Birds at LaSalle Park

I just spent 35 minutes at LaSalle Park, walking the usual loop (paved walkway and boardwalk).  There are good numbers of birds, the most fancy of which were Blue-headed Vireo and Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.

Of interest:
1 Northern Flicker
3 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
1 male Red-bellied Woodpecker
3 Downy Woodpecker
1 Eastern Phoebe
2 Blue-headed Vireo
8 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
1 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
9 Orange-crowned Warbler
8 Yellow-rumped Warbler
8 Northern Cardinal

Peter

For a copy of Birding Made Easy-New Orleans, email me at birding.made.easy.new.orleans@gmail.com, or look for it at area book stores.  It is now available at
Uptown:  Garden District Book Shop, Maple Street Book Shop, Octavia Books
French Quarter and Marigny:  Peach Records, Fauborg Marigny Art Books Music, Librairie Book Shop, Beckham's Bookshop, Arcadian Books and Prints, the Crabnet
Mid City:  City Park Botanical Garden, Community Book Center
North Shore:  Mandeville Chiropractic

Audubon Park today

Today I made a brief (15 minute) visit to the patch of trees behind the golf clubhouse.  I was mainly looking for White-winged Dove- and did flush one off the ground that flew up into the trees.

But the main highlight was a mass of small birds that I swished in along the edge of the bayou:
5 Yellow-rumped Warbler
3 Orange-crowned Warbler
1 Pine Warbler
4 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
2 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
1 Blue-headed Vireo
1 Carolina Chickadee
2 Tufted Titmouse
1 Hermit Thrush

These were all gathered around and above me fussing, at once.

The Hermit Thrush was a surprise- not much undergrowth around, merely the narrow margin of it along the bayou edge.  This species is very scarce inside the city.

The Tufted Titmice were good to see- Audubon Park is presently where they make their farthest penetration into the city.  They are numerous in the swamp forests around our perimeter.

There was also a Northern Flicker- flushed from the ground- and a Belted Kingfisher along the bayou.

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 at area book stores.  It is now available at
Uptown:  Garden District Book Shop, Maple Street Book Shop, Octavia Books
French Quarter and Marigny:  Peach Records, Fauborg Marigny Art Books Music, Librairie Book Shop, Beckham's Bookshop, Arcadian Books and Prints, the Crabnet
Mid City:  City Park Botanical Garden, Community Book Center
North Shore:  Mandeville Chiropractic

some bird sightings from Metairie

Today I saw four uncommon wintering birds for urban Metairie, all in places new to me:

Red-tailed Hawk- an adult harassed by crows, where the Earhardt Expressway crosses Central Avenue

American Kestrel- a male perched on a wire by the Earhardt Expressway, where it passes the end of Severn

Brown Thrasher- a bird high in a bare tree at the north end of Dodge in Old Jefferson (where it abuts the railroad right of way)

Northern Flicker- also high in a bare tree, in the 800 block of Jefferson Heights Avenue in Old Jefferson

These were all in the course of an hour.

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 at area book stores.  It is now available at
Uptown:  Garden District Book Shop, Maple Street Book Shop, Octavia Books
French Quarter and Marigny:  Peach Records, Fauborg Marigny Art Books Music, Librairie Book Shop, Beckham's Bookshop, Arcadian Books and Prints, the Crabnet
Mid City:  City Park Botanical Garden, Community Book Center

Ring-billed Gulls picking berries from tree tops in Metairie

This morning on the 3900 block of David Drive in Metairie, I was astonished to see 2-3 Ring-billed Gulls swooping down to the crown of a Chinese Tallow tree and plucking berries from its top.

The tree was in a typical residential backyard, and was about 35 feet tall.  It had a near-leafless top, though still substantial (orangish) foliage on its lower half.  The area is relatively open- not a lot of mature trees.

I first saw one bird do it, an adult, and then it was joined by another Ring-billed- which I am pretty sure copied its behavior and also grabbed a berry.  A third Ring-billed began circling but seemed not to actually forage.  In all, about 6 berry-grabs were seen.

I do not remember seeing a gull (or any waterbird) pick fruit from a tree before.

Peter

For a copy of Birding Made Easy-New Orleans, email me at birding.made.easy.new.orleans@gmail.com, or look for it at area book stores.  It is now available at
Uptown:  Garden District Book Shop, Maple Street Book Shop, Octavia Books
French Quarter and Marigny:  Peach Records, Fauborg Marigny Art Books Music, Librairie Book Shop, Beckham's Bookshop, Arcadian Books and Prints, the Crabnet
Mid City:  City Park Botanical Garden, Community Book Center

The enigma of winter Boat-tailed Grackles

Today at the Wal Mart parking lot in Harahan, I found myself parking at the way on the edge of the parking area, beneath a row of small live oaks bordering Jefferson Highway.

The trees were filled with male Boat-tailed Grackles, loudly issuing their rasping and chanting calls.  There were eleven in the trees in the space of the five parking slots surrounding my car, and more down the way.

They do this every winter.  They abandon the parking area in spring and summer when they nest, and return in flocks in winter, mixed males and females- sometimes 70 or more at this particular parking lot.  They hang out until near sundown, and then fly off to roost at some unknown location.

The question is, why are they advertising themselves, and why so vigorously?

Generally, this sort of loud posturing is associated with one (or both) of two purposes:  attracting a mate, and advertising a territory.

They are not close enough to nesting season to be attracting mates, at least so I would think.

They are not defending any territories in the parking lot- all the birds appear to mill and mix freely among the cars as they search for food.

So what could possibly make it worth their while to expend so much time and energy advertising themselves? Surely there must also be some risk involved, not just wasted energy- plenty of Cooper's Hawks in the area.
Such a familiar site- at Wal Mart every time I go- yet so puzzling.

Peter

For a copy of Birding Made Easy-New Orleans, email me at birding.made.easy.new.orleans@gmail.com, or look for it at area book stores.  It is now available at
Uptown:  Garden District Book Shop, Maple Street Book Shop, Octavia Books
French Quarter and Marigny:  Peach Records, Fauborg Marigny Art Books Music, Librairie Book Shop, Beckham's Bookshop, Arcadian Books and Prints, the Crabnet
Mid City:  City Park Botanical Garden, Community Book Center

Visit to Longvue Gardens

I spent 30 minutes this morning walking the gardens.

The highlight was an immature Red-tailed Hawk that was unaccountably tame- allowed me to walk directly underneath it's perch 30 feet in a pine, and inspect it through binoculars as it preened.  Immature Red-tails are told from adults by the tail- the dorsal surface is brown with thin black bars, rather than the adult's rufous with a thick subterminal band.  The white underparts had the classic contrasting band of dark upper-belly streaks diagnostic of the species.  It was quietly sitting, ignored by a mockingbird and Blue Jay that chanced to notice it.  Then it flew to another spot across the garden, and was quickly set upon by a half dozen harassing jays.

The hawk's Disney-like trust of with me, was in striking contrast to the events thirty yards farther down the path.  I swished at a chipping Yellow-rumped Warbler in the Nature Garden, and was immediately beset by a quivering, fussing gathering in the branches overhead:  two Ruby-crowned Kinglets, two Orange-crowned Warblers, and three Yellowrumps.

Otherwise, the most interesting species at Longvue were a Brown Thrasher and a Pine Warbler, both also in the Nature Garden.

Peter

For a copy of Birding Made Easy-New Orleans, email me at birding.made.easy.new.orleans@gmail.com, or look for it at area book stores.  It is now available at
Uptown:  Garden District Book Shop, Maple Street Book Shop, Octavia Books
French Quarter and Marigny:  Peach Records, Fauborg Marigny Art Books Music, Librairie Book Shop, Beckham's Bookshop, Arcadian Books and Prints, the Crabnet
Mid City:  City Park Botanical Garden, Community Book Center
North Shore:  Mandeville Chiropractic
Gentilly:  UNO campus bookstore

Site report: Lafitte Trace boardwalk

Today I spent an hour on this boardwalk down in Lafitte, a relatively new site with untapped birding potential.  I have not heard a birding report from this site before.

This is a 0.8 mile loop boardwalk through semi-open baldcypress swamp forest, with trees widely enough spaced to have sufficient sunlight to produce a healthy weed layer and ample shrubs (which appeared to me to be wax myrtle).  The cypress are c. 60-80 feet tall.  At the midpoint, the boardwalk reaches a canal, providing a little open water.  A spur goes off here, a cement walkway following the spoil bank (wooded) of the canal for about a third mile.  The interpretive signage indicates this provides views of an egret rookery in nesting season.

The whole thing is 3 miles from where the high rise over the Intracoastal Waterway ends (a T intersection- turn left).

The whole length of the boardwalk and cement path were alive with songbirds- hundreds.  They were constantly swarming to my spishing, which I did essentially continuously.  However, their diversity was not as great as in some other winter woodlands in our area.  Nevertheless, it was an entertaining hour, with 200 or so Yellow-rumped Warblers, 25 or so Swamp Sparrows, and 8-12 each of House and Carolina Wrens, Common Yellowthroat, and Ruby-crowned Kinglet.  There were smaller numbers of Eastern Phoebe, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, and Orange-crowned Warbler.

Birds of other taxa included four woodpecker species, all just heard, incuding Pileated and Sapsucker.  Black Vultures were about, and an odd American Kestrel was calling repeatedly up in the cypress crown (pleet pleet pleet...).  Two each of Great Blue Heron and Great Egret.

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 at area book stores.  It is now available at
Uptown:  Garden District Book Shop, Maple Street Book Shop, Octavia Books
French Quarter and Marigny:  Peach Records, Fauborg Marigny Art Books Music, Librairie Book Shop, Beckham's Bookshop, Arcadian Books and Prints, the Crabnet
Mid City:  City Park Botanical Garden, Community Book Center
North Shore:  Mandeville Chiropractic

Another Bald Eagle along David Drive

Late this morning there was an adult Bald Eagle perched atop one of the high tension towers along David Drive in Metairie, a bit farther north than the one I reported earlier in the season.  It was just south of West Napoleon.

Good birding,

Peter

Peregrine and Bald Eagle in New Orleans

Yesterday I saw a Peregrine at a traditional spot, atop the Holy Name church tower at Loyola University. The bird, an adult with dark gray upperparts, could be seen with the naked eye- silhouetted as it sat on the center of the top edge, on the tower's east side.  230 pm.  It stretched its wings and promptly made a brief foray out to the northeast for no apparent reason, returning immediately to within a few feet of where it had been.

At UNO, I was amazed to see an adult Bald Eagle sitting on the very top of the engineering building- my first perched on campus in 22 years.  It was atop one of the transmitter-like structures on the roof.

A few minutes later there was a Blue-headed Vireo in a shade tree on the southwest corner of the Children's Center- not an easy bird to find wintering in park-like environments.

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 at area book stores.  It is now available at
Uptown:  Garden District Book Shop, Maple Street Book Shop, Octavia Books
French Quarter and Marigny:  Peach Records, Fauborg Marigny Art Books Music, Librairie Book Shop, Beckham's Bookshop, Arcadian Books and Prints, the Crabnet
Mid City:  City Park Botanical Garden, Community Book Center
North Shore:  Mandeville Chiropractic

Pile of birds in the City Park cosmo patch

Today I spent ten minutes in the patch of cosmos along Marconi Drive in City Park (by Tad Gormley Stadium).

I spished in a nice crowd of birds, including luring a bunch of arboreal stuff out into the weeds:
1 Blue-headed Vireo
1 Hermit Thrush (!- normally requires a woodsy area, and usually not in town)
4 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
1 Orange-crowned Warbler
2 Swamp Sparrow
1 White-throated Sparrow

The vireo flew across 25 yards of open air to reach the small baldcypress out in the patch that I was standing next to- an unusually vigorous response for that species.  After it departed, a group of four kinglets did the same, crowding into the baldcypress to fuss at me.

Birding Made Easy is now also available Uptown at Octavia Books.

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 at area book stores.  It is now available at
Uptown:  Garden District Book Shop, Maple Street Book Shop, Octavia Books
French Quarter and Marigny:  Peach Records, Fauborg Marigny Art Books Music, Librairie Book Shop, Beckham's Bookshop, Arcadian Books and Prints, the Crabnet
Mid City:  City Park Botanical Garden, Community Book Center
North Shore:  Mandeville Chiropractic

Franklin's Gull at Lafreniere Park

Today I made a brief swing by Lafreniere Park at 2:30 pm.  Among the horde of gulls attracted to some visitors feeding bread at the end of the boardwalk were 170 Laughing, 70 Ring-billed, and a lone Franklin's Gull.  The latter is a fancy bird here, probably not recorded annually in southeast Louisiana (though more regular in the western part of the state).

The bird allowed close approach, to about 7 feet, on the grass with the other gulls after they had taken to loafing when the bread disappeared.  The bird looks a lot like the Laughing Gulls present, differing most notably in the more extensive black on the head, forming a broad patch on both cheeks, crossing over the crown, accentuating the bird's white eye crescents.

For those without much gulling experience, the best way to pick it out is to scan the flock here for birds with usually much black on the head.  Some of the Laughers have enough gray on the side of face to allow eye crescents to form, but this bird is a strikingly blacker shade there and has much more of it.  Other nuanced differences are its smaller size than the Laughers and more petite bill.  The Ring-billed Gulls they are consorting with are much larger and paler than either the Laughers or the Franklin's.

The Franklin's was a bird in its first winter, as indicated by the extensive brown mottling on the wings.  This contrasts noticeably with the slate gray back- another good way to pick it out.  Because almost all the Laughings were adults, and these have the wings the same slate color as the back, that is a good second feature to check if you are looking and think you may have found it.  It has brown wings.  Only one of the 170 Laughers there today had brown wings (which also indicates immaturity for that species).

Other birds were scores of both coots and Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, the usual hordes of White Ibis, and a lone male Lesser Scaup from the boardwalk, my first of the fall/winter.

The gulls probably move in and out, so it may not end up being as consistent as the Iceland Gull is in Mandeville- but we shall see!

Peter

For a copy of Birding Made Easy-New Orleans, email me at birding.made.easy.new.orleans@gmail.com, or look for it at area book stores.  It is now available at
Uptown:  Garden District Book Shop, Maple Street Book Shop
French Quarter and Marigny:  Peach Records, Fauborg Marigny Art Books Music, Librairie Book Shop, Beckham's Bookshop, Arcadian Books and Prints, the Crabnet
Mid City:  City Park Botanical Garden, Community Book Center
North Shore:  Mandeville Chiropractic

Black Skimmers at the Ted Hickey Bridge 30 minutes ago

I just stopped by the Ted Hickey Bridge (Leon C. Simon crossing the Industrial Canal, at the lakefront).  As usual, there were a few hundred waterbirds loafing on the two breakwaters.

Most interesting was 7 Black Skimmers.  This is the best place to look for them in urban New Orleans outside the nesting season, but they are not here all the time.

The crowd was rounded out by 160 or so Laughing Gulls, five Ring-billed Gulls, 25 Double-crested Cormorants, and a half dozen or so Brown Pelicans.

Surprisingly, there were no Forster's Terns!  When I visited the Mandeville Waterfront a few days ago, they were the most numerous bird on the breakwaters there.  And at the defunct pier at Pontchartrain Beach (still closed- but you can scope from outside the gate), they usually are the most common species as well.

I was also surprised by the lack of Common Loons- often a good place for them.

Peter

for a copy of Birding Made Easy-New Orleans, email me at birding.made.easy.new.orleans@gmail.com.  $24 (including $4 shipping).

You can also look for it at various bookstores in Uptown and the French Quarter/Marigny; on the North Shore there are now a few copies at Mandeville Chiropractic (I know- weird- it's a family connection).

Peregrine near downtown

This morning at 8:30 am as I was approaching downtown from the west on the I-10, a Peregrine Falcon flew over the interstate, headed west.  It's flight was not particularly intense, suggesting that it was casually prospecting- perhaps for food.  It passed over the new Tulane medical facility that is under construction.

Peter

Caught up with the Iceland Gull this afternoon

This afternoon at 4 pm, I stopped by the east end of Lakeshore Drive in Mandeville, to look for the stray Iceland Gull that has now been there for some time.

There were hundreds of loafing birds on the breakwaters near the mouth of Bayou Castine, some close, some requiring a spotting scope for good views.   They were mainly Forster's Terns, but there were good numbers of Laughing and Ring-billed Gulls, lesser numbers of Royal Terns, and a handful of Brown Pelicans.

After ten minutes of scanning without seeing the Iceland, I was about to throw in the towel, when I noticed a lone bird sitting on a post near the shoreline, a few hundred yards west, well away from the main throngs.  I swung the scope onto it and- sure enough- it was the Iceland.

It then allowed us (I was with my daughter and a friend) to drive up and look from closer range.

Good birding,

Peter

for a copy

late Yellow-crowned Night-Heron on West Esplanade

This afternoon as I was driving east on West Esplanade from Williams Boulevard, I passed a solitary Yellow-crowned Night-Heron fishing in the canal.  It was standing stock still, neck outstretched, bill slightly angled down, in classic posture for the species.

The large majority of Yellow-crowns leave for the winter, but a few linger- most winters I do not see any.

It was a mature bird, with the black head/white cheek patch indicating as much (at least not hatched this summer).

Good birding,

Peter