8 Statebirds in Southwestern Louisiana, Including Some Nice Rarities – February 2017

Back in January I took a successful 1-day statebirding trip to southwestern LA, adding 6 new birds to my list (summarized in an earlier blog post).  While doing research for that trip I noticed quite a number of reliable rarities and other more common targets being seen in the southeastern part of the state.  Certainly too far away to try for during my brief January trip.  But when a rare business trip to New Orleans and Baton Rouge came up in February I was already excited about those possibilities before even starting on my local research.

Of course my first step was to set up a Needs Alert, focusing my attention not only on Baton Rouge and New Orleans but also on the north side of Lake Ponchartrain.  Several apparently reliable rarities stood out like 2 Western and 1 Couch’s Kingbirds at Fontainebleau State Park, and several Ash-throated Flycatchers and older sightings of a Brown-crested Flycatcher at Bayou Sauvage NWR.  There were also numerous reports of Purple Finches and Woodcocks throughout the area, though I couldn’t find what seemed to be reliable sites for these targets.  And then there were the ever-present, but difficult to spot, Brown Boobies at the Lake Ponchartrain causeway.  On the waterfowl front, I needed Redhead and Common Goldeneye, but the few sightings in the area were now pretty old.

Then there are the hummingbirds.  LA is well-known for its nice collection of western hummingbirds that winter at feeding stations.  Although I already had 6 hummingbird species on my LA state list, the eBird report included 2 more that I needed – Calliope at 4 locations, and 1 banded Allen’s.  Another good resource for information on LA’s wintering hummingbirds is HUMNET which provides a detailed compilation of species by parish.  Although these sources provided general locations for the birds, I still needed specific addresses, and most importantly invitations from the homeowners to be able to bird at these feeders.  I reached out to Erik Johnson who compiles HUMNET to see if he could assist in my searches.  Erik was able to get me access to 3 of the feeders with Calliopes, and connected me with the birder that had the Allen’s.  Unfortunately I found out that the Allen’s had moved on, so that one was off my target list.  Erik also gave me tips for a site for Redheads, and a spot for both Woodcocks and Henslow’s Sparrows.  The Henslow’s hadn’t even been on my radar screen so that was a nice additional target.  But the observations Erik mentioned were from Christmas Counts, so they were now getting quite old.

Next I reached out to my LA birding friend Marty Guidry.  Although he couldn’t bird with me on this trip, he had tips for a couple spots around Baton Rouge, including a feeding station with both Calliope Hummingbird and Purple Finch.  And if I struck out on the Finch there, Marty had them at his feeder.  Marty also checked on an older Goldeneye sighting in the area, and confirmed that that bird had moved on, saving me time to do a search for the bird.

Chasing after these targets efficiently would be important on this trip, because as usual I had limited time and lots of potential birds to chase after.  I would be free a couple hours before work and after work on the first day of the trip.  And given how many targets I had, I decided to take the afternoon off on the second day.  My plan was to bird near Baton Rouge in the morning of Day 1 to try for the Calliope, Purple Finch and Redheads.  Then late in the day near Covington I would try for Woodcock, Henslow’s and Redheads again (if necessary).  Then in the afternoon of Day 2 I would try for the 4 flycatcher rarities at Fountainbleau SP and Bayou Sauvage NWR.  And depending on my earlier luck with Calliope I could either end the day with another Calliope try, or take a trip on the causeway for the Boobies.  That itinerary would give me 10 targets to try for. 

But there was one additional concern to be aware of – mid-February in LA isn’t exactly very winter-like.  For instance with 80 degree temperatures the week before I arrived, I had heard that the Purple Finches were now more likely to be feeding on tree buds rather than at feeders.  And the most recent flycatcher posts were all now at least 2 weeks old.  Plus of course Christmas Count reports were 45 days old.  So I worried that many of the “wintering” targets might have already started to head north (or west!).  So I tempered my enthusiasm and hoped for maybe 4 or 5 new statebirds for the trip.

Day 1 – Early AM

At dawn I was pulling into Donna Dittmann’s and Steve Cardiff’s property outside Baton Rouge.  Marty had told me that they had purchased the property years ago and had been managing it to for wildlife, and of course for birds, ever since.  Donna took me on a quick tour which featured dozens of hummingbird feeders scattered throughout their amazing “yard”.  She described how each hummingbird has a wintering territory, and pointed out which feeder was preferred by each of their hummingbirds.  Along the way we spotted a female Ruby-throat, a male Black-chinned, a couple Rufous, and the first of 3 Buff-bellieds.  Then we got to the preferred feeders of their female Calliope and soon heard the chip notes that Donna recognized as the Calliope.  A few second later there was the target hummingbird, looking downright tiny compared to the other species (LA statebird #1).  Not only was it nice to check that one off, but it also meant I would not have to spend time looking for it at other feeders the next day.  LA is my fifth state for Calliope outside its normal breeding and migration ranges.

We then headed back to the house to try for the Purple Finches.  Although they had been seen at the seed feeders the day before, they were becoming less regular as spring approached.  As I stood out on the deck the feeders had a pretty constant stream of visitors, including Cowbirds, Cardinals, House Finches, White-throated Sparrows, and a lone Red-breasted Nuthatch.  But no Purple Finches, nor Goldfinches with which they were frequently associating.  Then I heard a short warbling song coming from high above me in the trees overhead – a singing Purple Finch (LA statebird #2).  I heard it sing 2 more times, then the bird gave several of its “pik” notes, though I never saw it.  Good thing I know its song and call.  I just need this species in a couple more southeastern states in its wintering range.

 

I waited a bit longer to try to get a visual on the Finch but with no luck.  So with enough time for one more brief stop before work I thanked Donna and Steve and was back on the road.  The next stop was a speculative one for Redhead – the Denham Springs wastewater treatment plant where one lone report 3 weeks earlier featured 20 Redheads.  But a quick look from the road yielded only a small flock of Shovelers.  Unfortunately there was no access to the much more reliable spot for Redheads in the area - nearby LSU Aquaculture Research Station (which also featured an Ash-throated Flycatcher).  So striking out here left me with just 1 more iffy spot for Redheads I would try to visit that evening.

Day 1 - Evening

I got out of work right on time and soon was on my way east to the Lake Ramsay WMA.  After Erik’s tip for Henslow’s Sparrows there, I did some eBird research and found quite a number of posts with up to 21 Henslow’s reported, though there were no reports in the last 2 weeks.  I had pretty specific directions to search in one area of wet savannah, and even more specific suggestions to especially bird areas with scattered small brush rather than just open grasslands.  But it would be difficult to find these secretive birds on my own.  That is if they were still there in the first place.

With duck boots on I was ready to walk through the wet grasslands.  But on the first 100 yards of my walk the ground was actually pretty dry, so I wondered if the area was still wet enough to attract the Henslow’s.  Though calling Brown-headed Nuthatches were a nice consolation.  Then I finally reached some wetter areas, including remains of last year’s pitcher plants among the grasses.  But I was still in open savannah, so I headed to an area with some scattered bushes as recommended.  And as soon as I got to that patch I flushed a large dark sparrow.  It landed in the bush and just sat there – a most cooperative Henslow’s Sparrow (LA statebird #3).  I don’t know which was more beautiful – the greenish color to the face or the rusty patterned back and scapulars.  I can’t remember having better views of a Henslow’s.  My statebird map for Henslow’s is pretty spotty for this bird, where LA is only my third state in its wintering range (hmm – I need it in TX in winter…).

Later I would flush a second Henslow’s though this one wasn’t nearly as cooperative.  The next target here was Woodcock that Erik had as a flyby at dawn on the Christmas Count.  I figured a flyby at dusk was just as likely.  And now that it was later in the year perhaps they could be calling, assuming they all hadn’t headed north by now.  But it was still more than an hour before sunset, so I had some time to kill.  I then though about the spot Erik had mentioned where Redheads had been reported on a Christmas Count – a small man-made lake along Ochsner Blvd in Covington.  It was about 20 minutes away so I had just enough time for a short stop there before heading back to try for the Woodcocks at dusk.  But with no Redhead eBird reports from this spot at all, I wasn’t very optimistic.

I arrived at the lake on Ochsner Blvd and unfortunately found that it was fenced off.  As a result I could only find one limited viewing spot looking through the fence, and worse yet I was looking right into the setting sun.  I set up the scope and scanned the small portion of the lake without the sun glare, and only found a couple Pied-billed Grebes.  This was turning out to be a waste of time and I started to wonder why I didn’t just continue to bird the Lake Ramsey area.  Then I noticed some waterfowl in the sun glare.  I did my best to look at them in the scope and thought I was seeing red color on the heads of some of the birds, but couldn’t be sure.  Then a few birds swam to the left out of the brightest sun and they were indeed Redheads.  I eventually counted an amazing 46 birds (LA statebird #4).  Boy was I lucky – if they had stayed in the part of the lake in the sun glare I wouldn’t have noticed them.  I only need Redhead in 3 more states to completely fill in my statebird map for this species.

I made my way back to Lake Ramsay WMA and stayed till dark but had no luck either seeing or hearing Woodcocks.  On a whim I even tried some tape for Whip-poor-will and Chuck-will’s-widow while waiting in what seemed like good habitat for these wintering and/or migrant birds, but to no avail.  Though I did have numerous Sedge Wrens that serenaded me during my wait.

Day 2 – Afternoon

My first stop after work was the Fontainebleau SP where 2 Western Kingbirds and 1 Couch’s Kingbird had spent much of the winter.  After poring through all the eBird reports I was able to piece together some pretty specific information on their locations – most often seen near the group cabins and sometimes at the nearby individual cabins.  And although all 3 birds were often seen together, the Westerns seemed to be the easiest ones to find.  One last important tip was that they often responded to playback.  So although I was optimistic, the last report (positive or negative) was 2 weeks earlier.  In fact, recent posts on the listserve from the park focused on King Rails and not Kingbirds.

After arriving at the park I drove right to the cabins, and first took a slow walk around the entire area where the Kingbirds had been reported.  I decided to not play any tape at first, hoping to find them without playback.  It was a pretty birdy area with many Yellow-rumps flitting about, and I found a perched Shrike and a couple perched Mockingbirds, but no Kingbirds.  With no success on my first loop through the area I started to play tape – both of Couch’s and Western.  I had passed through almost all the area again but still had no luck.  Then at the edge of a clearing I spotted a larger bird fly up from the ground to perch in a tree what showed quite a bit of yellow.  My first thought was it was a Flicker “anting”, but when I put it in the binocs I realized it was one of the Kingbirds.  But which one?  It cooperatively perched nearby and showed a yellow (not gray) chest.  With a bit more time I could see the tail was rusty brown and not black, and lacked white outer tail feathers.  It was the Couch’s Kingbird .

Or was it?  Once I started to hear it call it didn’t sound anything like the taped calls I had been playing.  In fact the calls were more like a Western than a Couch’s.  Then I heard it sing and the song was nothing like the tape.  Then I looked down at my BirdTunes app and realized all along I had been playing Cassin’s Kingbird calls instead of Couch’s Kingbird.  When I started playing the calls of the correct Kingbird species the bird came right in to investigate.  And the song was a perfect match.  So I could finally count it as a Couch’s Kingbird and LA statebird #5 – only my second state for this species in addition to TX.

The bird was most cooperative, in view or calling for most of the rest of my 3 hour visit to the site.  I got this picture holding my phone up to my binocs.

Now I needed to find what had been the more reliable Western Kingbirds.  But despite 2 more hours of walking through the area, and playing the correct Kingbird calls, I never found them.  Although I wanted to stay longer, I still needed to bird Bayou Sauvage, so I headed out of the park assuming that the Westerns had moved on.  As I drove away I was disappointed to have missed the Westerns, but I was happy to have found the rarer of the 2 species.  [As I write this post, since my visit there the Couch’s has been reported again on eBird but not the Westerns, so likely the latter have indeed left their wintering site.] 

The key target birds at Bayou Sauvage NWR were up to 3 Ash-throated Flycatchers that had been seen in the area since November.  There had also been a Brown-crested Flycatcher at the refuge, also with sightings going back to November, but the last sighting of this bird was 45 days ago.  Then again, a more recent eBird post suggested that the observer may well have seen the Brown-crested associating with an Ash-throated.  In any case it was an additional bird to watch for.

The next step was to figure out the locations of the past sightings of these birds.  One might think that with all the many posts on eBird it would be easy to figure out microdirections for the locations of these birds.  But most sightings had few if any details as to location (remember eBird asks for ID details on rarities and not info on the locations of these birds).  In fact, many of the posts were associated with the general hotspot for the entire Bayou Sauvage NWR, which covers a very large area.  And some mentioned locations that might be obvious if you had birded the area before, but not specific enough to birders who were new to this spot (e.g., “across from the hog trap”).  I finally figured out that most sightings were along Recovery Road, but then couldn’t find this road on GoogleMaps.  Luckily it was shown on the pdf map of the refuge that I found online, so that was a start.  And several mentioned the southwest corner of the landfill, and some mentioned south of the railroad tracks.  These features also showed up on the refuge map – the tracks were about ½ mile south of US 90, and the landfill was another ½ mile south, all along Recovery Road.  I finally felt like I knew where to go.

After a drive around the eastern side of Lake Ponchartrain I arrived at the Bayou Sauvage NWR and parked at the north end of Recovery Road.  This turned out to be quite a “seedy” spot, with a number of present and former industrial activities in the area.  In fact, Recovery Road was a gated road with trash dumped on both sides.  And now my research was starting to make sense – what used to be Recovery Road dead-ended at what was likely a former industrial landfill built in the middle of a large wetlands.  Certainly not a spot anyone would want to live, but the kind of area that frequently provides some good birding habitat.  (We’ve all birded at spots like these…) 

I started my walk south along Recovery Road and started to get my bearings.  A canal ran along the west side of the road, likely the source of soil used to build up the land to make the road itself.  And in between the road and canal was a line of low trees and brush.  Most of the rest of the area was marsh and other wetlands.  The “woodlands” north of the railroad tracks was full of Yellow-rumps, and although I wanted to stop to check them out, all the flycatcher sightings had apparently been south of the tracks, so I kept going.  After waiting for a train to pass by, I crossed the tracks and started to bird the brushy habitat.  Again I ran into flocks of Yellow-rumps, and soon started to find a number of Phoebes, but couldn’t turn any of them into a Myiarchus of any species.

I continued walking slowly south, birding along the way, and soon reached what looked to be the landfill to the east.  (I also found the hog trap nearby.)  Although the road continued farther south, all the sightings seemed to be no farther south than the landfill, so I turned around here and slowly starting walking back to the north.  At this point I heard a series of single notes off to the east toward the landfill that I couldn’t place - sort of sounded like “preep”.  Although I wanted to turn it into one of my targets, they didn’t really match calls of either the Ash-throated or the Brown-crested.  In any case the bird soon stopped calling, so I continued my walk north.  Now I was playing tape of both species, but got no responses.  By the time I reached the tracks I had seen several Phoebes, but nothing new. 

I made this round-trip circuit 2 more times but still found none of my targets.  Though one more time I heard the “preep” calls coming from the landfill in the distance.  And after 2 hours of trying, I was starting to wonder if these birds had moved on, just like the Western Kingbirds at my earlier stop.  Afterall the most recent Ash-throated report was now 11 days old, so maybe I was too late. 

I was now on Recovery Road near the southwest corner of the landfill, and was about to give up.  But then on a whim I thought about trying at the actual southwest corner of the landfill, not on the road near that spot.  The landfill was only 50 yards to the east, but it was worth the try.  I walked up the berm to the edge of the landfill and played Ash-throated calls.  Instantly I started to hear the same “preep” calls I heard earlier.  And just then a flycatcher flew in – it was a Myiarchus.  My first gut feel was that it was a big bird – too big to be the diminutive Ash-throated.  And then the bill seemed too big.  I started to play Brown-crested calls and the bird became very agitated.  It continued to call, and although these calls weren’t a perfect match, they were certainly closer to Brown-crested than Ash-throated.  The bird occasionally came out into the open, and I tried to get phonescoped pictures of the bird, but with limited success.  At one point when the bird out of view I quickly checked my photos on my phone and looked at this photo that I initially thought was miserably out of focus. 

But then with a closer look I realized that I had gotten a good photograph of the underside of the tail – the tip is rufous red with only dark corners.  That confirms the ID as a Brown-crested.  I also was able to get this "video" of the bird calling.

That was my 6^th LA statebird of the trip; LA is my 5^th state for this typically southwestern species.

The bird then flew to the trees along the road, and slowly made its way north, calling almost non-stop.  After 15 minutes with the bird, I parted ways and started my walk back to the car.  I looked back and could hear the bird still calling in the distance – the same sounds I heard earlier from the landfill.  I smiled as I realized that I had actually been hearing this bird all along.  And just then I noticed a small Dove fly from the landfill over the road and out of site to the west.  It had red wing-linings making it a Ground or Inca Dove, and given the short tail, it had to be a Ground Dove.  Although I didn’t think much of it at first, I realized that I might need this one for LA.  Sure enough it was new for my LA statelist, my 7^th of the trip, though not even on my radar screen as a possible target.  After the fact I checked eBird and noticed that there had been a few Ground Doves reported from the landfill area – one I had overlooked in my research.  LA is my 9^th state for this species, and although a rare bird in LA, not nearly as rare as the one I recently saw in MA.

As I continued back north up Recovery Road toward my car I realized that, like my experience with the Kingbirds earlier, I had found the rarer of the two targets, but not the comparatively more common species.  A disappointment, but still nice to get the rarer one.  I was now nearing the railroad tracks and spotted a flycatcher up ahead perched near the road.  I initially took a cavalier attitude toward it, and assumed it was one of the many Phoebes I had spotted in that area.  But I put my binoculars on it and it was an Ash-throated Flycatcher (LA statebird #8).  I had been in this area several times over the last 3 hours without spotting it - wonder where it had been.  LA is a nice addition to my statebird map for this species, which includes 5 New England states where I’ve also seen it as a rarity.

 

Ash-throated was my 7^th flycatcher species I had seen in 2 trips to LA this winter – Eastern Phoebe, Say’s Phoebe, Scissor-tailed, Vermillion, Couch’s Kingbird, Brown-crested, and Ash-throated.  That’s quite a nice collection of rarities more typically seen in the southwest.  And also a nice way to end my stop at Bayou Sauvage.  To think just 30 minutes earlier I was ready to leave the area without any of my targets.

With a little time to spare, and having checked off the Calliope Hummingbird the day before, I decided to make a try for the Brown Boobies on the Lake Ponchartrain causeway.  Booby sightings along the causeway go back to 2015, with up to 35 reported on eBird.  That all makes it sound like they would be easy to find.  But - these birds roost under the bridge, and principally only under one short stretch of the bridge.  So when looking for them by car, you have to hope that one or more happens to be flying by along the bridge close enough to ID while you’re driving by at 60+ mph.  And by the way, there is no stopping on the bridge either.  As a result, not surprisingly the 35 birds were reported from a boat.  I made 3 unsuccessful round-trip attempts for the Boobies last year, so I knew the drill.  Alas this one was no different.  Best I could find was a few Pelicans, Gulls, and Terns.  It’s frustrating to think that the Boobies are likely no more than 20 feet below you but invisible as you pass by overhead.  At least the toll is only $3.

Despite the Booby frustration I was very happy to have added 8 new birds to my LA statelist, 5 of which were rarities requiring documentation in eBird.  That brings my LA statelist to 270 – a nice respectable total for a northeasterner.

Short Trip to Galveston County, Texas Yields 2 Statebirds, January 2017

Prior to my regular January business trip to Houston I set up an eBird Needs Alert to see if there might be any target birds in the area.  I’ve birded the greater Houston area enough times that few if any new statebirds are likely in the immediate area on most all of my trips.  And that was certainly the case this time – in fact there were no possible new statebirds at all in and around Houston. 

As a result of the limited opportunities in Houston I’ve recently started to expand my horizons a bit in search of new statebirds.  For instance Galveston is less than an hour away, and last year I was able to squeeze in a couple short birding trips down that way while in the area.  So I checked the Needs Alert for possibilities in Galveston County, and sure enough there were a number of targets -

• Texas City Dike had 2 reports of Thayer’s Gull, and 1 report each of Glaucous Gull and Pacific Loon, but with no details provided as to specific locations. 
• Offat’s Bayou in Galveston had several reports of a Red-throated Loon.
• Several locations along the coast had reports of Nelson’s Sparrow – one of the most common birds I still needed in TX.
• Bolivar Flats had single reports of both White-winged and Black Scoters in large Scaup flocks offshore, along with an occasional Gannet.

My birding time was limited to just a late afternoon after work, so that wouldn’t give me enough time to try for all of these birds.  (All of a sudden I went from no target birds to more birds than I had time to search for.)  The Texas City Dike is nearly 5 miles long, with lots of good habitat along almost the entire length.  And given the lack of details for the locations of each species, and only 1 or 2 reports of each, the targets reported there seemed like long shots.  So instead I focused on stops at the coast with 5 possible targets.  I would start at Offat’s Bayou in Galveston, then I would take the ferry over to Bolivar with a stop at Frenchtown Road for Nelson’s Sparrow, and then end the day doing a seawatch at Bolivar Flats.  I wouldn’t be able to spend much time at any of these stops, but it all seemed feasible despite the limited time.  And in the last couple days before my trip there were also reports of Pacific Loons at Offat’s Bayou – yet another target bird to try for. 

I was able to get out of the office on time, and headed south toward Galveston beating at least a little of the rush hour traffic.  Within an hour I had reached Offat’s Bayou and started to scan the bay from the little park on 61^st Street.  I instantly started to pick out several Common Loons scattered across the water.  Although most birds were distant, I soon noticed a small feeding frenzy which was much closer to me.  I counted 7 Common Loons and 21 small Grebes which I identified as Horned.  But the “eBird police” thought they should be Eared Grebes, so I changed the ID to “grebe, sp.” in eBird.  Unfortunately the frenzy included no rare Loons.  So I went back to scanning in the distance and got a quick look at a bird that I thought was a Red-throated.  But the bird dove, and I couldn’t re-find it, so I assumed my ID was incorrect.  Or maybe the bird just resurfaced too far away.  In any case I didn’t count it.

With more scanning I found even more Common Loons in the distance, and finally found a candidate for a Pacific.  I eventually got some pretty good looks at the bird (though it too was diving a lot), and I could see the smaller size and darker back than the Commons, and abrupt edge of the dark coloration on the side of the neck.  Pacific Loon indeed!  I then went back to looking for my possible Red-throated, but with no success.  Along the way I made an exact count of 126 Common Loons scattered across the bay.  By now most were quite distant to the northwest, and I started to think about driving to a different spot to get closer to them.  But I had already spent more time here than expected, so I decided to move on to my next location instead.  My statebird map for Pacific Loon is pretty interesting – I’ve seen this species in more states as a rarity (10) than in states in its regular Pacific coast range (4).

I drove to the east end of Galveston Island and was almost the last car to board the ferry before it departed – tough to beat that timing.  Soon after leaving the ferry on the Bolivar Peninsula I turned left onto Frenchtown Road to try for the Nelson’s Sparrows.  Although there had only been one recent Nelson’s report from this spot, there were several reports here in recent winters.  And the satellite view on GoogleMaps showed what appeared to be a nice patch of saltmarsh along the road.  So I was optimistic that this might be a regular wintering spot for this species.  A couple minutes later I reached the saltmarsh and it was indeed very nice habitat.  But it was so large I was a bit worried whether this could be a needle in a haystack kind of search.  And I didn’t have the proper footwear to wade out into the marsh to try to flush them.  Then I remembered that Nelson’s are quite responsive to playback (based on successful searches in VT and Nova Scotia), so I decided to give it a try right from the road.  Within a few seconds I got a fleeting glimpse of a sparrow fly toward me.  And just before it dropped into the grasses it perched long enough for me to ID it as a Nelson’s Sparrow.  I did a bit more playback hoping that the bird would come out into the open.  But instead of views of that bird, 3 other Nelson’s flew in to investigate.  Who knows how many birds might have been in this marsh.  Not bad when a 2-minute stop can yield a new statebird. 

And now a little side-story about my experience with Nelson’s Sparrow across the country-  Most of my winter birding in the southeast coastal areas came before what used to be known as the “Sharp-tailed Sparrow” was split into 2 species – today’s Nelson’s and Saltmarsh Sparrows.  So although years ago I saw birds of this complex in all the Gulf Coast and southern Atlantic Coast coastal states, I did not record what was at the time considered to be the races of these birds.  As a result I’ve conservatively decided to count all my sightings on the Atlantic Coast to be what is now called Saltmarsh Sparrow, and my Gulf Coast sightings as Nelson’s Sparrow.  Chances are I saw both species in most all the Atlantic states, but have decided to take this conservative approach to counting this species in that region.  Not to mention I've tried for it unsuccessfully in MN, ND, and MT on the breeding grounds of the inland nelsoni race.  Hence I have big gaps in my statebird map for Nelson’s Sparrow, though I'm happy to have it as a rare migrant in WV and VT.

 

That gave me quite a bit of remaining sunlight to try for the Scoters and Gannets off-shore.  After a short drive I had reached the end of Rettilon Road, where the pavement ends at the hard-packed sandy beach (luckily safe to drive on even in a 2-wheel-drive sedan).  With a quick binocular scan I spotted a very large flock of diving ducks offshore.  I got out the scope and estimated a whopping 4,000 Lesser Scaup.  But the raft was far off-shore, and even at 50 power under nearly ideal viewing conditions, there was no way I would be able to ID a Scoter mixed in.  I looked to the west and saw another large flock of divers, and these birds were closer to shore.  So I drove down to the western-most part of the beach, identified as the eBird hotspot “Bolivar Flats Shorebird Sanctuary”, and started to scan this flock.  The birds were indeed a bit closer, and I was able to spot an occasional Redhead mixed in with the estimated 1,000 Scaup, but still no Scoters.  I also scanned the coast for Gannets with no luck – though distant plunge-diving Pelicans got my interest at times. 

It was now getting late, so I decided to call it quits content to add 2 more birds to my TX statelist – now at 434.  As I was driving away in the fading light I had a flashback to another sunset visit to this same spot more than 10 years ago in November 2006 when I successfully added Short-eared Owl to my TX list.  Some fond birding memories…

6 Louisiana Statebirds – Cameron and Calcasieu Parishes in Southwestern Louisiana, January 2017

As of the beginning of the year I set a new goal to reach 15,000 total ticks – “just” 825 to go as of January 1.  That meant I couldn’t turn down any reasonable opportunity to add new statebirds even in states where I already had good totals.  So as my regular January trip to Houston neared, I started to think about whether there might be some statebirds I could add in Louisiana, even though my state total there was a respectable 256 – 20 over the old ABA threshold.  The southwestern corner of the state is only about a 2-hour drive from Houston, and it’s one of my favorite places to bird anywhere in the country.  Then again –I should say it’s one of my favorite places to bird in winter – believe me, it’s blasted hot, humid, and buggy there in summer. 

Now I needed to see if there might be a sufficient number of new LA statebirds in the area to justify adding a vacation day to my trip.  I set up an eBird Needs Alert, and the first thing I noticed was numerous records of Black Scoter.  And there were a couple White-winged Scoter and Long-tailed Duck sightings too, all from Holly Beach along the Cameron Parish coast.  I had seen Surf Scoter in this same part of the coastline in the past, but needed all the others.  But then I started to have cold feet - would heading all the way to LA be a bit too much for just a 1-day trip?  But I routinely take a 2-hour drive to chase after a single rarity in New England, so a 2-hour drive into LA from Houston, with multiple potential targets, would surely be worthwhile.  I talked myself into it - the trip was on! 

Now came all the pick and shovel work to do research on eBird and the LA listserve.  One of the challenges to researching sightings in the southwestern corner of LA is that there are very few birders in the area, so there are few routine reports.  Most of the recent posts came from this year’s Christmas Counts, and luckily there are quite a number of counts in Cameron and Calcasieu Parishes.  So that led to quite a few reports, but most were now several weeks old.  Hopefully the great birds seen on the Christmas Counts would stick around.  With this initial research I found 10 possible targets to pursue. 

Next I connected with my LA birding friend Marty Guidry.  Marty is not only very active birding in LA in general, but also has a long history with the Christmas Counts in southwestern LA.  Sure enough Marty had some good details on many of the birds I had researched on eBird, and was available to bird with me on my vacation day.  As on my previous LA trips, his micro-directions and local advice would prove to be invaluable.

I met Marty at the edge of the tiny town of Holly Beach, a town still rebuilding after being total demolished by Hurricane Rita back in 2005.  Marty knew that the diving ducks had been hanging out just west of town, a critical detail since no specific locations had been mentioned in eBird.  After a short drive to the west we had our scopes out and began to scan the surf.  We found many Lesser Scaup bobbing in the water, but no scoters.  Then we began to pick out an occasional Black Scoter in the flock (LA statebird #1).  LA was my third state for this species away from its more common wintering ranges on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts (see my statebird map below).

 
Although it was great to finally find a couple scoters, the reports and photos on eBird showed whole flocks of Black Scoters.  I mentioned to Marty that maybe we weren’t at the right spot, so we took a short walk to the west to scan a new part of the coast.  And here we finally found several groups of 5 to 8 Black Scoters – finally critical mass to find the others.  I picked out a couple Surf Scoters here and there, and then finally found one immature male White-winged Scoter (LA statebird #2).  With more shaded inland states than for my Black Scoter map, my statebird map for White-winged Scoter is reflective of the fact that this species is typically the most common inland wintering scoter.

We spent some more time scanning through the numerous birds in the surf, but couldn’t pick out the Long-tailed Duck that had been occasionally reported here.  Although I didn’t want to give up on this bird too quickly, there were many other stops ahead of us.  So we decided to move on, very happy to have tallied 50 Black Scoters, 8 Surf Scoters, and 1 White-winged Scoter, in with at least 100 Lesser Scaup.

The next couple stops were more speculative, with low-probability targets.  First we birded the Cameron Oxidation Ponds where a Redhead had been reported a couple weeks earlier.  We found lots of Ruddy Ducks and some Lesser Scaup, but no Redhead.  Then we made a brief stop where a Black Rail had been found a few months earlier, but it was long gone.  Or at least it didn’t reply to any of our playbacks that day.

Next we were on to a residence on the west side of Creole where a Buff-bellied Hummingbird had been reported since November.  The most recent eBird report was more than a month old, but Marty had it on the Christmas Count.  And most importantly Marty had the homeowner’s phone number – with a quick phone call he found out that the bird was still being seen and we were allowed to come look for her bird.  When we arrived Marty mentioned that his first try for the bird, while he was standing in the back yard, was unsuccessful.  But the bird quickly came to the feeder when he looked from inside the house on his second atttempt.  Unfortunately the homeowner wasn’t home the day we were there, so we would just have to cross our fingers that the bird would cooperate while we watched from out back. 

To try to improve our chances we stood far to the side of the yard and began our wait.  This actually put us quite far from the house, and we had to use binoculars to see if anything was at the feeder.  I was a bit worried whether we would notice the hummingbird fly in.  Then I remembered that Buff-bellied Hummingbirds can be quite vocal – years ago I looked for one coming to a feeder in FL and heard it calling long before it arrived at the feeder.  So I not only kept my eyes open, but also my ears open, for our target bird.  And almost as predicted, after about 20 minutes I heard the Buff-bellied calling in the distance.  Then I spotted it perched in a tree in the backyard.  And a few seconds later it flew in to drink at the feeder (LA statebird #3).  LA is only my third state for this species – in addition to the calling bird at the FL feeder, and of course birds in their regular range in TX.

Our next stop was just a short distance to the east at the Oak Grove Sanctuary.  This is an isolated natural patch of woods and underbrush that is well known as a hot spot for landbirds, especially during migration.  Marty had taken me here on an earlier trip when we were successful finding a wintering Barn Owl.  Today our targets were two stakeouts - a Woodcock and a pair of Red-breasted Nuthatches that Marty and others had seen a few weeks earlier on the Christmas Count.  First we slowly walked the stretch of trails where the Woodcock had been seen several times, but it was not to be.  The entire patch of woods seemed to be good habitat for Woodcock, so we kept our eyes open during our entire visit.  But we would end up missing this one.  Another 100 yards down the path we got to the area where the Nuthatches had been seen.  As we watched and listened for the birds we both remarked that this wasn’t typical Red-breasted habitat – the trees were all deciduous with no conifers in site.  After a short wait with no luck Marty started some playback, and a minute later I heard a Red-breasted Nuthatch reply.  Eventually we got good looks at the bird foraging nearby (LA statebird #4).  Surprisingly I still have 5 more states to go to fill in my statebird map for this wide-ranging species.

The sanctuary was very birdy, and we made several more stops along the trails, checking off numerous Gnatcatchers, Kinglets, and Orange-crowned and Yellow-rumped Warblers.  We were making our way back to the Woodcock spot for one last try when I spotted a Thrush on the ground – it had an orangey back, and as it turned I saw large brown spots below on a white background.  It was a Wood Thrush, very rare for mid-winter.  Certainly not a new statebird for me, but by far the rarest of our sightings for the day.

We then turned north to head to Cameron Prairie NWR, and specifically Pintail Drive.  This is a classic auto route through excellent wetland habitat loaded with waterfowl.  Our targets here were a Tundra Swan, a male Cinnamon Teal, and Redheads.  Although all had been reported during Christmas Count season, only the Teal had been reported recently.  As we started around the drive we encountered the first of many large flocks of dabblers.  Soon we had every expected dabbler species, but no Cinnamon Teal.  Then we started to see small mixed flocks of White-fronted and Snow Geese, which was important since the Swan was typically seen with the Snows.  But Marty mentioned the number of geese was way down from the count day, and with no Swan in site, perhaps it had moved on with the wintering flocks of Snows. 

As we continued around the drive we stopped to check for the Teal anywhere we spotted dabblers, but still no luck.  None of the eBird reports mentioned where the Teal had been seen, and with many hundreds of dabblers scattered throughout the impoundment, I was thinking this would turn out to be a “needle in a haystack” kind of search.  We now had reached the eastern part of the drive, and looked to the east into deeper water where Marty had had the Redheads mixed in with other divers.  But we saw no divers at all.  Like the geese, had the divers also already moved out to start their spring migration?

We turned our attention back to the shallow impoundment and yet another flock of dabblers in the distance.  I started to scan the flock with my binocs and picked up a brief glimpse of bright red.  Did I have the Cinnamon Teal?  But then it was gone.  I continued to search the area and spotted the red plumage again – it was indeed the Teal in the distance (LA statebird #5).  We got the scopes on the spot and eventually the bird reappeared as it played hide-and-seek among the other dabblers.  But even when only a portion of the bird was visible, that red plumage sure stood out among the various shades of brown of the other dabblers.  LA is a nice addition to my statebird map for this species; I still need it in a couple states in its regular range.

Our last target for the day was Say’s Phoebe.  We had 2 birds to try for, both seen by the same observer a few miles apart on one Christmas Count in Calcasieu County.  Although those posts were now quite old, the one on Old Camp Road mentioned that the bird “was in the same area as in past years”, so I hoped it would be reliable.  Plus the report mentioned it was at the bend in the road, so we had pretty specific directions.  The other sighting was “on east end of Levee Rd. loop” which I couldn’t find on the map despite lots of searching.  So the first bird would have to be our target.  Along the way we made a couple quick speculative stops to try for Yellow-headed Blackbirds in blackbird flocks, but could “only” find an adult male Vermillion Flycatcher.  As I always say – “I can never see enough male Vermillion Flycatchers.”

There were actually 2 different bends in the road along Old Camp Road, but the eastern one was in a wooded area which was not typically good habitat for Say’s.  When we arrived at the western bend we found much more open habitat ideal for a Say’s, with piles of brush that would be great perches.  But despite a lot of searching we couldn’t find our target.  The consolation prize was 4 Caracaras – I remember years ago spending quite a bit of time to eventually find this species in what was at the time its lone reliable spot in LA. 

Now what do we do?  I told Marty about the other reported location, but that I couldn’t find the road mentioned in the eBird report.  Marty looked at his book map and noticed a road in the general area that made a small loop.  I pulled up my map app, quickly found this road, and saw that it was named “Levee Loop Rd.” – not the “Levee Rd.” I had been unsuccessfully searching for till now.  Now that we had the right location, we were off to the second Say’s Phoebe spot.

The first part of Levee Loop Rd. was a small subdivision with large yards and planted trees.  Despite the manicured appearance, it was quite birdy, with a number of Yellow-rumps flitting about.  We got to the eastern end of the loop where the Say’s had been reported on the count, but to not avail.  The southeast corner of the loop included a horse pasture with lots of fenceposts to perch on.  This looked like an ideal spot, but with a quick look we couldn’t find a Phoebe.  Then I noticed more movement a bit to the west and spotted a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher flitting from treetop to treetop.  Although not a new statebird, it was a nice rarity to find for the day.  I got this phonescoped photo of this cooperative bird. 

We drove over to the west, and while watching the Scissor-tail I spotted another flycatcher in the treetops – it was a female or immature Vermillion.  And a minute later I spotted a male Vermillion as well.  Then a couple Eastern Phoebes flew into the area.  All the flycatchers were actively feeding, so we were convinced we would find the Say’s among this group, but we struck out again. 

We talked about heading back to the east for a more extended search of the horse pasture, but I thought we should first bird the last stretch of the road to the west.  I drove up ahead and soon had a fleeting glimpse of what I thought was a Phoebe in a yard to the south.  I pulled over and scanned the spot but came up empty.  Then I saw more movement and quickly got out the scope – it was the Say’s Phoebe (LA statebird #6), our fourth flycatcher species for this spot.  Sure glad we didn’t head back to the east instead.  Nice to add LA to my statebird map as a rarity, though not as rare as the ones I’ve seen in MA and NH.

What a great way to end the day!  We ended up with 98 species for the day – an excellent January total.  And of course I was extremely happy to have added 6 new birds to my LA list.  Now you can see why I love birding in southwestern LA.  My statelist is now at 262 - 26 over the reportable threshold.  And it was only a couple years ago that I remember struggling to reach my “Reportable Plus 15” goal in LA.

Before parting ways, I couldn’t thank Marty Guidry enough for his great birdfinding advice.  Once again his micro-directions were key to finding many of my targets.  And now that I’m back in the “total ticking” game, I’ll hopefully be back in LA birding with Marty again in the near future.