com/labirder/

Subject: [Birdalert] Status of Lake Martin and Shameless Commercial for Nancy Camel's Book

Good Evening,

Thought some of you who are not on LABIRD might find this report of interest.

Jay Huner

----- Original Message -----
To: "Bulletin Board for Dissemination of Information on Louisiana Birds"
Subject: Lake Martin and Shameless Commercial for Nancy Camel's Book

LABIRD SUBSCRIBERS AND READERS,

Lake Martin in St. Martin Parish about half way between St. Martinville and Breaux Bridge OR half way between Lafayette and Breaux Bridge is a wooded wetland wonderland home to The Nature Conservancy's Cypress Island Preserve. Over 240 bird species have been documented there and most hard working birders will find over 50 species there any day of the year.

The site has been home for the last two decades to a rookery where egrets, herons, night-herons, spoonbills, and cormorants nest ADJACENT to Rookery Road. Alligators show up under the nests and make the site a spring eco-tourism location that brings thousands of people to St. Martin Parish in the February-July period.

The "accessible" rookery was abandoned by the birds a year ago in March 2006. But, the night time roost there was never abandoned. And, at least one, possibly two, rookery were successful during the spring of 2006 elsewhere in the complex but far from the eyes of most visitors.

A good number of nesting birds have returned this spring - Great Egrets and Roseate Spoonbills predominate - but they are well away from the road now.

The Rookery Road rookery is changing. You can find people who remember when it did not exist at all. You can find people like me that saw the first several pairs of nesting Roseate Spoonbills muscling their way in amongst the Little Blue Herons and Cattle Egrets that numbered in the hundreds of pairs nesting in the button bush flat a decade ago - now dispersed to other sites in the complex, for the most part.

Shameless Commercial:

Nancy Camel has published a wonderful coffee table book about Lake Martin. Copies can be found at competitive prices in all bookstores, pretty much, in Louisiana. The book features not only Nancy's wonderful images but also a text about the birds, the geography/geology, and the peoples of Lake Martin. Looking for an Easter Gift that will be treasured by someone who loves nature? Get a copy of Nancy's book.

Sincerely,

Jay Huner

Subject: [Birdalert] Grand Isle Migratory Bird Celebration

Kay Radlauer asked me to pass this along from Beth Maniscalco.

Nancy Menasco

In less than two weeks we will have the opportunity to celebrate TEN YEARS of the Grand Isle Migratory Bird Celebration! Activities will begin on Friday, April 13thand go through dusk Sat. April 14.

Grand Isle has provided us all with wonderful birding and the Celebration has attempted to focus the attention of diverse groups of people on the value of preserving the Island. Again this year, the Celebration will have activities for birders and non-birders, opportunities to socialize, boat tours, and a nature related craft show.

The entire schedule and information is available at http://grandisle.btnep.org.

We look forward to seeing you on the Island April 13th and 14th.

Good Birding,

Beth Maniscalco
Member, GIMBC Planning Committee

Subject: [Birdalert] FOS Birds this weekend

BSG members and all,

Had several FOS birds over the weekend. At home heard a White-eyed Vireo and saw a flyover Chimney Swift. At Bickham Dickson Park Saturday had single Eastern Kingbird and Scissor-tailed Flycatcher.

As Always, Good Birding!

Bill Wood
Keithville, LA
E-mail:   labirder(at)bellsouth.net
Blog:       http://labirder(dot)blogspot.com/
Photos:  http://www.pbase(dot)com/labirder/
Video:     http://www.putfile(dot)com/labirder 

Subject: [Birdalert] FOSpring

Hello, All!

Saw my first this season Scissor-tailed Flycatcher yesterday near Mansfield! Always beautiful! Beat it's earliest arrival date of last year by one day!

Had a White-eyed Vireo wed. near converse and Cattle Egret wed. near I-49.

Several songs in my yard I couldn't recognize nor find.

Lots of pretty butterflies!

Yippee!

May God bless,

Velda

Subject: [Birdalert] BSG news

The deadline for contributions for the April BSG newsletter is tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m.
Please send bird records to Mac at lhardy(at)lsus (dot) edu and other info to me at acrnkovi(at)lsus(dot)edu.

Thanks,

Amanda

Amanda Crnkovic
Instructor, Department of Biological Sciences
Collections Manager, Museum of Life Sciences
Louisiana State University in Shreveport
One University Place
Shreveport, LA 71115-2399

Subject: [Birdalert] Hooded Warblers Reach CENLA

Had a pair of Hooded Warblers arguing about territories in the piney woods east of Cotile Lake in NW Rapides Parish this morning.

This apparently follows the push that brought the Northern Parulas here in good numbers Thursday/Friday. The parulas nest in our neighborhood but you have to go into the "woods" to find the Hooded Warblers.

Jay Huner

Subject: [Birdalert] FOS Ruby-throated Hummingbird

BSG members, Labirders and all,

While reading my e-mail at the computer this morning at 10:36 a.m. a male Ruby-throated Hummingbird came and made a brief visit to the feeder. FOS for me. Also had a pair of Barred Owls calling late last night.

As Always, Good Birding!

Bill Wood
Keithville, LA
E-mail:   labirder(at)bellsouth.net
Photos:  http://www.pbase(dot)com/labirder/
Video:     http://www.putfile(dot)com/labirder 

Subject: [Birdalert] Louisiana Waterthrush

BSG: Louisiana Waterthrush have returned to Walter Jacobs Nature Park. I first heard one on March 19. Today I heard one singing behind my window and quickly checked it out. A very cooperative adult was perched about 30' above a drainage feeding Fordney Creek.

Larry

Subject: [Birdalert] first hummer!

Hello, All!

Well, as always, my front porch remains to be a great place to sit and listen during breakfast!

There I was just eating my heart-healthy oatmeal and fruit when I heard that old familiar and welcome sound -- the buzzing of a hummer! Yoo-hoo!

This spring's first for me. No light on this bird, but I'd wager it is a male Ruby-throat. Sadly, I have no blooming flowers except wildflowers so he will likely move on or visit with the neighbors a lot!

I have been out of town for 3 days so I do not know when he actually came. But I am thrilled he's here!

Yippee!

And may God bless,

Velda

Subject: [Birdalert] scissor-tail

Susan saw a scissor-tailed flycatcher on East Kings Hwy near Lowe's at 3:45 pm Tuesday.

Ron and Susan Martin

Subject: [Birdalert] first ruby-throated at my house today

A male Ruby-throated hummingbird was feeding today at my red honeysuckle and at a feeder.

Paul Dickson

Subject: [Birdalert] Little Blue Herons at Cotile Lake in Central Louisiana 20 March 2007

Those of you not on LABIRD may find this report of arriving Little Blue Herons of interest.

Jay Huner

----- Original Message -----
To: "Bulletin Board for Dissemination of Information on Louisiana Birds"
Sent: Tuesday, March 20, 2007 9:21 PM
Subject: Little Blue Herons at Cotile Lake in Central Louisiana 20 March 2007

> Made a run to the rookery in the SW arm of Cotile Lake this morning before the wind came up. There are only buds on the cypress trees and I was able to find approximately 30 adult Little Blue Herons staking out nesting sites in the branches. There have been 3-5 Little Blue Herons at the site throughout the winter - 2 or 3 adults and 1 or 2 white juveniles [along with 0-3 Tricolored Herons and 0-2 Snowy Egrets]. [I saw no Tricolored Herons this morning but there were 3 Snowy Egrets feeding in the shallow water around the Little Blue Herons.] I don't think that this congregation represents a movement of over-wintering birds in the region. I suspect that many of these birds are new migrants.

Interestingly, I took a trip to the Brownsville-McAllen-Falcon Dam area in the Lower Rio Grande Valley last Wed.-Sun. We saw no more than 4 adult Little Blue Herons on the trip. However, I came home from Galveston via the ferry and saw a flock of about 10 adult Little Blue Herons flying northward shortly after dawn yesterday.

Jay Huner

Subject: Rufus hummingbird

hello,

I was wondering if anybody knew how to contact Gloria Frampton. I have never seen a Rufous, as I recently moved from Michigan. She spoke to me about it at the meeting but I thought it may just be a Ruby-throated. I was wondering if I could get permission from her to photograph it. If you or anybody in the group know how to contact her, could you please have her call me, if she will let me. My number is 525-4570. Thank you very much

Al Martinez

Subject: [Birdalert] female rufous banded at Gloria Frampton's

BSG: Thanks to Gloria’s bird report last night and the group’s urging her to call me, I was able to band only the fourth winter hummer uncovered this year in North Louisiana and only my second in Shreveport. This was a 2006 hatch female Rufous Hummingbird with a confusing plumage that was a mixture of adult and immature characteristics that had me confused and calling Nancy Newfield. The formerly immature bird had nearly completed spring molt into adult plumage. I’m not used to handling them so late in the winter. I was lucky that it was raining today as hummers are easier to catch at feeders in rain. With flowers blooming and bugs active and of course these western species heading home soon I nearly missed this one. Gloria promises me that she will call sooner next year.

Any more out there?

Ruby-throated are showing up inland from the coast now. I expect that first males will reach Alexandria-Natchitoches area in the next two days and then Shreveport-Bossier by the weekend.

Paul

Subject: [Birdalert] Northern Rough-winged Swallows

BSG members and all,

Yesterday around 4:30 I had several Northern Rough-winged Swallows at the drainage pond next to the Sam's Club on Youree Drive.

As Always, Good Birding!

Bill Wood
Keithville, LA
E-mail:   labirder(at)bellsouth.net
Blog:       http://labirder(dot)blogspot.com/
Photos:  http://www.pbase(dot)com/labirder/
Video:     http://www.putfile(dot)com/labirder 

Subject: [Birdalert] Nesting Eastern Phoebe back again!

BSG members, Labirders and all,

For the fourth ( I think, may be fifth ) straight year a Eastern Phoebe has returned to build a nest in the same spot on the back porch of my brother's home. My brother noticed the Phoebe bringing nest material to the platform above the security light (which is now unplugged) on Saturday. My brother also lives in Keithville, just south of Shreveport.

As Always, Good Birding!

Bill Wood
Keithville, LA
E-mail:   labirder(at)bellsouth.net
Blog:       http://labirder(dot)blogspot.com/
Photos:  http://www.pbase(dot)com/labirder/
Video:     http://www.putfile(dot)com/labirder 

Subject: [Birdalert] nest records

It's that time of year again. If you find a nest please enter it into the LSU data base. Start at the the site listed below then click on Nest Record Project. Register and follow directions from there. It takes a while to enter data the first time but after a few times it is easy.

http://appl003.lsu.edu/natsci/labirdweb.nsf/index

Rosemary Seidler
Shreveport

Subject: [Birdalert] jack is back!

Hello, All!

Well, after a tense weekend -- the Barn Swallows rule!

Found out who the nest culprit was -- a Carolina Wren. I'd heard the wren several times on the porch. then woke up Sat. morning to a perfectly good wren nest built right on top of Jack and Jill's home! an hour later the nest entrance was mussy. That afternoon much of the wren nest was hanging down the side of the mud nest and other pieces on the porch floor. So with love for jack and Jill, I helped Jill out and pulled the rest of the wren nest down. Jill slept on the porch that night.

Sunday morning the wren was inspecting all this and pitching a fit. Jill slept on the nest that night.

Monday I saw no one at the nest all day. Nor did I see Jill all day nor did she sleep on the nest or the porch. I was truly afraid the wren had run her off.

Still no one home this Tuesday morning at 5am when we left the house for Baton Rouge. Home at 6 pm - still no one seen.

Ah,,,,,,,,, but just after dark this evening, there sat Jack and Jill both on the nest! Yippee! More fun with Barn Swallows! I was sincerely glad to have them both here. Even my husband who is not a birder, was looking for them. And we all know once the birds arrive, we do not turn on the porch lights so as not to frighten them. One flew in the house one night because of the porch light and that frightened us! We only use the yard lights now.

Now that jack is here to help, I suppose they will get on with building up the nest again and raising babies # 62 -71 (without checking my official records)! I'm fairly certain Jill is the same bird as last year because of the white patches in her wings. Haven't got a good look at jack yet.

The I-49 bar pits had several ducks in them today. Did not see many waders, though. A few peeps south of Alex.2 dozen Cattle Egret in Opelousas.

Yoo-hoo and good birding!

May God bless,

Velda

Subject: [Birdalert] Barn Swallows in Rapides Parish

I left home last Wednesday - 28 Feb. - and got back in early afternoon yesterday - 4 March. Got down to my pier after dark and noted some "tell tale" droppings from under the overhang. This morning, sure enough, a Barn Swallow took off when I went to check around dawn.

I had seen a single Barn Swallow near the Cotile Lake Rookery on Monday afternoon.

I also had three Barn Swallows in Ascension Parish east of Baton Rouge this past Friday and Saturday.

Jay Huner

Subject: [Birdalert] Jill is back! -- our barn swallow!

Hello, All!

Well, she's back! Jill, our resident Barn Swallow or her replacement, is back on the front porch this evening!

Some of you will recall, the swallows came here for the first time in 2001 after the drought fire of 2000 left such wide open spaces. Since then they have raised 2 broods each season on the same nest - just adding new lining and a fresh mud lip. We named them Jack and Jill.

Jill arrived one day late of her record - Feb. 27, 2006. the mate generally shows up a few days later.

I'm not certain what's going on with her nest. last weekend i noticed the 10 inch high mud nest had a bunch of muss hanging from it - hay, feathers, leaves, etc. definitely not a swallow type. Supposing it to be a wren or even a mouse, i pulled the stuff out of it last Sunday. This morning i saw Jill flying through the sky. And this evening at 5 pm the nest was mussy again - with leaves, hay, feathers, etc. At 6pm Jill was roosting on the front porch eve. I do not know if something else is trying to build there and Jill actually arrived just today, or if she has been here for 5 days, unseen, and building a very unusual nest.

Thought the phoebes may be trying to take it over. But I did see them out in john's shop today on and off the metal beams where they have nested the last few years.

Truth is, I will likely never know - unless Jill cleans house in the next few days and brings her muddy, mussy abode back to a typical swallow style home!

Till then, everyone else is checking out nest boxes and building new cavities in the not-blown-down tall trees. Sadly, many of the winter birds seem to have flown the coop to do the same up north. Butterflies are appearing one at the time. Flowering trees and flowers are beginning to bloom.

Ah..... isn't life grand when all seems right with the world - and all the little birds are coming home to nest!

Take care all and may God bless,

Velda

Subject: [Birdalert] sorry!

Sorry all!

I didn't realize the info from Janis was coming to and from the bird alert.

But, maybe someone else is learning a solution to their starling problem as I am.

Again, my apologies.

And may God bless,

Velda

Subject: [Birdalert] martins, starling, and an eagle

hello, all!

This morning I had my first Purple Martin back. Yippee!

Bad thing was I also counted 14 starlings nearby - some of which are definitely in the martin box. Last year I had 1 pair of starlings nesting in the martin box. How can I get rid of the starlings and keep the Martins. Any suggestions? I would truly appreciate any advice.

Yesterday I believe I saw a Bald Eagle in the Wallace Lake overflow area along I-49. I noticed the bird just supposing him to be a vulture. he was flying south as if following the ditch/fence on the east side of the highway - just out our window! I found no wing pattern to fit either vulture pattern. As I desperately tried to find his white head the bird disappeared over the roof of the car. Because of traffic I could not pull over. I could definitely tell his head was much lighter than his body and he was a large bird - definitely large enough for an eagle. My passenger agreed it was not a vulture but she did not know what it was - no, she is not a birder. Hubert, keep your eyes open!

For the GBBC, the highlight birds of my yard were the 25 Snow Geese i picked up early Sat. am flying in the distance.

Again, I would appreciate advice concerning ridding of the starlings.

Thanks and God bless,

Velda

Subject: [Birdalert] Pine Siskins

Labirders and all,

Had six Pine Siskins mixed in with a large flock of American Goldfinches this morning.

As Always, Good Birding!

Bill Wood
Keithville, LA
Photos: http://www.pbase.com/labirder/
Video: http://www.putfile.com/labirder

Subject: [Birdalert] todays highlights!

Hello, All!

And good birding to everyone for the GBBC!

My neighbor and I went out today birding a huge loop from Mansfield to clear Lake, south end of Desoto WMA, lock and dam 4, I-49 bar pits and home after 8 hours. Today (Friday) total of 68 species! last year's 4 day total was 59.

Highlights were the lone IMM BALD EAGLE at l&d #4, and the 8 Sandhill Cranes on King Hill Road northeast of the Powhatan exit off I-49!

Yippee! The cranes were really exciting! Suppose they are migrating. Knew the eagle was a possibility, but the cranes were a true surprise!

also saw 250 Am. Pipits on King Hill Road and 30 Mallards.

Lots of ducks on interstate. Could see only 7 Ringnecks and 6 Gadwalls at WMA. Last year 300 or so.

Odd - most all the Redtails between LA 509 and #4 seem to be Krider's. Could really see a belly band on only 1 bird but all had red tails

Everyone have a safe, birdy weekend and may the Lord bless us all!

Velda

Subject: [Birdalert] Great Backyard Bird Count this weekend

Subj: News from the Lab of Ornithology
Date: 2/13/2007 2:39:22 PM Central Standard Time
February, 2007

Join the Great Backyard Bird Count this weekend

The Great Backyard Bird Count is back for its 10th season this weekend--Friday, February 16 through Monday, February 19. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society have issued the challenge, calling on all bird watchers to share what they're seeing in their communities across the United States and Canada by reporting their tallies at www.birdsource.org/gbbc. Help make this year's count the best ever--last year, participants were within a few hundred checklists of breaking the all-time record of 61,049.

Visit the web site at www.birdsource.org/gbbc for information about this year's count, last year's results and winning photos, a new GBBC slide show, and a kids' page with quizzes and games to help get young birders pumped about the count.

Everyone who submits a checklist will be entered in a drawing for one of four pairs of Vortex Sidewinder 8x42 binoculars donated by GBBC sponsor Wild Birds Unlimited, and other special prizes.

http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/press/news-stories/prizes

Please forward this message to anyone you think would like to participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count. It's fun, free, takes as little as 15 minutes--and it helps the birds!

Subject: [Birdalert] Dark-eyed Juncos, Robin and Waxwings

Labirders and all,

I've only seen a couple of Dark-eyed Juncos this winter until today when I counted about two dozen feeding on the ground underneath the feeders. Also have plenty of Chipping Sparrows, American Goldfinches, Northern Cardinals and a few Pine Warblers and Carolina Chickadees coming to the feeders. I also spied a single Song Sparrow among the juncos this morning as well. Inca Doves still make sporadic appearance. And, although I've been living here for five months I have yet to see the first Tufted Titmouse!

On another note, American Robins are everywhere in the Shreveport area and it seems I've seen more Cedar Waxwings this winter than in the past. I've seen multiple large flocks of 100 or more waxwings with one flock of at least 250.

As Always, Good Birding!

Bill Wood
Keithville, LA
Photos: http://www.pbase.com/labirder/
Video: http://www.putfile.com/labirder

Subject: [Birdalert] Northern Goshawk in southeast Shreveport!

Birders: I just had one of those “I can’t believe what I’m seeing” bird experiences. I was driving to my office on La. Hwy 1 and spotted what seemed to be an overly large Cooper’s hawk with unusually slow wing beats flying into the interior of a medium sized and dense live oak in my office compound. I went to the tree and viewed from a distance of 15 feet a Goshawk! I was able to circle the bird 180 degrees at this incredibly close range thus seeing all sides of the bird before it flushed. It was sitting deep in the heart of this dense tree and was far tamer than any accipiter I have ever seen. It was being harassed by something but I was so engrossed by the Goshawk that I never recorded in my mind what bird was scolding it. I was able to see every detail without binoculars right to the red eye. I last saw it heading ENE across River Oaks condominiums towards E. Kings Hwy. and Red River at 3:45 PM. I searched the area that it flew to without relocating it.

Incredible!

Paul Dickson

Subject: [Birdalert] song sparrow

We have song sparrows in the parking lot (as many as six) for anyone that would like a very convenient viewing. Park as close to the Wild Bird Center as possible and they have been hanging around in the green area just in front of the store. I know it sounds odd but it's not the first time.

Dennis
Wild Bird Center
7034 Youree Dr.
Shreveport, LA 71105
Phone 318-797-2473

Subject: [Birdalert] Airport field trip Saturday

Here are the details of the Airport field trip Terry Davis is leading this Saturday, Jan. 27. Terry says to be prepared to get your feet wet, so wear waterproof footwear.

Nancy Menasco
BSG Field Trip Coordinator

SHREVEPORT REGIONAL AIRPORT

Saturday, January 27, 2007, 8:00 a.m.

Trip Leader - Terry Davis - 934-2133 (C)

Meet at the LSUS Museum of Life Sciences. The short-grass fields at the airport are the best places in our area to consistently find Smith's Longspur and Sprague's Pipit in winter. Other target species include Lapland Longspur and Horned Lark. Short-eared Owl may be a possibility as one was observed here in December. Expect to walk large expanses of fields to see these birds. Note that these are open fields with no trees and no restroom facilities. A scope will be helpful on this trip but remember you will have to carry it for a long time.

In the afternoon, Terry will lead the trip to the Sentell Road area, including the sod farm, in northeastern Caddo Parish for anyone who wishes to continue on. You may want to bring a lunch or Terry will stop at a fast-food restaurant along the way. This will be primarily car-side birding. If you want to join the afternoon trip but not the morning Airport trip, please contact Terry to determine a time and meeting place.

Subject: [Birdalert] goldeneye

Richard Gibbons found a Common Goldeneye a few days ago in the Vivian North quad. Here are the directions.

Rosemary
__________________________________________________________

It was near the Black Bayou spillway boat launch on the east side of the lake.

From 71, turn left on Hwy. 2 and travel for .72 miles to Odom Rd., turn right. There is a park on the immediate left with the boat launch and a shiny, new boardwalk. From here I scoped the female Common Goldeneye.

Subject: [Birdalert] female Broadtailed hummingbird on Cross Lake

BSG: This morning I banded an adult female Broadtailed Hummingbird at the home of Phil and Sis Theurekoft on the southeast side of Cross Lake. She is very tame and easy to see. She now has a yellow paint mark on her crown. This is the first adult and first female Broadtailed that I have banded in our area. They had a probable Archilochus a week or two ago as well so if you visit them and see an unmarked hummer please let me know.

Paul

Subject: [Birdalert] FW: Cheneyville Trip Results

I led a small contingent of birders from Shreveport today on our annual trek to see the Sandhill Cranes at Cheneyville. Thanks to everyone for emailing me back with answers to my questions as to what birds were being seen!

On 167 just west of US 71 we had a huge flock of mixed Snow Geese and a few Ross’s Geese. They were near the road but nervous. Saw a neck banded Blue Goose, had to get out of the car to get my scope so I could try to read the numbers – they flew! I sent the info I had to the bird banding lab and if I get any response back I’ll post it to LABIRD. The neck band was power blue with black letters.

Not to long after we turned onto Bayou Rd. we had nice flock of cranes very close to the road – they were not nervous and we got out and spent lots of time watching them. They were on and a dirt road that went into the field. Just behind them were a small flock of Greater White-fronted Geese and further back was another large flock of Snow Geese.

We missed the turn onto Cheneyville-Echo Rd. and had another much larger flock of cranes.

On Cheneyville-Echo Rd. we had some good birds:

Lots and I mean lots of Northern Shoveler, one Green-winged Teal, a few Gadwall and Northern Pintail.
A male Common Yellowthroat
2 Anhinga
17 Black-necked Stilts
Maybe 20 White Ibis
A single Greater Yellowlegs
Least Sandpiper (don’t know how many – Rosemary saw them)
2 Inca Doves in Echo

Jim Ingold
LSU in Shreveport

Subject: [Birdalert] Cedar Waxwings

BSG members and all,

Had a a flock of 250 plus Cedar Waxwings this afternoon at the store off Youree Drive.

As Always, Good Birding!

Bill Wood
Keithville, LA
E-mail:   labirder(at)bellsouth.net
Photos:  http://www.pbase(dot)com/labirder/
Video:     http://www.putfile(dot)com/labirder 

Subject: [Birdalert] BSG news deadline extension

The deadline for the newsletter has been extended to THURSDAY, JAN. 25th at noon.

Amanda Crnkovic
Instructor, Department of Biological Sciences
Collections Manager, Museum of Life Sciences
Louisiana State University in Shreveport
One University Place
Shreveport, LA 71115-2399
(318) 797-5338

Subject: [Birdalert] Sandhill Crane Field Trip

If you are planning to go let me know so I have an idea of who to expect!

Thanks!

Jim

Subject: [Birdalert] February News

The next issue of the BSG newsletter will be in February. If you have anything you would like to contribute please send it by this Friday at noon. The next newsletter after February will be in April.

Bird Records: to Mac.

Everything else to Me.

I have already received the following contributions:

Birding in Oregon and California;

20th year anniversary celebration;

field trip leaders and destinations needed

THANKS,

Amanda

Amanda Crnkovic
Instructor, Department of Biological Sciences
Collections Manager, Museum of Life Sciences
Louisiana State University in Shreveport
One University Place
Shreveport, LA 71115-2399
(318) 797-5338

Subject: [Birdalert] Horace Jeter

BSG members and all,

Just learned of the passing of Horace Jeter on the Shreveport Times at:

http://www.legacy.com/shreveporttimes/Obituaries.asp?Page=SearchResults&DateRange=Today&Product=0

Horace was a mentor to many and one of the most knowledgeable birders in the state of Louisiana. I considered it an honor to go birding with him the few times I did. He was a regular customer at our store and I got to speak with him every now and then. I always enjoyed listening to his birding adventures and cooking up his favorite dish.

As Always, Good Birding!

Bill Wood
Keithville, LA
E-mail:   labirder(at)bellsouth.net
Photos:  http://www.pbase(dot)com/labirder/
Video:     http://www.putfile(dot)com/labirder 

Subject: [Birdalert] Golden-crowned Kinglet!

Hello, All!

so excited - just had to share this!

Neighbors and I went to Toledo again today birding. Last week we were blessed with a flashy Ruby-crown Kinglet. Today in about the same area we were amazed, dazzled, and blessed with a Golden-crowned Kinglet! I was beside myself - all I could do to not jump up and down. This was the first gc kinglet I have seen in ? 10 years. But it was by far the most rewarding observation I have ever had!

The bird came in with a flock of myrts, rc kinglets, etc. and then disappeared. I finally had to ask one of my neighbors to please try to be quiet and still for she was spooking the birds -- she reminded me of myself years ago till I learned good birding etiquette. In less than a minute this GC Kinglet came within 8 foot of us and stayed there for 5 minutes! Just feeding, minding his own business - ignoring us! Yippee!

He stayed between the ground and 6 foot high eating bugs and whatever else off some leafless shrub along the bank's edge. I could hardly contain myself after he left!

They nested here for years and then one summer before the drought/fire of 2000, they just disappeared and I have hardly seen them since.

We saw another one later in the day but he was moving too fast and far to watch.

Also saw an adult Bald Eagle, a covey of about 6 Inca Doves, a male and female Rufous-sided Towhee, 6 ducks, no coots.

Had a day total of 50 species.

May God keep on blessing!

Velda

Subject: [Birdalert] do phoebes mate for life?

Hello All!

Hope everyone is having great birds at their feeders with this cold weather!

I have birded twice in the last week and on both occasions I saw a pair of E. Phoebe together. They were always hanging around the same tree within 1 or 2 foot of each other and happy to be there. - no fighting or aggressiveness (at jolly roger on Toledo and at lock and dam #4).

My neighbor called this morning and she had a pair at her sunflower feeder together (don't know if they were actually eating the seeds or bugs that possibly were there.)

They have nested in our shed for the last 3 years. Wonder if they actually ever left the neighborhood for the winter or not?

Do these birds nest for life or are they possibly choosing mates in the winter or is all this just coincidental?

um.........

thanks,
Velda

Subject: [Birdalert] BSG field trips/leaders needed

Dear All,

I am currently scheduling BSG field trips for March, April, May, and June of 2007. If you would be willing to lead a trip and/or would like to suggest a field trip destination, please email me. All dates are open except for Saturday, May 12, which is the date of the North American Migration Count. The American Birding Association (ABA) convention will be held in Lafayette from Monday, April 23, through Saturday, April 28.

Thanks for your help,
Nancy Menasco
BSG Field Trip Coordinator
H/W: 868-3255