Welcome Back to Holly Beach

Welcome to Holly Beach

Crested Caracara

I can remember reading all about Caracaras in Lowery's Louisiana bird book when I was a kid.  According to Lowery, Caracaras nested in small numbers in the Gum Cove area of Calcasieu Parish.  I later learned that a ferry ran out to Gum Cove, and I hoped to get out there someday to see a Caracara.  These "Mexican Eagles" would have been easy enough to see in their expected range in southern Florida, or in southern Texas or Arizona, but the idea that this exotic looking bird actually had a toehold in Louisiana seemed pretty exciting.

Years passed, and I learned the ferry to Gum Cove had stopped operating.  I also heard things that made me believe the tiny Louisiana population had probably dwindled out.  Then, a little over a decade ago, Caracaras began to be reported regularly from the Fabacher Road area of Calcasieu Parish, and it seemed as if maybe the little group had managed to survive.  I went out and eventually got a look at one, and counted myself lucky.

Since then, Caracaras have staged something of a population explosion in our state.  It's not uncommon to see several in a day of birding now anywhere in SW LA.  Caracaras have  been reported as far east as Lafayette and Iberia Parishes.   There's no telling if the increased numbers come from the old Gum Cove stock, or from Texas birds spreading out.  Whatever the case, the Caracara is a great addition to our wildlife.

These pictures were taken today.  The perched bird was within sight of the Gulf in Cameron Parish.  The flying bird was part of a family of two adults and two young birds in Calcasieu Parish south of Holmwood.  Click to enlarge.

Bullbat

I spotted a lot of Common Nighthawks, a.k.a. Bullbats, along the coast today.  Judging from the numbers, it would seem that breeding success was pretty good this summer.

Nighthawks were flying around, perched in trees, on powerlines, on bare earth, and luckily for my camera, on fenceposts below eye level.  This bird let me get within about 10 feet of it several times.

Cameron Parish, 07/20/2011

I could sense fall in the 90 degree air today, so I took a ride down to Cameron Parish to see what was moving.  Once I got down there, the wide open view on the coastal prairie let me see huge but widely spaced thunderstorms rolling through all around.  I managed to miss any big storms, but the areas I drove through were either painfully dry or drenched and covered by pools of standing water.

I birded Peveto Woods for a few minutes, but approaching thunder seemed to quiet the birds.  The bugs weren't bad at all, just a few mosquitoes.  Most of the birds were breeders (Cardinals, Yellow-billed Cuckoos, etc.).  The only birds in the woods that may have been migrants were Orchard Orioles.

There were migrants in other spots.  Western Sandpipers, Sanderlings, and Marbled Godwits were present on the beaches.  Purple Martins (photo above) were present in good numbers on powerlines throughout my route--even though some on the coast were still hanging around their nest boxes.  Small groups of Eastern Kingbirds in places that didn't look very suitable for nesting territories suggested that they may be moving, at least locally.