The list didn't didn't appear to make it through the first time. Best birds were the Clay-colored Sparrow. On Sunday, October 20, 2013 3:57 PM, "do-not-reply@xxxxxxxxx" <do-not-reply@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: Red River National Wildlife Refuge- Headquarters Unit, Bossier, US-LA Oct 19, 2013 7:00 AM - 12:15 PM Protocol: Traveling 1.8 mile(s) Comments: Birded with Ronnie Maum, who obtained some outstanding photos of migrants and arriving winter birds this day. 2 observers, 5 hrs, 15 minutes 0700-1200 (short break) then the portion of parkway bordering refuge to the South on the way out for 1.8 miles total. Cloudy, 56 degrees, wind ~N 10+ beginning. Clouds 50% puffy, wind 8-10 N ending. Birded overlook, then .1 mile counted by sight and ear at levee/ back road convergence in pecan orchard with much vines and ragweed. Leaving there, we birded the chocolate trail. On the way out I drove the .7 miles of overgrown former cattle pasture along the parkway adding more Scissor-tailed Flycatchers and another juvenile Red-tailed hawk. Migrants and arriving wintering birds only were added at levee stop and parkway location. Numbers of some locals were low. Migrants and arriving wintering birds would have been better detected with less wind, especially early on. 63 species Wood Duck 29 19, 10. ~90% males Gadwall 1 1, 0. Eclipse or f Blue-winged Teal 29 9, 20. Same as Gadwall. I have not seen a "well-marked' male yet, which seems sort of odd.. Green-winged Teal 26 16, 10. ~50/50% well marked males and f-t Pied-billed Grebe 32 24, 8- including tight knit group of 16 at overlook. Double-crested Cormorant 97 70, 27 Anhinga 6 6, 0. One m, 5 f.- all f perched in single baldcypress. American White Pelican 65 27, 38. Count almost surely low. Other birds arriving high from N late on back trail. Great Blue Heron 9 6, 3 Great Egret 101 98, 3. Counted singly including clustered mid-lake roost of 86 from overlook Snowy Egret 12 12, 0 Tricolored Heron 1 1, 0 Cattle Egret 1 1, 0. Bird appeared moribund/ sickly- wobbling- near GREG roost. Black-crowned Night-Heron 2 2, 0. 1 ad, 1 sy White Ibis 9 9, 0. Single group of 1 ad, 8 juv- feeding in shallows off point with ROSP, TRHE, SNEG beyond overlook Roseate Spoonbill 11 11, 0. Counted as 4, 7. First group sy to S, then 7 juv at point Turkey Vulture 4 0, 4 Northern Harrier 1 0, 1. Migrant high S. Red-shouldered Hawk 1 0, 1 ad. Red-tailed Hawk 2 1, 1 Both juv American Coot 350 350, 0. Missed KILL Spotted Sandpiper 2 2 (prob 3), 0. Ring-billed Gull 3 0, 3. Two first winter and single adult overhead to S. Rock Pigeon 4 0, 4. S/S-e Mourning Dove 27 21, 6 Belted Kingfisher 4 2, 2 Red-bellied Woodpecker 13 4, 9 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1 0, 1 Downy Woodpecker 9 1, 8 Northern Flicker 6 0, 6 Eastern Wood-Pewee 1 1, 0 Eastern Phoebe 8 2, 6 Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 24 14, 10. ~90% ad males. Including single group of 9 on fence, surrounding weed tops along parkway when leaving. Choc trail groups earlier of 3, 1, 5 to S/S-e and W. Blue Jay 4 1, 3. No crows Tree Swallow 15 0, 15. Groups of 10, 3, 2 to N. Carolina Chickadee 10 0, 10. No TUTI House Wren 3 0, 3 Scatt singles. Carolina Wren 10 2, 8 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 3 0, 3. Scat singles Ruby-crowned Kinglet 7 1, 6. Including single group of 3-4 birds in willows with BGGN and B-t Green Eastern Bluebird 1 1, 0. No Catharus detected yet this fall here. American Robin 11 9, 2. All to W, S or high in trees. None low. Gray Catbird 1 0, 1. Roughleaf dogwood. Brown Thrasher 8 1, 7. Groups of 1, 3, 3 along Chocolate. Northern Mockingbird 10 5, 5 European Starling 77 12, 65. Single overlook group with 10 m RWBL. Orange-crowned Warbler 3 0, 3. Found as 2, 1. All were f or hy. Variable habitat of black willows and viny understory. Common Yellowthroat 9 0, 9. Scatt 1-4, including 1 ad male. Low for area surveyed! Yellow-rumped Warbler 13 5, 8. Groups of singles to 2. Those overhead to ~N in wind. Black-throated Green Warbler 3 1, 2. Including nice photo by Ronnie of prob hy male. Clay-colored Sparrow 2 0, 2. Probably 3-4. Small, thin-tailed, clear-breasted sparrows moving along with larger group of Indigo Bunting in low vegetation and scattered small willows near water. Two individuals were seen to have strikingly pale bluish-gray napes, thin but crisp dark malar and moustachial surrounded by paler and very warm "clay-colored" sides of breast and flanks. Brownish rump seen of one individual. Always a nice bird to see here- rare but very regular in Fall. Lincoln's Sparrow 2 0, 2. Found as 1, 1 h.o. Exceptional shot of one indiv taken by Ronnie. Swamp Sparrow 12 0, 12. Including single group of 5 to possibly 8-10 birds in low vegetation, asters and yellow composite near water. Ronnie took great shot from back of a prob hy. White-throated Sparrow 20 20, 0. Numbers probably quite low due to wind early keeping overlook activity down early. Heard much more "pink" calls there later, before leaving. Single groups of 5, 15 early. First group of 5 in various weedy growth edging lake. Group of 15-20+ in ragweed with largish Indigo Bunting group at confluence of levee/ rd to back White-crowned Sparrow 1 0, 1. adult in low/ variable vegetation. Slightly early-ish. Great shot also by Ronnie! Northern Cardinal 39 15, 24. Low along Chocolate trail. Rose-breasted Grosbeak 1 0, 1. By "eenk" call. Blue Grosbeak 1 0, 1 f Indigo Bunting 31 15, 16. Single group, then, 6, 2, 8 along chocolate in variable, low shrubby/weedy habitat- larger group with CCSP Red-winged Blackbird 43 30, 13. ~90% ad males Common Grackle 1 0, 1 commuter Brown-headed Cowbird 605 600+, 5. Single tight group of 600+ continuing high S, then 5 high S/S-e Baltimore Oriole 1 1, 0. Chattering and trumpet calls from pecans at overlook View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S15452580 This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org) Hope those birding Cameron and YRARF had some luck! Terry