Hi all,
Charlie Lyon and I birded portions of Caddo, Bossier and tiny sliver of
Red River and Bienville parishes. We gave it our best shot considering the
weather and overall migrant activity from the very beginning, yet probably
should have called the whole thing off not long after. It's a good thing we
found a few decent birds. Except for the stiff s winds, it felt more like
the second week of June- with many later stops producing more N Cardinal
and Carolina Wren than anything else, although numbers of those weren't
that great either. The air and most substrates underfoot were bone dry and
hot from early on. We started the day right with Charlie getting calling
Chucks and spotting Great-tailed Grackle by lights at Youree and 70th, then
me getting Common Nighthawk in Agurs business district near downtown
Shreveport, calling White-winged dove and a lone Chipping Sparrow on Lee
Street in Bossier. Swainson's Thrushes were noted in fairly good numbers
calling overhead, also giving flight-type "preep" calls from woods on both
sides of the Red River. We also had an interesting run-in with a tiny "gray
morph" Chuck at Stoner woods.
Other interesting birds-
Gadwall- 2 males at White- House Plant. Looked/ swam as if very healthy-
but flight capability unknown
Northern Shoveler- 1 ad male. Also at WH. Capable/ observed in strong/
non-hindered flight.
AMERICAN WIGEON- female- very late!! also at WH. Digi-scoped w/ i-phone
(dead cam battery) by Charlie. Was first observed circling with 4
Blue-winged Teal in strong non-hindered flight, then dropped near small
island, walked on shore separating from teal group, then sat and preened
among a few Canada Goose in close/ excellent scope view.
Lesser Scaup- 1 male. Red River pool 5 near Clark's Marina- distant scope
views. Looked fat/ healthy
Neotropic Cormorant- 1 juv-plumage- RRNWR Headquarters early, then observed
probable same bird again later in afternoon with a quick run-through again
near overlook. Black-crowned Heron ad observed in flight was honorable
mention....yet we somehow missed Yellow-crowned........./:
Osprey- ad- largish probable female. RRNWR HQ. Perched on snag for quite
some time early.
Sharp-shinned Hawk- 1. Juv and probable female. Ash Point Rd near Half-moon
Lake- Taylortown.
American Coot- 6. Three at WH, then 3 again at HQ during quick afternoon
scan. Also had faintly mentionable and loudly calling Sora in the cattails
at Clark's
Semipalmated Sandpiper- 1. On newly emerging sandbar with 1 Least Sand and
7.......
White-rumped Sandpiper- 7- as above. To show just how poorly overall spp
list and conditions were, we missed both legs, Black-necked Stilt and all
other shorebirds, except Spotted and Solitary Sandpiper.
Chuck-will's-widow- 5, including one apparent "gray morph". Charlie had 3
calling birds near his house in southern Trace early, then I had a single
calling on the southwest end of Red River NWR. However, a brief walk of the
central opening at Stoner woods in Shreveport around 9 am produced a very
interesting bird. With first view at flushing, the bird looked tiny in
flight. Although the view was very brief, when the bird banked back toward
the thicker woods, I also was fairly sure I saw buff tips just on inside of
outer rectrices- again, too brief too really judge. However, the warm
overall tones below were suspect. We followed and flushed again, after
which the bird perched briefly for about a minute in close bin view. We did
not see the pale tail tips the second flush. The bird had a wide swath of
gray in the upper wing.......but....the throat was definitely a pale, warm
buffy-brown color.....
Bank Swallow- 1. Fos- with 8 Cliff over small pool near Jimmie Davis
bridge/ E 70th at Clyde Fant Parkway
Western Kingbird- 1. One of probable returning pr at power station on La 71
south in Bossier, near Red River South Marina.
CEDAR WAXWING- 280+!! (around ~350) Bold-faced only due to numbers. That's
just the RRNWR HQ count. There were others. Largest group early working
pecans and the huge mulberry near the boat launch.
Bay-breasted Warbler- Fos- 2 males in pecan on Ash Point rd at La 71 in
Taylortown- foraging with/ near 3 Yellow Warbler- much song and 2 Tennessee
giving song nearby.
Blackburnian "- 1 ad fem. At RRNWR HQ overlook. Not so surprisingly, we
missed Yellow-rumped. For migrant warbler order of abundance early on, we
had best numbers of Yellow, Tennessee, Northern Waterthrush, American
Redstart and Chestnut-sided. Otherwise, it was slim pickings. Even Common
Yellowthroat was hard to find til later in morning- but we did have four
later in a short stretch of brushy/ weedy oxbow edge on Ash Point in
Taylortown- some of which were probable are local breeders. Prothonotary- 2
at RRNWR HQ and 1 at Taylortown were almost certainly locals. A lone male
Yellow-throated sang again at Cooterville Oxbow just n of Lock and Dam # 5.
We did a brief run before quitting up La 4 east off La 71 and located
singles each of Hooded, Prairie, Pine, then 2 Y-b Chat. We also had 1 Y-t
Vireo there. Three Warbling Vireo at Marie Hamel park in Shreveport and
small number of Red-eyed throughout day rounded out the vireos.
CHIPPING SPARROW- 1. 1900 Block of Lee Street/ Bossier. I was worried early
on not having found White-winged roost or occupied nest the day before. So
at 0409 I decided to give playback a shot. Almost immediately after, I had
3 calling birds nearby and a distant bird. I began walking back to the
truck near the neighbor's house when I heard two distinctly clear ascending
"cteet" calls of CHSP as the bird rose from the shrubs in front of their
house. We've been having a lot of late Chipping Sparrow lingering in flat,
pine-less non-breeding areas here recently. However, I will say that they
have never been regular at this location, with exception of late winter the
year before when the feeders were being used- and then only a couple.
We had one calling Y-b Cuckoo near lock 5. We missed R-b Grosbeak (along
with many other near un-fathomable misses). Indigo Bunting Blue Grosbeak
and Dickcissel much less detectable today than previously. Painted Bunting
seemed maybe slightly up.
We did fairly good considering conditions and good birds. However, I surely
hope that it was better for everyone else in terms of diversity...........
(;
Terry
