Birding New Year's Eve in the Deep South

We got up this morning with no rain, which was a relief, but very cool temperatures, which required sweatshirts. There is a big difference in temperatures between the Gulf of Mexico and northern Louisiana. Today we donned our thermal underwear and left Baton Rouge, heading west to the Atchafalaya National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge is a globally important birding hot spot, but the road through the middle of the refuge was gravel and full of very deep holes that held water.

Some really attractive birds we saw today that we had not seen so far on this trip were the Pine Warbler (Setophaga Pinus), the Field Sparrow (Spizella Pusilla), and the Broad Winged Hawk (Buteo Platypterus). As we were leaving, we witnessed a huge flock of Snow Geese (Chen Caerulescens) in V formations in the air, swirling above a soggy field. Thousands of birds. It was magnificent to see.

After leaving Atchafalaya, we drove to the little town of Alexandria to eat lunch. Robert had Shrimp Skewers with eight Cajun sauces. Berry had the Catfish, which she enjoyed. After lunch, we went northeast toward Monroe, Louisiana. We stopped on the way at the Catahoula National Wildlife Refuge. Again, we were driving on an unpaved road, but we found birding "Honey Pots", places where birds flitted back and forth in the sun. It was fun. Berry did not want to toot her own horn, but she identified a small flock of Yellow Throated Warblers (Setophaga Dominica) in the trees on the bank of a canal. These jewels were Life Birds for us. We had never before seen and identified them.

Other birds we saw were the Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis Phoebe), Great Blue Heron (Ardea Herodias), Carolina Chickadee (Poecile Carolinensis), American Crow (Corvus Brachyrhynchos), Mourning Doves (Zenaida Macroura), and a Red Shouldered Hawk (Buteo Lineatus). From Catahoula we made our way to Monroe, Louisiana were we got a hotel room for the night.

Because it was New Year's Eve, we had to go to a couple of resturants before we could get a table without a very long wait. We had dinner at the Mohawk Tavern Seafood Restaurant. The food was good. Robert had the Halibut Special and Berry had the Stuffed Crab. We returned to our hotel and celebrated the New Year in together.

Happy Birding to everyone !

Robert and Berry

photo courtesy of avaianphotography