Paddling a new stretch of Blind River

I read somewhere that the area of Blind River below Airline Highway was a good place to paddle.  I'll have to see if I can find where I read that, because they were right and I thoroughly enjoyed my outing last weekend.

The put-in location is the St. James Boat Club on Airline Hwy in St. James parish.  There is no fee, but there is a kiosk to fill out a Wildlife Management Area check-in card since you're entering the Maurepas WMA here.  You have to have a valid hunting, fishing, or LA Wild license to enter.

It's on Airline Highway in St. James Parish.  If you look on the map you can see that it's in a very rural area.  The middle of a wildlife management area, actually.  There is nothing else around...which makes it very easy to find.

The boat club has 2 concrete boat launches, a large parking area, a rec building and a park.  

I chose to go south from the boat launch.  The river was fairly wide, but the two bridges that I had to pass under made me think I'd probably have the place to myself.

Except for the alligators, of course.  More alligators than I've seen in any waterway in all my kayak travels.  Most were small....4 feet and under.  And *all* of them went the other way as I approached...

And LOTS of birds!  Nice selection of waders...herons and egrets and spoonbills...

Even a few of these Solitary Sandpipers.  I liked this 3-legged one...

More Tri-colored Herons than you could shake a stick at.  And they let me get so close!

Tri-colored Heron

Family of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks

Passing under the bridges was probably the most treacherous part, what with the dive-bombing Barn Swallows that were nesting under the bridge...

And they were working on the railroad bridge.  They had a pile driver going which definitely interrupted the tranquility of the scene..

.

This was the railroad bridge you have to pass under.  You very nearly have to duck, even in a kayak.  You could probably get under in a canoe or pirogue, but not a bass or speed boat.

These were the only other two boats I saw...and they must have come from the canals to the south, because there is no way they passed under the railroad bridge.

A natural totem pole

The nice things about this location...for the most part, it's away from population so after you get away from the launch, and the pile driver, it's fairly tranquil.  However, once you do return to civilization, it's nice to find a decent bathroom available.

what?

Trees and Trails

Found a new trail to explore today.  And it's nearly in the heart of the city.  A nice green space...the only downside being its proximity to the interstate.  Burden research farm is an interesting place.  It is home to the Rural Life Museum, Windrush gardens and Barrett Arbortetum.  But a few years ago they also added nature trails.  The trails are particularly focused on tree interpretation.  But with 4 miles of trails throughout the property, there is plenty of area to explore.

The trails are gravel and pretty well marked.  The front areas areas have obviously been cleared of underbrush and most understory.  Several of the trees are marked with signage, which is kinda nice....I learned a few things.

Trail Map

The highlights of the morning were multiple male Painted Buntings singing.  There were Indigo Buntings singing, too.  They are certainly some of the last ones to be nesting in Baton Rouge.

Boardwalk to the Black Swamp

Near the front trails, understory cleared

Step-tree

Won't back down!

So I learned something about snakes today.  Well, a particular specie of snake: the water moccasin aka cottonmouth.  I was driving on a gravel road into a refuge area today and I passed, and avoided, what I first thought was a cow patty.  This particular road is near a levee and cattle are pastured on both sides of the road.  In fact, this is what I drove through yesterday on this very road:

And when I got to my destination, I'd run through the cow patty gauntlet and my car smelled like a barn.  So I was avoiding said patties today...  But as I passed, my brain clicked that this particular patty was different.  Was that a snake?  I looked in the rear view, and it was still there (which actually surprised me; most snakes would have already been gone after a car passed with  a foot or two).  So I backed up and got to where I could see it out the windshield. Yep, it was still there (another surprise).  It was sitting very still in a defensive posture with its head up, but not moving.  So I scrambled for the camera, and opened the door carefully.  Often animals won't spook when the car passed by but when someone steps out, they head for the hills.  Not this guy. So I shot him from several angles, definitely using the zoom to its full advantage.  I was pretty sure it was a cottonmouth and I didn't want him to suddenly decide to move *toward* me.  He stayed perfectly still and let me shoot away.  He was very handsome...although those eyes...

Darn!  A truck was coming up behind me and I'm smack dab in the middle of the road with my door open.  I debated...should I let them know what I was doing?  Chances were good it was someone I knew...I was there for a birding event and it was possibly a fellow birder.  But I couldn't tell from this distance.  And most people seem to hold the opinion "the only good snake is a dead snake".  I thought about trying to shoo the snake with a rock or something, but the truck was coming quickly and I thought maybe it would try to go around me.  So I hopped in my car and moved forward slowly, hoping the snake would finally get perturbed and get off the road.  I looked in my rear view, hoping that when it saw this huge red truck bearing down, it would decide he'd had enough aggravation....and as I watched, the left front tire went right over the snake.  

As it turns out, it was actually someone I knew in the truck, and they were NOT the kind that would deliberately run over a snake.  I was recounting the story later to some fellow birders and a friend told me that it's in the nature of cottonmouths to stand their ground.  They evidently think they're big and bad and everyone else should get out of their way...and I'm sure most do...except us in our vehicles.  I was sad, and I feel guilty for allowing it to happen.  As we left later I looked for the squished snake to take another picture (y'all know my penchant for taking pics of dead things) but he was no longer in the road.  I will have to hope that one of the opportunistic vultures that was hanging around made a nice meal of him.  A small consolation.

Sorry, snake.  But at least you're immortalized here in permanent pixels, and I've learned a lesson.  Cottonmouths won't back down!

Pass the Tony's!

A White Ibis captures lunch on a wildlife refuge in South Louisiana.  You can see it manipulate the crawfish to remove the claws and the legs, get it in to the right position, and finally, swallow it whole.

I can't help but think about how it would continue to wiggle in his throat!  I'm glad we boil 'em before we eat 'em!

Pass me the Tony's! from Jane Patterson on Vimeo.

By the way, for those of you not from Louisiana, "Tony's" refers to Tony Chachere seasoning, a staple in  Louisiana cooking!  Mais, yeah, sha!

Rainbow bird!

The only thing more lovely than a bird that looks like a rainbow, is a singing rainbow bird!

 
Rainbow come to life! from Jane Patterson on Vimeo.

Painted Buntings are common breeding birds in south Louisiana in the summertime (if you know where to look and what to look for). How wonderful is that?

Architects Extraordinaire!

Would you choose to live under a busy highway?  And I mean *right* underneath.  We are seeing more and more Cliff Swallow colonies under our bridges and overpasses here in Louisiana.  These birds fascinate me.  They construct these gourd-like nests with mud and saliva, a mouthful at a time.  You can see the work here in these closeup photographs.  How long must it take to construct one of the nests??  How does the constant rumble and vibration of traffic not affect them as they raise their families?  How do the nests not fall off??  I guess some do..you can see the scars left by some that have fallen.  I have to hope those were abandoned nests and not active ones.  Fascinating birds!

Close Encounter with a Broad-winged Hawk

I was birding in the Felicianas last weekend when I was surprised to hear a Broad-winged Hawk nearly over my head!  As I watched (and photographed) it moved closer and finally flew down into the road to claim a bit of road kill. I obviously stopped right in his way. 

Jungle birding

Our truck and our guide Leo

Another day another flight

Waiting for our local flight cross country to Pereira. Checking phones for messages from home!

Picked up some city birds this morning.

Here we go!

Studying Colombian birds in the airport. Antwrens and Antoittas

-- Jane

Colombia bound!

4 birding friends and I are headed to Colombia South Anerica on a birding expedition tomorrow. Internet access will be limited but I'm hoping to be able to send some updates via email, which will post to my blog and Facebook. Won't be checking fb directly since that will be too data intensive.

Here's a map of our destinations!

Up a Crazy River

I really wanted to go kayaking this weekend. Wanted to try a new
location. Hemmed and hawed and today finally decided to try the Bogue
Chitto river at the state park. Got the boat loaded up (I'm getting
pretty good at that) and headed out. It's almost a 2 hour drive and I
was worried the rain might set in, but it held off. Checked in at the
gate. The girl actually laughed at me. I told her I was going to put
in and then turn around and head back -- make a loop, as it were. It's
what I usually do -- have done on other rivers. But apparently there's
a significant difference with this river -- it has a current. One of
the other rangers suggested I put in at the takeout so I could start
going upstream first and then essentially float back down if I got
tired. Sounded like a plan.

Had to drag the boat several hundred yards to put in. Not fun. And
they were not kidding about the current. But I got all my stuff and
started out, feeling strong. Did okay for the first quarter of a mile
or so. Then I hit a baby rapids. I paddled as hard as I could...and I
was just standing still. If I let up for a even a second, the current
pushed me backward. This was just not going to work. I enjoyed the
float back to the takeout :-)

So...lesson learned. Next time I need to either rent one of their boats
and and get a takeout, or take someone with me so we can take out down
river. Got it!

Oh, and birds? I had a great little flocks of warblers, Blue-birds, and
woodpeckers at one point, but my favorite bird of the day was the Winter
Wren that yawned at me. Yes, yawned. I saw him, played the Winter Wren
recording. He looked over at me and yawned. Allrighty then, so much
for that :-)

An Eagle is born!

Checked the nest near Sherburne South Farm (off Ramah-Maringuoin exit from I-10, just east of the Atchafalaya basin) last week. What I saw surprised me! I was hoping to see downy eagle chick heads and unless I saw a chick that's almost as big as the parent already! I love this location because you can easily observe the nest from the road or while standing on the levee. Afternoon is really the best time because the light is coming from the west. Note to self: bring an extra tripod for the camera! This location is always windy and because of the extreme zoom and the distance, a handheld video leaves a lot to be desired. I hope no one gets seasick watching it! Some still photos from my Facebook album (with more to be added as I watch the nest over the next 6 weeks or so)

I'm partial to redheads

There is red, and then there is RED. The word "vermilion" was made for this bird. It shines like a beacon, especially against the more drab landscape of winter in Louisiana. And indeed, it should stand out, because it doesn't belong here. This is another bird of the Southwest that visits Louisiana in small numbers in the winter time. This particular one has returned to this horse stable for the 3 years now. He particularly likes looking at himself in the dressage mirror that they have in the training paddock!

Rare bird + lifer = good bird day!

An oriole in winter in Baton Rouge is a good bird.  This bird was located just before the Christmas Bird Count in Baton Rouge and it has been determined to be a Scott's Oriole.  This is a bird normally found in the southwest US and Mexico, and there are very few records for Louisiana.  The homeowners have been very generous about sharing with all of us. 

I decided to try for the Scott's Oriole today.  They reported that it had been seen at 8am today and that it seemed to come with some regularity in the mid-afternoon so I decided to go about 2pm.  We were treated to a winter hummingbird spectacle while we waited on the Oriole - several Rufous and possible Black-chinned hummingbirds were snap, crackling, and popping all over the place. (This same home hosts a Broad-tailed Hummingbird -- another great bird for LA in the winter!)   Another friend  arrived to give the bird a try at about 3:45pm.  At 4pm I decided I'd best go, and told them to call me if that bird showed up as I was pulling out of the driveway.  I dawdled a bit talking to the homeowner and was not even out of the subdivision when they called to say they'd seen the bird!  I zipped back.  The bird was spied moving cautiously toward the hummingbird feeder at the back of the yard.  It eyed everything suspiciously but finally drank from the feeder for something over a minute before it flitted away.  I'm sure there are other photos are better than mine, but here's a video (from about 60 feet?) and a couple of stills.

New Year's Resolution!

How can it be a year since my last blog update? Oh, yeah...Facebook. So much easier to throw a few pics up there! One of my new year's resolutions will be to update this blog more often, even if it's just a quick note or a single picture.  I put it off because I want to go into a lot of detail...but I think more frequent updates are key rather than blathering on and on about a single event :-)   So, we'll see how long I can keep this up!

How to prepare perfect sushi

Couldn't resist!

2011 Baton Rouge Winter Hummingbird Tour

For the past dozen years or so, Baton Rouge has featured a tour of homes in the Baton Rouge area that are hosting winter hummingbirds. What's a winter hummingbird, you ask? Well, hummingbirds are not supposed to be here in the winter time. In the east, our "standard" hummingbird is the Ruby-throated Hummingbird, which returns from Central America in ~March and stays til ~Oct. So when hummingbirds show up in winter...well, that's something special. It turns out that several western species of hummingbirds sometimes come to spend the winter with us. The most common is Rufous, but we also get Black-chinned, Buff-bellied, Calliope, Broad-tailed, and even more sparsely, Broad-billed, Anna's, or Allen's. So we've learned to keep an eye out and keep our feeders up.

About 30 folks showed up for the tour this year. We started the clear and chilly morning at the Davey's house looking for the elusive adult male Calliopes. They have excellent habitat, which means LOTS of dark and tangled places for tiny birds to hide. Finally spotted the Calliope in the winter honeysuckle - most everyone got a look. Usually this yard has a good number of birds, but it was quiet, hummer-wise, this year.

Moved to the Allen's house. There were so many hummingbirds here it was hard to keep track of them all! Many were banded and color-marked -- 11 have been "processed" in their yard -- but there were more that had no color marks and thus were unaccounted for! We saw at least 3 Buff-bellied hummingbirds for sure, 1 female Calliope, and assorted Ruby-throats and Black-chinned besides. The Baltimore Oriole was a treat, too!

Then on to the Leblanc's home where the Rufouses were dueling it up! Joan had taken the feeders down in the front so we were able to stand in the backyard and have good views of the birds vying for the feeders. Highlight was a hummer in the hand. An immature male Ruby-throat was on the feeder and someone said "It flew down to forage in the grass under the feeder." Um...not a common practice for hummingbirds. After a minute or so, Ryan Terrill walked over and picked up the tiny torpid bird and gave it a little mouth to mouth (not really -- he just held it and breathed warm air on it) and before long it flew away -- lived to fuss another day!


Our last host home was the Schutte home in south Baton Rouge which backs up to a large swampy area. There were several birds here, including a feisty molting male Rufous, and we picked up our last species for the day -- Broad-tailed hummingbird.


So happy that the 30 or so tour participants got to see the birds they wanted to see - especially to Steve and Cindy who made the trip from Houston to see the birds! Many, many thanks to our hosts, to Dennis Demcheck for lending his advice and leadership, and to Kevin Morgan for the up-to-date bird info. We look forward to next year!