Brown Boobies have been spotted on the Lake Pontchartrain
causeway north of New Orleans going 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’ve had several business trips to the
greater New Orleans area the last couple years, and have tried for the Boobies
four different times – making 3 round-trip attempts last year and another
round-trip earlier this year. Each time
I’ve come up empty. So that’s 8
individual passes by their known roosting spot.
It’s frustrating to think that the Boobies are likely no more than 20
feet below you but invisible each and every time as you pass by overhead.
Then in November 2017 I had another business trip to New
Orleans, including a day of meetings in Covington requiring another trip on the
Lake Pontchartrain causeway. Although I
had no time for birding on this trip, of course my mind went to the Brown
Boobies under the causeway. I did a
quick eBird search and they were still being seen. My north-bound trip up the causeway would be
after dark, but I would be able to return the next day in the late afternoon
affording me a 9th opportunity to look for my nemesis bird. I certainly wasn’t very optimistic, but of
course I would keep my eyes open just in case.
It was a gray overcast day, so there would be no sun
glare which had hampered my viewing on most of my other trips across the
causeway. After I paid my toll I began
the drive south, sticking to the slow lane and going about 60 mph. That was 5 mph below the speed limit, which I
had found was about as slow as I could go and not feel like I was presenting a
safety hazard to the rest of the traffic on the bridge. As I went I made numerous quick scans of the
air and water to the west, while of course still watching traffic. Luckily the bridge is very straight.
The “sweet spot” for most of the Booby sightings is
generally between mile markers 16 and 18.
That’s just a 2-mile stretch, and at 60 mph that means you are in the
prime viewing area for just 2 minutes.
By the time I neared mile marker 18 I realized I hadn’t seen any birds
at all. Usually I see gulls, terns, and
pelicans on my trips, so I was starting to think this one would be pretty
boring. But just as my window of
opportunity was nearing an end, at mile marker 16.2 I spotted a bird flying
about 50 feet over the highway flying east to west. As it passed nearly directly over my car I
could see it had the telltale shape of a Sulid
– it was a Brown Booby!!! And then just seconds
later I spotted a second bird flying northbound at eye-level – it passed right
by my car no more than 20 feet away – another Brown Booby!
You know the old saying – “ninth time’s the charm” – well
something like that. That’s certainly
the most attempts I’ve ever made for any given species in my birding career.
Brown Booby was #275 for my LA list, which was my fifth
state for this ABA rarity.
