I’ve had Arlo Guthrie’s song in my head for the last day because yesterday, after a nice trip into the city to visit the Museum of Art, we birded part of City Park (Coutuerie Forest) where we saw some nice birds.
City Park is as magical and unique as the city of New Orleans – and the birds like it too.
After a weather front passage, the temperatures dropped to near-freezing and the wind picked up but we got a little blue sky and sun. Here are a few shots I got this afternoon while out enjoying the crisp conditions.
Returning to the campsite, four neighbors looked me over.
There are dozens of Red-Headed Woodpeckers here at Fontainebleau State Park but most of them seem to be high in the trees resulting in photos like these.
Yesterday, we saw several down lower and this one feeding on the ground – quite far off.
He was joined by a Blue Jay and was not very happy about having company.
After a bit of trash talking, the Blue Jay departed and we left the woodpecker to finish up his meal.
After a few days at Fontainbleau State Park and a nice reunion in New Orleans with Vermont friends, we headed northward and endured a long trip on busy but dry roads back home. The van ran well and aside from a last day long trek, we kept the legs reasonable with motel stays along the way. Since then, it’s been a lot of catch-up work and a series of Nor’easter snowstorms, including 12-14 inches last night. The Sprinter isn’t going anywhere soon.
The Florida van had -30 temperatures before we left and several feet of snow since we returned.
I am including a couple of bird photos — two from Louisiana and one from Vermont.
This Loggerhead Shrike (or its cousin) was on the same power line last year.
It will be a while before we see Eastern Bluebirds here.
However, some American Robins are hanging in there in wintry Central Vermont.
Now we are packing for a two-week birding trip to Ecuador with a group from the North Branch Nature Center. I expect to be offline until early April but will share a few shots from this exciting adventure.
Fontainbleau State Park, on an old sugar plantation on Lake Ponchratrain, is filled with wildlife. Deer, relatively tame, watch us as we tend to the van or walk the camp roads.
It is great to see our northern birds, such as Yellow-rumped Warblers here in force. Southern birds, such as Loggerhead Shrikes like this one, are also fun to see once again.
Here is a sampling of others we have seen on this first birding stop of the trip:
Great Egret
Killdeer
Northern Mockingbird
American Coot
We are off to Texas today and anticipating some cool rainy travel weather but next week in the Rio Grande Valley look good. Buenos dias, mis amigos.
After thawing ourselves and the rig out at Fontainbleau State Park where we took a long walk and saw this Bald Eagle along with a number of American Coots, some Common Gallinules, and numerous kinglets and warblers.
Here are a few other shots from our stay.
We headed westward on I-10 for a night at Sam Houston Jones State Park in Lake Charles, LA. It was dark as we set up and Penny had her first encounter, this trip, with an armadillo. They drive her nuts.
Before leaving Thursday, we took a long walk and paused by this young Long-Needle pine tree.
Off to the Lone Star State. Happy trails to you all.
By Louisiana standards, it was a bit chilly as we headed out birding yesterday.
We took a leisurely walk yesterday and saw dozens of birds, including this shy Yellow-rumped Warbler who along with his cousins, was foraging with the underbrush. Not that easy to spot until he moved. Can you spot him?
Fontainebleau State Park is located on the northern end of Lake Ponchartrain and home to many shore and water birds like these cormorants, one of whom has a nice meal in its beak.
The Loggerhead Shrike often sits quite patiently for prey and photos.
And you never know who or what is hidden in the Spanish moss. Good birding my friends.
January is always a dicey month, weather-wise and we took an extra day to better prepare and to give me a chance to check Grow Compost for the other rare gull that has been hanging out there. Sure enough, driving in for a quick check, I spotted the Glaucous Gull – a life bird among the chickens and Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls.
Thanks to our friend Terry with a last minute sanding job on the icy driveway, I positioned the Interstate in downtown Montpelier and early Wednesday morning, we launched for Pennsylvania. It was a long trip but uneventful although the tractor-trailers on I-81 were their usual challenge — many of them and all moving fast.
We visited Sally’s brother-in-law in Charlottesville, Virginia the next night and after a long drive and just beating a sleet event, we hunkered down during a tough storm that shutdown the region. Two days later, we are at Fontainebleau State Park in Louisiana still battling sub-freezing nights but the forecast is great. Yesterday, we took a cold walk and saw dozens of Eastern Bluebirds and other neat birds, including this Red-headed Woodpecker who was feeding with his buddies.
Today is a thawing-out day for the rig and for us. We intend to stay here for a few days after a long trip and wait for the 70 degree temperatures tomorrow.