tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66968758220619420452024-03-13T10:44:23.285-07:00Birding Made Easy New OrleansPeter Yaukeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05050458293417527235noreply@blogger.comBlogger385125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6696875822061942045.post-24021281325684508002020-06-26T19:22:00.004-07:002020-06-26T19:31:24.972-07:00Purple Martin roosts on Causeway bridge<br />
Tonight I went to the view the Purple Martin roost at its traditional spot at the foot of the Causeway in Metairie, viewing from the west side. The numbers appeared to be up from the last several visits I have made (going back several years)- I estimated the number of birds visible in the air at peak tonight to be 5-10,000. Based on my detailed analysis of this roost in 2015, the number of birds actually present (more accurately counted at morning departure when they leave in a steady unidirectional stream) is probably thousands more than that.<br />
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Numbers of birds appeared at 8:10, roost entry began at 8:20, and entry was virtually complete by 8:28 pm. Tall clouds (and perhaps the much-heralded Saharan dust incursion) to the west prevented there being any sunset glow. There was nobody else at the roost viewing spot, so no covid concerns (it was also easy to maintain distance from users of the bike path while walking to the viewing spot from where I parked on the east side of Causeway near Vets of America).<br />
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The closest 100 birds were all female/immature types, consistent with the absence of adult males that I have noted in years past.<br />
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I was surprised to see 3-4 Mississippi Kites still soaring along the massive glass face of the Lakeview Building when I arrived, as described happening earlier in the day in years past. I don't recall them previously doing it so late in the evening. One did make a maneuver to catch something, but they mainly were just soaring, their reason for being there is still (to me) a mystery. Always cool to see them soaring along the glass, mirrored by their reflection.<br />
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Here is a tape of some of the roost entry<br />
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I also noticed that the (much larger) roost near the Mandeville end of the bridge was visible on radar this morning when the birds departed, as it usually is. As also usual, the Metairie roost did not show up on that radar. The Mandeville roost is not visible from shore, although you might see birds staging and flying out to it from Sunset Point. The website (rap.ucar.edu) is down at the moment so I can't add a picture of it to this post.<br />
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The roosts usually peak around July 1.<br />
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Good birding!<br />
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Peter<br />
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<br />Peter Yaukeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05050458293417527235noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6696875822061942045.post-8281561567653199722020-02-07T10:45:00.003-08:002020-02-07T10:45:56.909-08:00Update on Whistler Horde at Ninemile Point<br />
Today around noon ,I took a walk down the Mississippi River levee for the length of the Black-bellied Whistling-Duck aggregation at the Ninemile Point grain elevator on the West Bank, as I did last March. Today I estimated the Squealer horde to number 18,000 individuals, and there may have been others hidden from view. This is up from 15,000 last March.<br />
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They were accompanied by 4,000 Lesser Scaup, among which I was able to pick out two drake Redheads. But, I was sans scope, so unable to pick out any Greater Scaup (though I tried). Actually, the cacophonous Whistlers lulled my senses and had an odd sedating effect, causing me to perhaps not be as diligent in searching out oddities mixed into the duck flocks as I usually would<br />
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Also in the area was a nice collection of raptors: 7 Red-tailed and 3 Red-shouldered Hawks, and two young Bald Eagles.<br />
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The picks below show two sections of the Whistler horde.<br />
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Peter<br />
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<br />Peter Yaukeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05050458293417527235noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6696875822061942045.post-35136829985372410352019-11-29T17:39:00.002-08:002019-11-30T07:21:43.901-08:00Swallow tornadoTonight I tried to track down a Tree Swallow roost that has appeared to be visible on radar on the West Bank near the St. John/St. Charles parish line.<br />
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These annual November roosts are one of the great wildlife spectacles of Louisiana, with hundreds of thousands of swallows gathering in a massive flock before descending into the cane in the gathering dusk. The roost entry is in the form of a strange tornado-like funnel (made of birds) that extends from the swallow cloud down into the cane. The birds "drain" through it as darkness falls.<br />
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I had never visited this site before, but located it on radar- an expanding donut ring (or one side of a donut) visible at dawn on rap.ucar.edu, a site that does not filter out bird echos. When I arrived tonight I found birds streaming over the fields toward the river, and so I followed them and climbed up on the levee to find hundreds drinking (or catching bugs?) on the surface of a pond in the batture. Large numbers seemed to be gathering higher in the air upstream from there, so I drove a ways in that direction on the River Rd. I ended up going too far, passing the birds, but could see 100,000 (very rough estimate) high up in the air with binoculars (beyond unaided vision) back in the direction from whence I had come (see photo below). A falcon of some sort was now maneuvering within the flock, very high in the air, but I could not afford the time to try to identify it to species. <br />
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I returned a bit downstream and could not relocate the flock (how can it be hard to relocate that many birds?!?), until I saw their entry funnel coming down out of the then fairly dark sky a bit farther back downstream toward their drinking pond, blocked from view somewhat by a woodlot. I moved farther downstream to get closer and saw the last minute or so of the roost entry, the final pulse of birds swirling down through the "funnel" into the cane. It was surprising how short a time it took for the whole entry to be completed for so many birds.<br />
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A local resident came out and couldn't stop talking about how she and her husband had watched these birds in awe for the last couple of weeks and wondered who she should call to report them to. Blackened the sky, she said. I told her the roost in Vacherie had been reported at a million in years past and she said she thought that was a low estimate for what she had been seeing.<br />
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She said that earlier in the month the birds were streaming overhead toward cane fields upstream at dusk, and only in the last couple weeks had relocated to the cane just off the end of her street. The street is private, so viewing might only be from the river levee across from it around 350 yards away. I am not sure the attitude of the St. Charles Parish levee board toward people being up on the levee.<br />
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The exact coordinates of tonight's funnel entry point are 30 deg 1 min 10.5 sec N, 90 deg 29 min 48.2 sec W. This is in the town of Killona.<br />
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I managed to snap one picture of the gathering flock, from a great distance (still beyond naked eye detection), posted below. I felt there were probably 100,000 in an initial count (the picture only includes a part of it), but it seemed it grew afterwards- maybe several fold- but I would hesitate to hazard a guess until I get more optimal viewing conditions. Unfortunately, this roost location will probably only persist till the cane is cut, which is ongoing.<br />
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Peter<br />
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<br />Peter Yaukeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05050458293417527235noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6696875822061942045.post-24878812381139038252019-10-12T21:05:00.000-07:002019-10-12T21:05:16.467-07:00Birds overhead tonight<br />
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I just came in from a 5 minute moon watch at around 10:45 pm- four small birds crossed the lunar orb, which is conveniently near full tonight. Of course they were actually migrating a couple thousand feet overhead, and were made visible by passing between me and the lit orb. I watched with binoculars.</div>
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There is also a good density of flight calls- average spacing between them probably 3-5 seconds in my hood, which is rather noisy. It seems like mainly thrushes, which make medium-low short notes that sound like "heep" or "urp" or something similar.</div>
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The bird silhouettes seem way too far up in altitude to be the source of the call notes- interesting.</div>
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The movement tonight is in response to the tail winds following the cold front passage- migrant birds normally wait for such circumstances, and then migrate in droves.</div>
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Peter</div>
Peter Yaukeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05050458293417527235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6696875822061942045.post-23919285106610245262019-07-07T18:15:00.002-07:002019-07-07T19:27:08.488-07:00Amazing shot of booby underwater- from Carnival Cruise ship!Local New Orleans birder Steven Liffmann just came back from a Carnival Cruise with an amazing shot taken near our shores, of a Masked Booby underwater after its headfirst dive in pursuit of prey:<br />
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To give you a better idea what the bird looks like under more normal conditions (if looking down at a seabird is normal!), here is another shot of the bird:<br />
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Boobies are not related to gulls, despite their superficially similar appearance. Before the Brown Booby incursion of the last decade (or so), Masked Booby was the presumed booby species to see in the Gulf. Now Brown is also found regularly. Their close relative, the Northern Gannet, is also regular in winter and often seen from shore.<br />
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Steven's bird was 80 miles off the mouth of the River. Masked Boobies are generally not visible from land- finding them requires going out in a boat. The way most Louisiana birders get them is by participating in an organized trip, in which a group of birders pitch in to hire a boat. Recently a few birders on the LA-Bird listserve have reported on working the cruise ship angle- James Holmes and now Steven.<br />
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Boat birding is essentially the only way to get several other truly pelagic species that are seldom visible from shore. Audubon's Shearwater, Band-rumped Storm-Petrel, and Bridled Tern are three of the more regularly seen such "pelagics" on these trips, but a range of others are possible. As a general rule, such Gulf outings are not as birdy as comparable trips out of the well known East and West Coast pelagic birding hubs, but they are a must-do for birders serious about building up big personal Louisiana lists.Peter Yaukeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05050458293417527235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6696875822061942045.post-91711452045229864172019-04-12T16:39:00.003-07:002019-04-12T17:49:43.075-07:00Birding Opportunities Produced by Weather<br />
The approaching cold front has prompted me to contemplate and categorize various ways in which particular weather phenomena can produce birding opportunities. So here goes an attempt at delineating them, with an emphasis on south Louisiana. All of these, however, are pretty well known to experienced birders across the continent.<br />
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1. Cold front passages<br />
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Cold front passages produce concentrations of migrants. In spring this is crucial in coastal areas along the Gulf, where trans-Gulf migrants are induced by these fronts to stop in our area instead of overflying the coastal belt and heading inland. A cold front produces a headwind (and often rain) that makes the Gulf crossing a struggle, inducing them to stop on the immediate coast or somewhere in the coastal belt. These "fallouts" are best viewed in the Nature Conservancy properties on Grand Isle, but can be impressive even in New Orleans (where the best spot to experience them is usually the Couturie Forest in City Park). The grounded migrants will often linger for some days until wind directions change to give them a tailwind to continue north. If the front arrives at the coast in time to intercept the arrival of migrants from across the Gulf (usually around midday), the fallout can happen that same afternoon. If not, the next day is a better shot.<br />
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In fall, cold fronts often usher in waves of migrants utilizing the northerly tail winds that occur in the days that follow them. The pulse of migrants is usually greatest on the morning following the first night dominated by northerly winds after the front passes.<br />
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Because cold fronts are more frequent in the cooler months, cold front birding opportunities are most common early in spring and late in fall. However, most years we will get a front as late in spring as early May, and as early in fall as August. At these times they may not usher in much change in temperature, but will still produce the desired wind direction change that can produce good birding.<br />
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2. Intense and widespread rainstorms<br />
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These can produce fallouts just as cold fronts do in spring, with the birds wanting to pause because they have been struggling through the rain (vs. bucking a headwind after a cold front). Rain-grounded birds will usually depart more rapidly than after a cold front, often at first nightfall if the rain has abated. This is because wind direction is usually southerly and thus favorable for continued migration at times when a lot of non-frontal rain is in our area.<br />
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Major regional rain events in spring are generally considered the best conditions for grounding shorebirds. The rain not only grounds them, but often creates rain pools in large open grassy areas, into which birds will gather. The "Exxon Fields" at Grand Isle are well known for this. Before the construction gobbled up so much of the University of New Orleans campus lawns, they also were famous for this. Sometimes rain pools can have birds along Lakeshore Drive. There are a few other lawns around, but they are owned by private interests who have not yet been courted to gain permission for general birder use so I will not name them. However, during a rain event earlier this month, lawns on the West Bank of Jefferson Parish produced gatherings of Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, and Pectoral, Least, and Solitary Sandpipers, and a Dowitcher sp. Shorebirds do not generally stay grounded long- it is best to get out and find them while the rain is still falling.<br />
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3. Tropical weather<br />
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Ah, the love-hate relationship of birders with tropical weather systems! We love 'em for the birding they create, but we fear their destructive potential! Tropical weather regularly displaces coastal and oceanic birds inland, sometimes hundreds of miles (I recall a Cory's Shearwater in Oklahoma). For this reason many birders key in on them and get out and about searching for storm waifs as soon as they are able to do so safely.<br />
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The most predictable outcome of a tropical weather event in New Orleans is that Magnificent Frigatebirds and Black Terns will appear around the city. These occur on the coast in numbers, so they may have merely been displaced inland by tens of miles- though we don't really know from whence they came. Overall in the Eastern USA, Sooty Tern may be the most common truly pelagic species to be displaced inland after tropical systems make landfall, although it seems like just about anything is possible. Jaegers, shearwaters, petrels, storm-petrels, phalaropes, tropicbirds- have all been reported in the last few years somewhere in the eastern USA after tropical systems passed inland.<br />
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The best place to search for storm waifs is large bodies of water- such as Lake Pontchartrain. Birders saw a Great Shearwater from the Causeway after one recent storm. There is some indication that birds may also be found following the Mississippi River back out to sea up to several days after a storm, but this needs further study. <br />
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At this point it is not really clear how much of a correlation there is between numbers of waifs carried inland and strength of the storm. Birds appear to show up mostly on the track or to its east. While it seems reasonable to think some have become stuck in the eye (kept within it by their avoidance of the eyewall), and others merely pushed onshore by the winds, we don't really know. <br />
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Sometimes other weird phenomena accompany tropical weather. For instance, Hurricane Juan in 1985 lingered in late October on the northern Gulf, and resulted in unusual numbers of tardy land bird migrants occurring along the Gulf Coast- species that should have been in the tropics by then. Even flamingos have occurred along Gulf and Atlantic shorelines after tropical systems.<br />
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The widespread rain of a tropical system can in itself produce fallouts that are similar to those described in the rain events under # 2 above. Waterbirds and shorebirds are often in good numbers in flooded grassy fields during tropical weather. One fancy record I recall: Hurricane Opal in 1995 induced a Sabine's Gull to pause at Southshore Harbor on the New Orleans lakefront. <br />
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4. Extended drought<br />
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Less of a weather <i>event</i> than a <i>prolonged pattern</i>, extended dry periods produce low water levels in ponds and impoundments. This can produce extensive shorebird habitat, often otherwise hard to come by in the immediate New Orleans area. It can draw birds like a magnet. The place with the best track record in this regard in our area is the impoundment on Recovery Rd in Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge- especially the pond accessed by walking beyond the landfill mound, or via the levee from Chef Highway farther east. At such times this spot can have thousands and thousands of birds, ranging in size from herons to peeps.<br />
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Good birding!<br />
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<br />Peter Yaukeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05050458293417527235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6696875822061942045.post-55873955187505416722019-03-29T07:34:00.002-07:002019-03-29T07:34:35.251-07:00Great Horned hooting in my urban hoodLast 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. <br />
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Four rapid breathy hoots followed by two more spaced out.<br />
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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."<br />
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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).<br />
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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!).<br />
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I drove off on my milk run, decidedly happier than when I walked out the door.Peter Yaukeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05050458293417527235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6696875822061942045.post-62403915060777655602019-03-13T14:12:00.000-07:002019-03-13T14:12:03.275-07:00Whistler Horde at Ninemile PointOn Monday I visited the Ninemile Point grain elevator, for the purpose of estimating the massive duck flock.<br />
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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).<br />
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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!<br />
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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. <br />
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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.<br />
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The pics below are just small segments of the area. The third picture has scaup in the foreground.<br />
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<br />Peter Yaukeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05050458293417527235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6696875822061942045.post-40884080597662878682018-07-29T18:28:00.000-07:002018-07-29T18:28:17.059-07:00Harahan Laughing Gull roost building up- on schedule<br />
The Harahan Walmart is traditionally the focal spot for thousands (sometimes tens of thousands) of Laughing Gulls that roost at night on commercial rooftops in the Elmwood area of Jefferson Parish in late summer and early fall. The roost usually forms in July, and disperses in October, after which they take up roosting out on Lake Pontchartrain. Their dispersal may be stimulated by the House of Shock firing up its pyrotechnics nearby as Halloween approaches, although I have never quite been sure what role that plays in the shift to the lake.<br />
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This evening, on schedule, there were hundreds- possibly thousands- gathering on the Walmart and Intralox roofs and adjacent parking lot. <br />
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In the parking lot photos below (apologies for the dim lighting- it was cloudy and getting toward dusk), you will notice both black-gray-white adults, and brown juveniles. These juveniles are birds that hatched this summer- they only keep this very brown plumage for a short while. The adults are in various stages of transition from their breeding plumage, in which they have black heads, to their white-with-gray-smudge winter head dress. By my count, there were 222 adults and 45 juveniles in this particular group.<br />
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It is often possible to pick out birds that are in their second summer because they retain faded remnants of their tail band. These are less common than adults or juveniles, and I did not detect any tonight.<br />
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One advantage for birders who are just beginning to tackle the rather daunting challenge of identifying gulls, is that essentially every gull in the New Orleans metro area in summer is a Laughing Gull. No need to sweat over identifications!<br />
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Peter<br />
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<br />Peter Yaukeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05050458293417527235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6696875822061942045.post-56459346993395090092018-07-22T13:40:00.001-07:002018-07-22T13:40:28.871-07:00Stilt Sandpipers in the Causeway Retention PondsI just found myself running errands in the vicinity of the storm water retention ponds at Causeway x Earhart in Metairie, and decided to zip in for a quick look.<br />
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There was lots of mud- the habitat looked great for waders large and small.<br />
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There was one species of migratory shorebird present: Stilt Sandpiper, of which there were three. All in adult plumage. This was a notable sighting for the city- a birder could easily pass a season without seeing one inside the hurricane levee. What was doubly odd, was that there were no other migratory shorebirds present- just the resident Black-necked Stilts. Normally, there is sort of a hierarchy one works through at small inland shorebird habitats like this one. The lowest hanging fruit are Killdeer, Lesser Yellowlegs, and Spotted, Solitary and Least Sandpipers. Only after a site has attracted the presence of a few (or all) of these does one usually hope to start picking up some of the more selective species that require higher caliber habitat: a Black-bellied or Semipalmated Plover, Western or Pectoral Sandpiper, Greater Yellowlegs, etc.. It is usually only after one or a few of this second tier starts using a site, that one hopes to find something like a Stilt Sandpiper (or a dowitcher, White-rumped Sandpiper, etc.). <br />
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The point is, it is odd to have three Stilt Sandpipers here when the site has not yet attracted any of the "easier" species.<br />
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Also present was a White-faced or Glossy Ibis (I couldn't see the diagnostic eye and face pattern), 20 White Ibis, 11 Snowy Egrets, and singles each of Little Blue, Tricolored, and Great and Cattle Egrets. A pair of Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks was on the shore, and a lone adult Laughing Gull was standing in the shallows. <br />
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Peter<br />
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<br />Peter Yaukeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05050458293417527235noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6696875822061942045.post-22060519523219266822018-07-10T20:36:00.003-07:002018-07-10T20:36:27.376-07:00Visit to the Monticello wader roostI happened to be in the neighborhood of the Monticello wastewater treatment plant this evening at dusk. So, I took a quick stroll on the levee to see how the usual wader roost was doing in the cement-lined ponds there. This site is right on the Orleans-Jefferson Parish line, in very urban surroundings. <br />
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The roost was used by about 150 waders tonight, with a breakdown of something like 120 White Ibis, 20 Great Egrets, and 10 Snowy Egrets. The ibis were all adults. These were joined by five Anhinga. No Cattle Egrets, and only two Wood Ducks (usually there are a dozen or two Woodies that fly in for the night). <br />
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The biggest surprise was the paucity of Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks. The last time I was here a few years ago there were hordes of "Squealers."<br />
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There were three Black-necked Stilts, one of which was very vocal as it flew around, acting like it might be attending young. There were ten or so Cliff Swallows, which as far as I can remember would be a new nester at this site (the species has been gradually colonizing the city from various directions).<br />
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The number of waders tonight was pretty low compared to some past counts I have had, but I suppose that some birds may still spending their nights at the nesting colonies.<br />
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This site always looks like it is ripe for something really unusual to show up- I need to keep checking it!<br />
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Good birding,<br />
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PeterPeter Yaukeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05050458293417527235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6696875822061942045.post-4442373071463946172018-06-22T19:18:00.000-07:002018-06-22T19:20:33.315-07:00It's Purple Martin roost season!<br />
The annual gathering of Purple Martins beneath the Causeway is underway! I visited the roost at the Metairie shoreline this evening, and could detect a couple thousand birds. Keep in mind that, when I studied the roost extensively three years ago, counts of the departing birds in the morning (a steady directional flow that can be quantified easily) were consistently much higher than could be obtained in evening (when they form swirling masses). As usual, they were clinging to the edges of the lengthwise concrete beams underneath the bridge, both on its west and east faces and underneath. My poor and grainy video shows the scene on the west face.<br />
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The appeal of the Metairie roost is that some of the birds are quite close, and can be easily viewed while perched. As I have noticed before, the birds appear to be essentially all females and immatures- which have pale gray on the underparts and much of the head. Out of a couple hundred examined closely, none were adult males (which would appear all black in dusk lighting).<br />
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The roost at the Mandeville end of the Causeway is usually much larger, but is too far from shore to be seen from land. Three years ago when I kayaked out at night (not advisable- lots of speed boats!) I was able to reach 125,000 of them and estimated that the total number may have been twice that, based on the extent of the whitewash seen there from a boat during the day..<br />
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That roost off Mandeville is active again this year, as judged from the green blob in last night's radar image (thank you, rap.ucar.edu):<br />
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Good birding!<br />
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PeterPeter Yaukeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05050458293417527235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6696875822061942045.post-37348745824883680102018-04-29T19:43:00.003-07:002018-04-29T19:43:54.774-07:00Evening departure<br />
I just pulled up the radar (a site that does not filter out birds: rap.ucar.edu) and looked at the latest radar images. A mass of intense reflections appears to be lifting from coastal or near coastal areas and progressing northward. Birds that crossed the Gulf today and were forced to stop in the wetlands and barrier islands at and near the coast by the north-ish winds that occurred around mid day. Or so I would guess.<br />
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For verification, I stepped outside just now (9:20) and watched the moon with binoculars for 5 minutes. Six bird silhouettes (songbird-like) crossed it northbound, most quite high up, presumably migrants departing from points south. Another that looked more like it might have been a shorebird crossed westward, a path harder to interpret. Six in 5 minutes is a pretty good rate, compared to most most moon-watching I have done. Because the coastal birds will be beyond us soon on tonight's northward movement, I wouldn't expect many to visible as silhouettes against the moon for long.<br />
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Last night there seems to have been another departure, as evidenced by radar images and by a Wood Thrush that I found around 10 pm stunned on the sidewalk in front of a hotel in Harvey on the West Bank. A photo below was taken inside the hotel where I inspected and found no obvious injury. I have it in a standard "bander's grip." I blew back the breast feathers and saw that it had a small fat deposit (it appears white) inside the furcular region (the depression between the bird's neck and rib cage), which is typical of migrants. I put it back outside and presume it fared okay.<br />
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Peter<br />
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<br />Peter Yaukeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05050458293417527235noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6696875822061942045.post-45961009099832846822018-03-20T18:43:00.002-07:002018-03-20T18:43:49.190-07:00The fallacy of small birds being babies<br />
Last week this image appeared on my computer screen, provided as part of the rotating supply of daily imagery that adorns my screensaver. The software has provided loads of stunning natural scenes, but this one made a faux pas!<br />
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This is a quite common misconception about birds, especially among lay people: that a small bird accompanying a larger bird is a "baby" of the larger individual. The caption reads "Eastern Great Egrets," indicating that the two are the same species, and the "Watch carefully young pupil" caption implies the smaller is a youngster. But they are clearly different species. The larger is indeed a Great Egret- the same species we have in Louisiana, which is very widespread globally. The smaller looks to me like an Old World species called the Little Egret, although I have not done the necessary analysis to make a definitive call. At any rate, it is not a Great Egret!<br />
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By the time young birds acquire normal (vs. downy) feathers, they are approximately the same size as adults. Thus, it basically never makes sense to interpret a small but otherwise normal appearing bird as the baby of a larger bird. Babies are only smaller than adults when they are still in the downy, stubby-tail phase, which typically only lasts a few weeks out of the nest.<br />
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The evening after this picture appeared, my sixteen year old came walking in the front door, excited because he had spied an Eastern Screech Owl on the wire in our front yard. He promptly announced, "Dad, there's a baby owl on the wire outside!" <br />
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Even in my own family! Aargh!<br />
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PeterPeter Yaukeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05050458293417527235noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6696875822061942045.post-86344919126962359202018-02-11T17:36:00.000-08:002018-02-11T17:36:16.393-08:00Urban Barred Owl at 12:30 AMYesterday morning at about 20 minutes after midnight, I was on my front step letting my dog answer one last call from nature before retiring for the evening.<br />
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Across the street, coming from the midst of a typical residential block, came the hoots of a Barred Owl! The call was atypical: rather than the usual <i>who cooks for you, who cooks for you-all</i>, it was more like <i>who cooks for you, who cooks. </i><br />
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Here was a case where familiarity with a bird's tone or general vocal quality was important for making the identification- the hoots were recognizably those of a Barred Owl in clarity, pitch, etc- rather dog-like- even though their cadence was perhaps more like that of a Great Horned. The latter usually gives a call a few phrases shorter than the classic Barred arrangement, but more deep and breath-y. <br />
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Residential hoods are not typical Barred habitat, but they do wander into such areas sporadically in the winter. The fact that I am just a few blocks from a pretty woodsy part of the batture probably helps.<br />
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I hooted back to it several times (I have been practicing imitating Barred Owls since I was a pre-teen- which is not unusual- it is probably the first owl that most birders learn to copy), and the bird seemed to be trading responses with me. But it never adopted its standard call.<br />
<br />Peter Yaukeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05050458293417527235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6696875822061942045.post-5020025786700823382017-12-17T19:57:00.002-08:002017-12-17T19:57:52.065-08:00What warblers are expected in the New Orleans area in winter?<br />
Yesterday I was driving behind the Walmart in Chalmette, to check out the eagle nest in that vicinity*. As I drove along the woodland edge, I chanced to notice a mixed songbird flock foraging low in the roadside scrub. I abruptly halted the car, backed up a bit, and rolled down the passenger side window to "spish" and see what was there. Yellowrumps charged the car, and with them came a few Orange-crowneds and a drab female Pine. To my delight and surprise, a Prairie Warbler jointed the group, showing off its bright yellow underparts and neatly-streaked face and side.<br />
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The first three species are regular winterers around New Orleans, but Prairie is somewhat atypical. I generally divide our wintering warbler species into several "tiers" of abundance/likelihood:<br />
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TOP TIER<br />
Yellow-rumped Warbler<br />
(Undeniably the most numerous species here in winter; a half day's birding our usual target winter habitats -forest, scrub, and marsh edge- will commonly produce dozens)<br />
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SECOND TIER<br />
Orange-crowned Warbler<br />
Pine Warbler<br />
Palm Warbler<br />
Common Yellowthroat<br />
Wilson's Warbler<br />
(All widespread and numerous enough to be found on most such half-day efforts)<br />
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THIRD TIER<br />
Black-and-white Warbler<br />
Nashville Warbler<br />
Northern Parula<br />
Yellow Warbler<br />
Yellow-throated Warbler<br />
Black-throated Green Warber<br />
Prairie Warbler<br />
Ovenbird<br />
Northern Waterthrush<br />
(Regularly occurring trophy birds; an active birder might expect to find around half of these in the course of a given winter; if you find one on a Christmas Count, it will probably be a count exclusive)<br />
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FOURTH TIER<br />
Everything else that has ever turned up! This list is long, and ranges from species a relatively small step down from those above (e.g., American Redstart) to some seemingly impossible vagrants (e.g., Lucy's and MacGillivray's Warblers, and Painted Redstart). <br />
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*an adult was sitting low in the nest, evidently incubating.Peter Yaukeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05050458293417527235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6696875822061942045.post-19341361577882844412017-11-07T10:22:00.001-08:002017-11-07T10:22:42.991-08:00Apparent Tree Swallow roosts in the River Parishes, visible on radarOne highlight of each November is the formation of Tree Swallow mega-roosts in the cane fields of the River Parishes. A roost in Vaccherie has been estimated at a million birds in years past, but locations change somewhat from year to year. I have seen them as far downstream as Luling. They last only until the cane is cut, generally around early December.<div>
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The roosts are impressive at dusk, when huge clouds of swallows cover the sky. Their roost entry is very strange, as the birds do not descend into the cane over a broad area, but instead "drain" from the cloud through a small funnel-shaped pathway they create. For this reason, this phenomenon is often referred to by local birders as a "swallow tornado."</div>
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Cane fields are generally private property, so viewing options may be limited. Sometimes a nearby river levee provides the best viewing, but sometimes engaging a farmer in conversation can open a door to driving out into the heart of the event and standing next to the funnel. </div>
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The roosts are generally visible on the Slidell radar, when accessed online at a site that does not filter out birds. The image below is from rap.ucar.edu, taken this morning (the 12:29 UTC on its label indicates 6:30 local time). There are two obvious donut echos, one of which appears to be between Paincourtville and Belle Rose along (east of) Bayou Lafourche, and the other just east of Laplace, perhaps visible from Hwy 61. Hidden between them (partially covered by the Belle Rose echo- only the southeast edge of the donut is visible) is a third one, seemingly near Vaccherie or St. James.</div>
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Peter Yaukeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05050458293417527235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6696875822061942045.post-7919543209477219442017-09-30T14:26:00.002-07:002017-09-30T14:26:48.941-07:00Roseate Spoonbill among waterbirds at Shrewsbury FlatsJust made a brief swing through the Shrewsbury Flats- the water retention ponds beneath Causeway Boulevard, adjacent to the Earhardt Expressway. <br />
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An immature Roseate Spoonbill was nice, hanging with the 25 or so White Ibis and a scattering of other large waders.<br />
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The most surprising bird was a female/immature Hooded Merganser- not a species that was on my radar to turn up here.<br />
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The muddy edges are extensive, and shorebird numbers have grown to 80 Least Sandpipers, 35 Black-necked Stilts, and 4 Lesser Yellowlegs.<br />
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An adult Common Gallinule was present, which makes it easier to explain the presence of three juveniles that I saw there a few weeks back. Looks like they nested.<br />
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Good birding,<br />
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PeterPeter Yaukeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05050458293417527235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6696875822061942045.post-69639399797770323222017-08-30T13:37:00.001-07:002017-08-30T13:37:34.418-07:00Mississippi River skywatch- no tropical cyclone waifsAfter leaving Holy Cross this afternoon, I took a short detour to scan the river from the levee adjacent to Tulane's Hebert Center. Because a load of frigatebirds had come inland not far from this spot during Cindy in June, and Harvey had made landfall in approximately the same location as Cindy near the Texas border, I figured what can happen once can happen twice.<br />
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Winds were strong in my face from the (more or less) south- making whitecaps on the water and causing my pant legs to flap vigorously. I only had binoculars, but a scope would have been useless. The weather service reported gusts to 35 mph at nearby Alvin Calendar Field while I was there, but it sure felt more like a sustained 30-35 to me!<br />
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For the entire half hour I was there (1:40-2:10 pm) there were a dozen or so Black Vultures kiting at various heights along the shoreline to my east, evidently buoyed by winds blowing up river and deflecting up the levee there, where the river makes its sharp turn. I kept scanning them thinking a frigatebird might be coaxed into enjoying the same updrafts (I have seen this in storm-waif frigates before), but none appeared. <br />
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An Anhinga came northwest across the river fairly high up, scarcely making any effort to do anything but let the wind carry it. Ten on so Chimney Swifts also came across riding the gale, one seemingly on the verge of losing control as the wind bullied it forward.<br />
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Several Barn Swallows fought the wind to cross the river southward. A buffeted Spotted Sandpiper flew by along the shore. A handful of Laughing Gulls glided up and downstream. One Caspian Tern flew downstream. It was the only surprise of the visit- though only mildly unexpected.<br />
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<br />Peter Yaukeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05050458293417527235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6696875822061942045.post-73046068775815518012017-08-19T20:30:00.000-07:002017-08-19T20:30:50.202-07:00The enigma of species missing south of Lake Pontchartrain<br />
Yesterday, Fox 8 posted this video of a beautiful male American Kestrel on one of their cams:<br />
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Apart from being a real looker, this bird is also of interest because it is here at a curiously early date- the species nests on the North Shore, but is normally absent on the South Shore in the nesting season. Being here before the normal fall migration period suggests it may have wandered down here after it finished breeding. Such post-breeding dispersal in late summer is pretty widespread in North American birds.<br />
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But back up a bit. Why would Kestrels nest on the north side of Lake Pontchartrain, but not the south side? Isn't there plenty of acceptable habitat down here? There does appear to be. However, fully seventeen other species of North Shore nesters are also absent down here despite apparently suitable habitat:<br />
Bobwhite<br />
Wild Turkey<br />
Swallow-tailed Kite<br />
Broad-winged Hawk<br />
Red-tailed Hawk<br />
Belted Kingfisher<br />
Red-headed Woodpecker<br />
Yellow-throated Vireo<br />
Eastern Wood-Pewee<br />
Wood Thrush<br />
Swainson's Warbler<br />
Kentucky Warbler<br />
American Redstart<br />
Yellow-breasted Chat<br />
Summer Tanager<br />
Eastern Towhee<br />
Blue Grosbeak<br />
This used to be true of Eastern Bluebird and Northern Rough-winged Swallow as well, but they have become more regular nesters on the South Shore in recent years (or so it seems to me). In reverse, the Bobwhite and Kentucky Warbler were more regular as nesters on the south side decades ago than they are today.<br />
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Why aren't all these species on the South Shore? I and others have pondered this for many years, without a really plausible explanation yet emerging. A biogeographical mystery under our noses!<br />
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Peter<br />
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Peter Yaukeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05050458293417527235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6696875822061942045.post-38173538300327529982017-07-23T15:29:00.001-07:002017-07-23T15:29:26.878-07:00Fall migration milestone: first Yellow Warbler reportedAlthough some migratory shorebirds are usually reported back weeks earlier (see my late June post), to me one of the pivotal moments of each fall migration is the first report of a Yellow Warbler. <br />
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One was reported in St. Tammany yesterday, by Jane Patterson in her back yard.<br />
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I normally expect to hear of a Yellow somewhere in the state at the very tail end of July, but this one was a few days earlier than I anticipated. It is the onset of a larger movement-Yellow Warbler normally seems to me the most numerous August migrant in the New Orleans area. Because it is also one of our migrant species with the greatest propensity for "morning flight" (active migration in the early AM), it is not unusual to hear one giving its <i>seet </i>note overhead on any morning during the month. I have spent many hours listening for these birds in many locations on August mornings, and have on occasion observed movements of up to 100/hour both on the lakefront and in Old Jefferson. Most such birds appear to be westbound, and presumably are bound to circumnavigate the Gulf. They do also stage larger corrective flights at South Point on August mornings with northeast winds, but such winds are hard to come by so early in the season, since we are generally still out of range of the cool fronts that create them. I have long tried to figure out when during August the peak of Yellow Warbler numbers occurs; my best guess is that it is in the last few days of the month, but because substantial flights can occur earlier, I am still wondering.<br />
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<br />Peter Yaukeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05050458293417527235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6696875822061942045.post-23522157289929775352017-06-30T16:55:00.001-07:002017-06-30T16:55:26.308-07:00First fall migrants have returned!What? Fall migrants?<br />
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Yes, three Lesser Yellowlegs have been reported together in the northwestern corner of the state, fresh down from their nesting grounds in Canada.<br />
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Although it seems crazy, since we are barely past the solstice and into "summer," this is actually a pretty typical time for our first fall migrants to show up. And it is quite typically a shorebird species that leads the pack.<br />
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What happens now? Purple Martins are at peak numbers right about now in their pre-departure roosts (including under the Causeway bridge), and will be among the first breeders to disappear. However, things get started slowly- some martins will be around until the end of August, about the same time our Mississippi Kites vanish. At that point fall migration as a whole will just be getting up steam. The waves of Neotropical migrants (i.e., species that winter in the tropics in our hemisphere) will build in size through September. Around mid-October, movements will become dominated by species that winter in our area. Finally, major flights will end at the close of November, with just a small variety of species with atypical migratory patterns actively migrating afterwards, such as Yellow-rumped Warblers and Cedar Waxwings. <br />
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Changes are on the way!<br />
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PeterPeter Yaukeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05050458293417527235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6696875822061942045.post-27112889498101118032017-06-26T21:19:00.000-07:002017-06-26T21:19:08.481-07:00Brown Booby on the Causeway Bridge<br />
Today as I was driving southbound on the Causeway at 7:25 PM, I was treated to a Brown Booby at mile marker 16.3. It was just off the bridge, and turned in such a way as to approach the side just as we passed.<br />
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This is the exact spot where a roost of this species has been located for the last few years. Birders crossing the bridge had been seeing small numbers occasionally, but it wasn't until a boat trip in June 2015 that allowed better viewing of the bridge structure that we discovered that there were many more there than suspected. The peak count I know of was of 37 on one boat visit last October. To my knowledge, there have not been any recent boat trips- a similarly large number could still be roosting on the bridge there every day.<br />
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How crazy- this species was an extreme rarity in Louisiana waters up until a few years ago. Then they inexplicably started appearing with greater frequency- including on near-coastal lakes and even once flying with geese over the rice country! This tropical species has been turning up in other parts of the country- and even Canada- with increased frequency at the same time as this has been happening in our own state. These odd appearances out of range and out of habitat together pose one of the most fascinating and enigmatic ornithological mysteries I have ever heard of, and I have yet to hear an explanation that is even remotely convincing.<br />
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So the next time you cross the Causeway, keep alert! These birds can turn up anywhere along it, but are most likely to be seen near mile marker 16.3 on the west side. When roosting, they are invisible from the roadway- thousands of cars pass these rare birds every day, completely unaware of their presence!<br />
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Good birding, PeterPeter Yaukeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05050458293417527235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6696875822061942045.post-85185458702659333882017-05-05T13:56:00.002-07:002017-05-05T14:02:15.840-07:00Hundreds of Mississippi Kites migrating through South Point!<br />
This morning I took a walk out to South Point, which is the point of land from which the railroad bridge leaves New Orleans East and heads across Lake Pontchartrain to Slidell. This is the railroad bridge visible to your left as you cross the twinspan.<br />
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South Point is interesting because it is the logical jumping off point for birds that are wanting to cross from the south shore of the lake to the north shore- by sticking northward from the southern shore, it cuts that overwater distance to 5 miles.<br />
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I had hoped for a migratory movement of some sort to be going on, but was unsure what to expect. We know big migratory movements happen here in fall, but know virtually nothing about spring.<br />
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The point is only accessible via a mile or so walk, which starts at the "fishing bridge", which you may have noticed on the lake side of I-10 more or less across from the Irish Bayou castle. <br />
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As I walked out, I noticed a flock of 21 Mississippi Kites negotiating the wind, which was howling from the west-northwest. Lakefront Airport says 23 mph, gusting to 32 Felt stronger than that to me!<br />
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They made their way up to the point at about the same pace as I was walking, and we arrived there at 845 AM. <br />
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Then another flock of 22 approached, along the same tack as the others. They headed out over the water toward Slidell and gained altitude until they were beyond range of my unaided eye. <br />
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Around 930 the sky to the south suddenly became filled with kites- 185 in one flock! This was far more Mississippi Kites than I had ever seen at one time before. They were mostly low, dipping and tilting in the stiff wind. They eventually headed out across the water, gaining height like the previous flock of 22. I watched them through binoculars beyond naked eye visibility.<br />
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Another 10 minutes passed, and another flock- 155- appeared to the south and again headed toward me. Shortly thereafter, another flock of 85 doing the same.<br />
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That's 468 Mississippi Kites in an hour. That's crazy- quite likely a new record high count for the state of Louisiana, and something I never would have anticipated. <br />
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Two brief snippet videos are below, of parts of the flocks, taken by cellphone.<br />
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Good birding!<br />
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Peter<br />
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<br />Peter Yaukeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05050458293417527235noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6696875822061942045.post-6284061612963043722017-04-27T14:40:00.001-07:002017-04-27T14:40:50.245-07:00Birding opportunity at City Park- tomorrow!Spring is a time of boom and bust migration here in New Orleans. According to reports, there is a little "boom" happening today in the Couturie Forest on Harrison Avenue in City Park- the city's premier migrant trap. James Beck reported today that he and a handful of companions found 15 warbler species, accompanied by numbers of other passage migrant species, including 20+ each of Red-eyed Vireo, Great Crested Flycatcher, Scarlet and Summer Tanagers, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, and Indigo Bunting. Warblers were let by 15 Bay-breasted, 12 Tennessee, and 3 of the hard-to-find Cerulean and one harder-to-find "Brewster'" Warbler (Golden-winged x Blue-winged hybrid).<br />
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Because winds are still from the northerly half of the compass, chances are that many or most of these birds will hang tight and still be there tomorrow- continuing migration would require departure into a head wind. All these species migrate at night. If you go, focus on both the live oaks and whatever fruiting mulberries you can find in more open sunlit areas. <br />
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This fallout is a puzzling. At first glance it appears sensible- we know cold fronts precipitate fallouts by inducing birds to stopover instead of passing over us, and one came through last night. However, this front was still hours away when the birds would have arrived across the Gulf yesterday. This arrival is typically around mid afternoon, and the front didn't reach us until around 3 AM- about 12 hours too late to hit the birds with a headwind and induce them to ground. There was no rain ahead of the front, so that couldn't have caused them to stop. Could it have intercepted <i>last</i> night's flight instead? No- James reported the fallout as already underway at 930 am, before birds from last night's flight across the Gulf should have reached us.<br />
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Just when you think you have migration figured out! Sheesh.<br />
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PeterPeter Yaukeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05050458293417527235noreply@blogger.com0