Also in the air were Swainson's Hawks. I saw this bird kiting near Johnsons Bayou (not Johnson's Bayou, or Johnson Bayou) in extreme SW LA. I don't know of any Swainson's that nest in that area, so the bird can probably be called a wanderer or migrant. Swainson's are among the growing list of western/south Texas birds that have been creeping into Louisiana over the past several years. I remember how excited I was when I saw my first Louisiana Swainson's Hawk a couple of decades ago. Now, they're recorded in relatively large numbers in the state, and they even nest here.
Don't adjust your dials. It's right-side-up.
Another large soaring bird that gave me a much closer look was this Turkey Vulture. It was keeping close tabs on a dead Coyote on the highwayside.
In the early afternoon I found myself at Peveto Woods, where I ran into Gary Broussard. Gary was leaving as I was arriving, but he stayed to bird with me for a few minutes. Soon after he left, I stepped under a tree to look at some bird movement and spotted a hanging brown object that I first thought might be a wasp nest. It was actually a bat, the first perched bat I've ever found.
Because Gary was a half-hour ahead of me on the route, I started getting calls about nice things he was finding, so I set off to check his birds out. Gary has a pretty nice résumé of rare birds to his credit, but he also has a knack for finding oddball birds. In other words, he looks closely at birds--even common birds--and spots differences. He got a brief look at this Red-tailed Hawk up near Sweet Lake, and I caught up to him and helped him relocate it. Maybe this bird is a perfectly normal Red-tailed Hawk; I'm not saying it isn't. However, the tail pattern sure seems funny (looks pale-based with a broad blackish tip to me), and something about the tail shape, feet, and overall appearance of the bird keep catching my attention.
Good weather, good birds, good company, good game. Good time of year.
