A good bird to chase: Great Kiskadee seen at Bayou Sauvage

It may sound like a long shot to chase an individual rare bird that someone has found, but a good opportunity has just turned up.

A Great Kiskadee was found on the Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge yesterday morning by veteran birder Dave Muth, and was seen again by birders who looked for it again around noon yesterday and again this morning.  This species normally occurs in Texas, and turns up in Louisiana only occasionally.  When it does, it  usually sticks around a while once found, so is likely to remain chase-able for a few days or longer.

The bird is boldly marked, and is often vocal and conspicuous.  Walk in Recovery Road, which is gated and is across the street from the Bayou Sauvage NWR rest station and kiosks on Chef Hwy in New Orleans East (and described on p.35 of Birding Made Easy).  Look for the bird after about a ten minute walk in, around the railroad crossing and the abandoned shed just beyond it.  Listen for its weird kis-ka-dee (kip ki-whur to me) call, which you can listen to at http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Great_Kiskadee/id.

This is also a good bird to chase because it is in an area that is generally quite birdy this time of year.  Expect to see Yellow Warblers and other species during your search.  Just a bit farther down Chef Hwy, the Madere Marsh Overlook is a good place to look for marsh birds, and just a bit beyond that, another deck from which to scan for marsh birds is back across on the north side of Chef.

Here is a picture of the Bayou Sauvage Great Kiskadee taken by Claire Thomas yesterday.

Good birding,

Peter

for a copy of Birding Made Easy- New Orleans, email me at birding.made.easy.new.orleans@gmail.com, or look for it in the Maple Street or Garden District Book Shops.