Winter Bird Atlas Birds

Painted Buntings and Yellow-headed Blackbird, Lacassine Quad

Wilson's Phalarope, Kaplan North Quad

Dickcissel, Duson Quad

White-winged Scoter, Grand Bayou Quad

I didn't have as much time to put into the Louisiana Winter Bird Atlas (see http://ebird.org/content/la/about) this year as I would've liked.  If I'm calculating right, I birded in 25 quads, and logged 174 species.  I've had a strategy over the past few years of putting a few hours per year into a quad so I could get a rich picture of the diversity an area; every year the picture shifts a little, and different birds enter or exit the picture to some degree.  This year, I managed to reach the 20-hour threshold for a few of these pay-as-I-go quads.  I also added a few oddball species that are blips on the radar in terms of frequency but add interest to the overall picture.  Above are a few photos of uncommon birds, including Wilson's Phalarope, a new species to the winter project.