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LABIRD-L for Sunday, February 4, 2001
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Subject: Sandhill Cranes
From: William Brown <bljnbr(AT)COLLA.COM>
Date: 4 Feb 2001 1:41am
LABIRDER'S,
Saturday, Feb. 3, we checked for Sandhill Cranes in the Oak Grove area. The
large flock of 400 plus is gone. We did manage to find 2 cranes in a plowed
field on Hwy 589, southeast of Oak Grove.
Joan Brown
Monroe, LA
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Subject: Sandhill cranes--again
From: Roselie Overby <rosebird(AT)BAYOU.COM>
Date: 4 Feb 2001 9:34am
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I started hearing the sandhill cranes around 8 am this morning. They =
were calling a lot and flying around in a field just beyond the one =
across the road. They've worked their way toward La. Hwy 2. They seem =
to be moving around a lot and making that unique noise of theirs. When =
I went out into my front yard to view them, they flew farther back into =
the field. I can see about 50 birds. I'm sorry that they were not here =
yesterday for the NE La bird club outing. No guarantees that they will =
be here later today or tomorrow!
The cooler weather we've had the last two nights has brought lots of =
goldfinches back to the feeders. I can see about 50 at once at a given =
feeder area. Chipping sparrow numbers are also up--20 around one feeder =
yesterday afternoon. A pair of purple finches was feeding on sunflower =
seed yesterday morning. I've seen the female this morning. Juncos and =
white-throated sparrows are still around. The white throats are =
bickering a lot with fights escalating into aerial battles. "Blackbird" =
numbers are still high. I'm seeing more redwinged blackbirds this =
weekend--mainly males of various ages. The pine warblers are not =
singing here--just eating suet.
Roselie Overby
Oak Grove in W. Carroll Parish
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Subject: NYTimes on birders' political power
From: Bill Wood <labirder(AT)SHREVE.NET>
Date: 4 Feb 2001 1:12pm
Labirders and all,
While taking a break from spring gardening preparations I saw this on
Birdchat and thought some of you would find it interesting reading.
----------------------------------------------
Bird stuff from the New York Times
As Their Numbers Soar, Birders Seek Political Influence to Match
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/04/national/04BIRD.html
(free registration required) or try
http://partners.nytimes.com/2001/02/04/national/04BIRD.html
Among other things: info on American Bird Conservancy, this factoid: "Bird
watchers now spend more than $25 billion a year on feed, binoculars, travel
forays and high-tech innovations like winterized birdbaths and television
"nest cams" to track their plumed favorites from home or watch penguins
caper live on the Internet" and quotes from Peter Dunne.
As always, Good Birding,
Bill Wood
Keithville, LA
3 miles south of Shreveport
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Subject: Fast Trip Around Southwestern Louisiana - Feb. 4, 2001
From: "Jay V. Huner" <jjhuner(AT)MINDSPRING.COM>
Date: 4 Feb 2001 3:17pm
Judy, her mother, and I made a trip from Lafayette to Crowley for
Breakfast. Took US 90 from Welsh to Lake Charles and LA 14 to Cameron
Prairie NWR and returned to Lafayette via LA 82 - 7:30 AM - 2:00 PM.
This is what we saw going slow or getting out of the vehicle only at
Cameron Prairie NWR. C denotes Common meaning seen often along the
route or in large numbers in at least one place. Beautiful clear,
cool, calm day. - Jay Huner
1. Pied-billed Grebe - C
2. American White Pelican
3. Neotropic Cormorant - C
4. Double-crested Cormorant
5. Great Blue Heron - C
6. Great Egret - C
7. Snowy Egret
8. Little Blue Heron - 1 Cameron Prairie NWR
9. Tricolored Heron - 1 Cameron Prairie NWR
10. White Ibis - C
11. White-faced Ibis - C
12. Roseate Spoonbill - several south of Creole - my mother-in-law
saw the first one and said - "Did you see that 'flamingo'?" - bless
her 78 year old heart.
13. Turkey Vulture
14. Greater White-fronted Goose - C
15. Snow Goose - C
16. Gadwall
17. American Wigeon
18. Mallard
19. Mottled Duck
20. Blue-winged Teal - C
21. Northern Shoveler - C
22. Northern Pintail
23. Lesser Scaup
24. Northern Harrier
25. Cooper's Hawk
26. Red-shouldered Hawk
27. Red-tailed Hawk - C - seemed to see one every 3-5 miles
28. American Kestrel - C
29. Common Moorhen
30. Amercan Coot - C
31. Killdeer - C
32. Dowitcher species
33. Laughing Gull
34. Ring-billed Gull - C - lot on crawfish ponds near Kaplan - good
sign.
35. Rock Dove
36. Mourning Dove - only 3 whole trip!
37. Belted Kingfisher - only 2 whole trip - always find them in
suitable habitat - fall/winter - but they just seem scarce from east
of Baton Rouge to Cameron and north to Alexandria.
38. Downy Woodpecker
39. Eastern Phoebe
40. Loggerhead Shrike - C
41. Blue Jay - C
42. American Crow
43. Eastern Bluebird
44. Hermit Thrush
45. American Robin - C
46. Northern Mockingbird - C
47. Brown Thrasher
48. European Starling - C
49. American Pipit - C
50. Yellow-rumped Warbler - C at Cameron Prairie NWR
51. Savannah Sparrow - C
52. Swamp Sparrow
53. Northern Cardinal
54. Red-winged Blackbird - C
55. Eastern Meadowlark
56. Common Grackle
57. Boat-tailed Grackle - C
58. Great-tailed Grackle - C
59. House Sparrow - C
Note: I had not visited Cameron Prairie NWR since before the reception
center was completed several years ago. I was disappointed about its
"user" friendliness for visitors when the reception center is closed -
no accessible bathrooms/port-o-lets and, if check lists are available
inside the center, none were available outside the center. However,
the unit is certainly worth visiting as long as visitors are not
expecting ammenities when the reception center is closed.
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Subject: Great Black-backed Gull
From: "John P. Sevenair" <JSevenair(AT)AOL.COM>
Date: 4 Feb 2001 6:26pm
LABIRDers,
I saw a Great Black-backed Gull in Grand Isle State Park today. It was an
adult, at the end of the sandspit at the easternmost end of the island. To
get to the spot, park at the observation tower, go out to the beach, and walk
to the left, to the end of the sandspit. Do this at low tide; otherwise
you'll have to either wade or whack bushes.
I was walking along next to the water when a dolphin turned on his side and
charged the beach, splashing in the shallow water, swooping to one side only
at the last minute. I suppose he was hunting.
There were almost no birds on the beach, but it was a beautiful day to be out
anyway, and there were interesting things happening.
John Sevenair
New Orleans
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Subject: LALIT: Pelagic birds in the Gulf
From: "John P. Sevenair" <JSevenair(AT)AOL.COM>
Date: 4 Feb 2001 6:27pm
LABIRDers:
The two books cited below are mostly about whales and dolphins, but each one
has a section about seabirds in the Gulf of Mexico. The Minerals Management
Service funded two extensive research projects to find out how the marine
mammals (and birds) of the Gulf were doing, in potential areas for offshore
oil exploration. They spent a lot of time out there, and produced some
fascinating data and analysis. Here are the citations:
Davis, R. W., and G. S. Fargion, eds. 1996. Distribution and abundance of
cetaceans in the north-central and western Gulf of Mexico: Final Report.
Volume II: Technical Report. OCS Study MMS 96-0027. Prepared by the Texas
Institute of Oceanography and the National Marine Fisheries Service. U. S.
Dept. of the Interior, Minerals Mgmt. Service, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, New
Orleans, LA. 357 pp.
Davis, R. W., W. E. Evans, and B. Wursig, eds. 2000. Cetaceans, Sea Turtles,
and Seabirds in the Northern Gulf of Mexico: Distribution, Abundance, and
Habitat Associations. Volume II: Technical Report. Prepared by Texas A&M
University at Galveston and the National Marine Fisheries Service. U. S.
Department of the Interior, Geological Survey, Biological Rescources
Division, USGS/BRD/CR-1999-006 and Minerals Management Service, Gulf of
Mexico OCS Region, New Orleans, LA. OCS Study MMS 2000-03 346 pp.
If you've gotten this far and want copies, e-mail me off list and I'll give
you the information. The price for the two is about $80, as I recall.
John Sevenair
jsevenair(AT)aol.com
New Orleans
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Subject: Yellow-rumps at Grand Isle
From: "John P. Sevenair" <JSevenair(AT)AOL.COM>
Date: 4 Feb 2001 6:27pm
LABIRDers,
I went to Grand Isle State Park today to survey Piping Plovers. There were
no plovers, and my shorebird total on the beach was 8 (all Willets). The
bird taking their place on the beach was the Yellow-rumped Warbler. I had a
total of about 60 between the tide lines.
There were many, many more inland. David Muth and I estimated 30,000 of them
in the state park on one trip last fall, and I would say there were as many
this time. I could hear them calling everywhere there was brush or trees and
some places where there wasn't. They seemed to be especially dense around
the observation tower and on the boardwalk to the fishing pier. It wasn't a
spectacle, exactly, but such a density of birds over such an area is
something to contemplate.
John Sevenair
New Orleans
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