LABIRD-L for Sunday, February 18, 2001

Messages are displayed in the order they were received.  Subject  From  Time   Sightings   Patrick Willis    1:53pm   Surf Scoter is still on the LSU Lakes   Elaine Kilgore    6:19pm   Re: Sightings   Jay V. Huner   8:22pm

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Subject: Sightings
From: Patrick Willis <p.willis(AT)CENTURYTEL.NET>
Date: 18 Feb 2001 1:53pm

Birders,
Several members of the Loose Alliance were treated to an outstanding
display of an osprey showing off his aerial skills Saturday on our
outing to the Indian Creek area.  Great fun.  Today I enjoyed watching
several harriers on the Willow Lake unit of the Catahoula Wildlife
Refuge.  This is a great place for harriers, red-tailed hawks, and
numerous sparrows as well as a large flock of meadowlarks, but there
appears to be very little public use of this area.  Today a flock of
about 40 white pelicans floated around. No goldfinches were at my
feeders yesterday, but today there is one lone feeder.
Beth Willis
Jena (LaSalle Parish)


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Subject: Surf Scoter is still on the LSU Lakes
From: Elaine Kilgore <freespark(AT)HOTMAIL.COM>
Date: 18 Feb 2001 6:19pm

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I took advantage of a beautiful morning to visit the LSU Lakes and the la=
kes behind the Capitol building. The blue phase snow goose is still there=
 and seems to be fat and healthy.
He was there last winter so I assume that he can't fly or he thinks domes=
tic ducks are cool. I met a fellow birder from Arkansas who is much bette=
r at identification than I.
  He had located the Surf Scoter already. Together we found Lesser and Gr=
eater Scaup,
One Canvasback, an immature Night Heron, pied billed grebe, lots of coots=
 and Commorants, Purple Martins, Tree Swallows and five Cedar Waxwings. H=
e saw a Sharp Shinned Hawk earlier that morning hunting the yellow rumped=
 warblers in the Sanctuary area on the Lake. =20
  The Surf Scoter was directly across the lake from where I had seen her =
at the Alumni Center the week before. =20
  From there we went to look for what I think are swallows under one of t=
he I-10 overpasses towards Gonzales. I see them in the evenings when I am=
 headed home from =20
work. There are probably 100 birds swarming between the two bridges but I=
 never get a very good view. Now that I know it could be worth checking o=
ut I will turn around and locate them next time I see them. They may be g=
oing into the pampas grass that is located between the bridges. Goodness =
knows I don't have a clue.
 I felt guilty that I may have taken him on a wild goose chase so I turne=
d around and took him to the Capitol Lakes. The Hooded Mergansers are gon=
e. There is a lot of construction going on in the area. A wire fence has =
been put up behind the Courthouse on the north end of the lake that exten=
ds all the way down to the water's edge. I assume that this may have made=
 them relocate. The Ruddy Ducks are still there. They are starting to cha=
nge their plummage and their beaks look bluer to me than earlier in the y=
ear. More Lesser and Greater Scaup.
  There was an Annhinga ( I bet I didn't spell that correctly) sunning hi=
mself on a point in front of the courthouse. Yellowrumped Warblers were e=
verywhere flitting about in the Cypress trees on the waters edge. A singl=
e female Eastern Bluebird sat on the new fence just long enough to be ide=
ntified and then disappeared. After leaving there we drove down River Roa=
d and thru LSU back to our starting point on the Lakes. What a wonderful =
way to spend a Sunday morning.
  Once again I appreciate the generosity of the more knowlegable birders =
that take the time to share with the beginners. Elaine<br clear=3Dall><hr=
>Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at <a href=3D"http://explorer.msn=
.com">http://explorer.msn.com</a><br></p>

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Subject: Re: Sightings
From: "Jay V. Huner" <jjhuner(AT)MINDSPRING.COM>
Date: 18 Feb 2001 8:22pm

Dear Conservationists,

I most sincerely hope that more of you will share this sort of
exciting news with other LABIRD members. I realize this short post is
"intrusive" but would rather advertise it to the entire listserve in
the hopes that more and more of you will tell us, at least weekly,
what you see and where. Your common yardbird may be rare to me! Hope
that Charlie Lyon and Terry Davis get back "on the air" so we can know
what's on Caddo Lake and hanging around Stoner Launch. Roselie needs
to start doing a backard post every week or so like Bill Wood's "Posts
from the Oaks". "Crusty" David Muth, I hope, will share more about his
location. You Lake Charles/Sulphur folks seem to be "silent".

I understand that 'paul connover' may be BACK. With luck lower case
paul will post regularly whatever he is finding to share with us all.

I'm a bit euphoric because I have ABA NA Lifer's 300 -  Broad-tailed
Hummingbird, 301 - Buff-bellied Hummingbird, 302 -  Black-chinned
Hummingbird, 303 - Calliope Hummingbird and 304 - Broad-tailed
Hummingbird. The LABA trip to Baton Rouge was well worth the effort.
We had Andy from Spain with us and he generated over 45 lifers on the
trip.  Carol Foil saw the scoter yesterday. No, we could not find it.
We picked up - Pied-Billed Grebe, American White Pelican,
Double-crested Cormorant, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Tricolored Heron,
White Ibis, Wood Duck, Gadwall, Mallard, Ring-necked Duck, Lesser
Scaup, and American Coot on the city/university lake system in Baton
Rouge today. But, MOST species were "lifers" for our Spanish guest!

Regards,           Jay H.

PS- 300 was a Black-chinned Hummingbird that Dr. Remsen patiently
located and presented to us.
-----Original Message-----
From: Patrick Willis <p.willis(AT)CENTURYTEL.NET>
To: LABIRD-L(AT)listserv.lsu.edu <LABIRD-L(AT)listserv.lsu.edu>
Date: February 18, 2001 1:55 PM
Subject: Sightings

>Birders,
>Several members of the Loose Alliance were treated to an outstanding
>display of an osprey showing off his aerial skills Saturday on our
>outing to the Indian Creek area.  Great fun.  Today I enjoyed
watching
>several harriers on the Willow Lake unit of the Catahoula Wildlife
>Refuge.  This is a great place for harriers, red-tailed hawks, and
>numerous sparrows as well as a large flock of meadowlarks, but there
>appears to be very little public use of this area.  Today a flock of
>about 40 white pelicans floated around. No goldfinches were at my
>feeders yesterday, but today there is one lone feeder.
>Beth Willis
>Jena (LaSalle Parish)