LABIRD-L for Sunday, January 21, 2001

Messages are displayed in the order they were received.  Subject  From  Time   Sandhill Cranes and others   William Brown    12:08am   Software results, sandhill cranes, etc.   Roselie Overby    4:41pm   Re: Grasshopper Sparrow   James Beck    5:30pm   Lake Charles Area   Winston Caillouet    5:42pm

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Subject: Sandhill Cranes and others
From: William Brown <bljnbr(AT)COLLA.COM>
Date: 21 Jan 2001 12:08am

LABIRDER's,

Today, Steve Pagans and I went to check reports of Sandhill Cranes on Hwy
17, south of Forest, LA.  A week ago, Roselie Overby had reported seeing
about 100 birds on the west side of the highway.  The flock has grown!
Today, we counted 200 and didn't even get to the largest part of the flock.
They are feeding right next to the highway and are easily viewed.  They
sometimes get startled when 18 wheelers go by, but they settle down and
continue feeding.  There are between 350 and 400 birds in the flock.  Along
the edge of the field, many Horned Larks are feeding close to the Cranes.

On Hwy. 585, south of LA 2 (west of Oak Grove), we saw a field with several
thousand Snow Geese.  Ross' Geese were mixed in with this group.  There were
several Red-Tailed Hawks and Northern Harriers standing in the field, just
beyond the flock of geese.  One of the Red-Tails was eating a goose.  There
was another injured Snow Goose away from the rest of the flock with blood on
its tail.

We saw more raptors in this area than we have seen previously.  Red-Tailed
Hawks, Red-Shouldered Hawks, Northern Harriers, and Am. Kestrels were very
common.  We saw a female Am. Kestrel carrying a rat almost as large as she
was.

Other notable birds were:
    White-Crowned Sparrows
    Vesper Sparrows
    Savannah Sparrows
    Chipping Sparrows

If you live anywhere near this area, it is well worth the drive to see the
Sandhill Cranes.  They are magnificent birds.  We saw a total of 37 species
birding mostly by truck.

Joan Brown
Monroe, LA
bljnbr(AT)colla.com


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Subject: Software  results, sandhill cranes, etc.
From: Roselie Overby <rosebird(AT)BAYOU.COM>
Date: 21 Jan 2001 4:41pm

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.

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Since several people from LABIRD requested the results from my question =
about computer software, I'm posting this non-scientific information. =20
    Make your own on Excel spreadsheet    3
    Make archive-quality lists with india ink and rag paper  1=20
    BirdBase  1 negative comment   =20
    Thayer  3 positive responses, 2 negative
    AviSys  5 positive responses

Most of the responses came from ARBIRD where I also sent the question.  =
Some suggested trying both Thayer and AviSys to see which one best fit =
my needs.  Both have web sites.  I've been invited to give AviSys a test =
run by a friend, so I may do that before I finally decide.

I'm glad Joan and Steve saw the sandhill cranes.  This morning I heard =
some flying over my house.  Couldn't get my shoes and coat on fast =
enough to see them, but I heard them off and on south of the house.  I =
guess they were in a field beyond the treeline.  I didn't have time to =
chase them down. =20
Last Sunday, Jan. 13th, I found 3 Sprague's pipits in a field just north =
of the property.  The field was very wet today and I could not find them =
or any other birds in that field.  Both Sundays, I found fox sparrows =
and at least 3 E. towhees on the property.  Today, I saw a female towhee =
which I don't see as often as the males. =20
                                                                    =
Roselie Overby
                                                                    Oak =
Grove in W. Carroll P.

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Subject: Re: Grasshopper Sparrow
From: James Beck <buteo(AT)WORLDNET.ATT.NET>
Date: 21 Jan 2001 5:30pm

Jenn/LABIRD,

        I suppose the strangest place I can recall seeing Grasshopper Sparrow
would be in that scrubby area at Garner Ridge in Cameron with Charlie Lyon
this past fall.  We also saw one the same day in the fields along Broussard
(?) Beach.  Muth or Purrington...was it Broussard?

Good birding,

James

________________________________________________________________
James Beck
Metairie, LA
buteo(AT)worldnet.att.net


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Subject: Lake Charles Area
From: Winston Caillouet <lincwinc(AT)MSN.COM>
Date: 21 Jan 2001 5:42pm

I birded today with three friends from Texas (Ken Sztraky and his son Eric
and Ray Jordan).  We tried the fields holding the sparrows that I reported
last week.  We observed about 12 LeConte's in one field and Ken got some
close-up photos of several.
We tried the Cameron Prairie refuge and picked up 3 Fox Sparrows.

At about 10am, we observed 22 Sandhill Cranes flying near the field
mentioned above.  The field is close to the intersection of Wardline Rd. and
Hwy 14.  Six of the cranes went down about 1/4 mile west of us and on the
south side of Hwy 14 while the others flew northwest and appeared to go down
on the north side of Hwy 14.  These birds are getting very close to Lake
Charles.
Winston Caillouet
Lake Charles, LA
lincwinc(AT)msn.com