December 23, 2012

Today, Dave Patton and I took a meandering drive through the SWLA interior.  Part of the mission was to scan a few fields around the area where the Mountain Plover was found (and last seen) on December 14.  The rest of the plan was to drive around without any real plan.  We scratched on the plover search, but had an interesting drive.

Near Lacassine, we scanned a flock of thousands, maybe ten thousands of gulls.  Other than a couple of Lesser Black-backed Gulls, nothing unusual there.  South of Lacassine, we hit a flock of bluebirds, Pine Warblers, and Chipping Sparrows.  We estimated about 50 Pine Warblers in the flock.

At the corner of Highway 14 and Harris Road east of Holmwood, we found a Say's Phoebe in a location where I had one last winter.

Throughout the day, we scanned flocks of shorebirds, ducks, geese, and blackbirds.  The biggest flock of blackbirds was a flock in Lafayette Parish that I estimated at around one million birds (it was at least 1000 thousand birds).  I scanned the flock for quite a while, knowing that sooner or later I'd find a Yellow-headed Blackbird.  Sure enough, I eventually did.  I believe it was my first Lafayette Parish sighting of one.