John K. Flores: Winter birding heats up

Back in October and November, the fall migration of all species of birds from songbirds to raptors, wading birds to waterfowl, seemingly got off to a slow start. But what a difference a few cold fronts make.
The woods, marshes, and agricultural fields are now teeming with birds of all kinds small and large.
I made my first birding trip in early November to Lacassine National Wildlife Refuge to see if any ducks were showing up prior to the West Zone duck season. The refuge is a good gauge to determine what the opener will look like in the surrounding marshes. Though there was plenty of year around resident, black-bellied whistling ducks, there were few puddle ducks. I was quite surprised.
A couple of weeks later, on Nov. 20, I had a scheduled waterfowl hunt on Cameron Prairie NWR. After my hunt, before heading home, I decided to make a pass on the refuge’s Pintail Drive wildlife loop.
This loop is a photograper and nature lover’s dream. Birders from across the country and from around the world come to Pintail Drive in the winter to see literally thousands of ducks and geese. To my dismay, there was nary a duck or goose along the entire 3.1-mile loop.
Over the past two weeks a couple of major snowstorms have crossed the northern half of the U.S. and Canada leaving the northern prairie states, the Great Lakes states and much of New England covered in snow.
“It seems like overnight the kingfishers, kestrels, hawks, eagles, and ospreys have showed up in big numbers,” said Frank Garacci, a retired and award-winning nature photographer from New Iberia.
Garacci, regularly travels Southwest Louisiana photographing every species of birds he comes across. Garacci has a large local following on social media, where he not only shares his photography captures, but also the locations where people can also enjoy them too.
With the recent southerly push of birds from the north, Garacci said, “I can tell you the latest front brought a bunch of ducks and geese down. I was lucky enough to see and photograph a Harris hawk. I’ve been that way a couple – three times since and he’s nowhere in sight. It’s quite possible he was just passing through.”
“But our usual winter birds are also down,” Garacci continued. “I haven’t photographed them yet because they will be here all winter. The white pelicans are also down and hanging out in their usual places.
One of the birds Garacci has seen and photographed is the crested caracara. The crested caracara, also known as Audubon’s caracara, according to George H. Lowery, in his book Louisiana Birds, is predominantly a southwest Louisiana bird. However, this member of the falcon family has been seen locally this fall.
Paul Schaub, a resident of Bayou Vista and president of the Terrebonne Bird Club, said, “A newer bird to the parish is a pair of crested caracaras that have been hanging out near Cypremort Point State Park. They’re widely seen in Cameron and Vermillion parishes.
Cypremort Point State Park has an excellent above-marsh boardwalk that allows visitors a solid, flat, and comfortable surface to walk on with a couple of rest/observation stations. It’s also handicap accessible. I’ve been on this walkway on several occasions in both the spring and winter. Never, have I been disappointed when it comes to birding.
Schaub said, “The state park is also a good place to see several different species of gulls, terns, and brown pelicans.” Baton Rouge resident and avid birder Bob Long is also someone who travels the state watching and photographing birds. He regularly feeds birds in his backyard where quite a few species of songbirds have showed up over the past three years.Long said, “Winter species that have showed up in my yard are orange-crowned warblers, yellow-rumped warblers, ruby-crowned kinglets, eastern bluebirds, robins, gold finches, and dark-eyed juncos. The winter season, like the spring months, give many birders opportunities and a better chance to see the birds while feeding in the trees, because there’s less foliage.
More locally, Bayou Teche NWR literally winters a treasure trove of birds for people to see.
Schaub admits sparrows are some of his favorite species. During a recent expedition on Bayou Teche NWR, he found plenty.
“The Franklin Trail was really good the other day. I saw a hermit thrush, a Savanna sparrow, a white-throated sparrow, some swamp sparrows, and house wrens. Those were all good finds.
Schaub also mentioned that bald eagles are showing up around Lake Palourde in good numbers. Moreover, besides the lake, he also recommended checking out the Berwick Boat Landing, and Russo Boat Landing to see bald eagles.
With winter birding action heating up, the closer it is to this year’s Audubon Christmas Bird Count. The bird count is the nation’s longest-running community science bird project. This year’s count runs from Dec. 14 through Jan. 5.
Later in the winter you can also get involved in the Great Backyard Bird Count. For more information and how to participate in the Christmas Bird Count and the Great Backyard Bird Count go to the Audubon.org web page.
John Flores is the Morgan City Review’s outdoor writer. He can be contacted at gowiththeflo@cox.net