Last night I walked out my front door in Old Jefferson at a few minutes before 10 PM on a late grocery run, and before I could open the car door heard the resonant hooting of a Great Horned Owl just across the street.
Four rapid breathy hoots followed by two more spaced out.
I have only heard Great Horned hooting in urban residential New Orleans a handful of times previously. Closest woods are about 0.4 miles away in the batture. This species is scattered through the metro area, but they have always seemed to me to be less vocal here than in "the country."
This bird was a tad higher pitched than I am used to, so I actually was able to do a decent (to my ears) imitation back at it. I have been practicing Barred and Screech imitations since I was a pre-teen, but have always given up on Great Horned because I couldn't get my hoots low enough. This one was within my range, or nearly so, suggesting it was a male (higher pitch than female).
It seemed to pause in response to my hooting, so I gave up and started back into my car- only to have it hoot again. So I hooted back, and it flew over my car, underside visible in the adjacent streetlight. Looked on the small side (at least, for a Great Horned)- cementing my impression it was a male (males are generally smaller in birds of prey than females- reverse sexual size dimorphism!).
I drove off on my milk run, decidedly happier than when I walked out the door.
Friday, March 29, 2019
Wednesday, March 13, 2019
Whistler Horde at Ninemile Point
On Monday I visited the Ninemile Point grain elevator, for the purpose of estimating the massive duck flock.
I ended up walking the length of the flock, and estimating 15,000 Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks were present, with another 1400 Lesser Scaup. The whistlers were pretty much on land, the scaup out in the water. Careful inspection of the couple hundred scaup that were close in did not show any Greater Scaup mixed in (Greaters are often mixed into Lesser flocks in our area, in small numbers).
I used to bird this site twenty years ago, before the Whistler invasion. Back then thousands of scaup were regularly in attendance in late winter, but there were of course no whistlers around yet. My how things have changed!
These Whistlers presumably share time between the elevator area and Audubon Park,which is more or less across the River, and where local birder Dan Purrington reported counting 10,000 in the lagoon system fairly recently. The species is also numerous (though not in such crazy numbers) at Lafreniere Park in Metairie, at the Monticello water treatment plant in New Orleans, and can be found in smaller numbers widely throughout the metro area. As spring progresses, you may see them showing up in residential areas with tall trees- where they nest in cavities.
As far as birding the Ninemile Point site, the mass of birds is both cacophonous and odiferous. For parking, I pulled over at the Entergy plant just upstream where there were other cars pulled off on the left, but have not yet done any legwork with respect to asking how they feel about birders parking there. I walked the river levee to count the birds.
The pics below are just small segments of the area. The third picture has scaup in the foreground.
I ended up walking the length of the flock, and estimating 15,000 Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks were present, with another 1400 Lesser Scaup. The whistlers were pretty much on land, the scaup out in the water. Careful inspection of the couple hundred scaup that were close in did not show any Greater Scaup mixed in (Greaters are often mixed into Lesser flocks in our area, in small numbers).
I used to bird this site twenty years ago, before the Whistler invasion. Back then thousands of scaup were regularly in attendance in late winter, but there were of course no whistlers around yet. My how things have changed!
These Whistlers presumably share time between the elevator area and Audubon Park,which is more or less across the River, and where local birder Dan Purrington reported counting 10,000 in the lagoon system fairly recently. The species is also numerous (though not in such crazy numbers) at Lafreniere Park in Metairie, at the Monticello water treatment plant in New Orleans, and can be found in smaller numbers widely throughout the metro area. As spring progresses, you may see them showing up in residential areas with tall trees- where they nest in cavities.
As far as birding the Ninemile Point site, the mass of birds is both cacophonous and odiferous. For parking, I pulled over at the Entergy plant just upstream where there were other cars pulled off on the left, but have not yet done any legwork with respect to asking how they feel about birders parking there. I walked the river levee to count the birds.
The pics below are just small segments of the area. The third picture has scaup in the foreground.
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