Louisiana, 2013

The end of a year is drawing near.  It was another great year in Louisiana birding, in some ways maybe the best I can remember.  There were great storylines: The Razorbill invasion made it here by a razor thin margin of 1, there was an inland Brown Booby invasion, Iceland Gulls posed, and SE LA had a flurry of great birds in the spring for many to see. 

It was also one of the most ordinary years I can remember.  The species count for the state is on par with every recent year other than the oasis year of 2011.  Spring migration in SWLA was mostly a miss, and fall migration never really happened on the ground here.  Wintering birds have been steady but not spectacular with no Green-tailed Towhee or even nuthatch-type invasions. 

     

One interesting fact, though, is that the ho-hum 2013 species count for the state happened in spite of poor pelagic coverage and results.  If regular offshore species had been seen, this year would have gone down as being nicely above average in terms of species numbers.  But there wasn't much to speak of in terms of pelagic birds, and in essence, a strong onshore effort saved our year list.  How?  2013 saw the rise of the best crop of Louisiana birders ever, and they found great stuff high and low.  LSU has its best crop of birding students since the 90s, NE and NW Louisiana have developed a phenomenal core of birders, recent additions to the birding scene statewide have graduated into solid veteran birders, and some brand new birders have impressed with their relatively advanced skills of observation.  Our state has a birding force to be proud of.  Among its 2013 finds were: Common Merganser, Western Grebe, Brown Booby, Golden Eagle, White-tailed Hawk, Ferruginous Hawk, Rough-legged Hawk, Ruff, Razorbill, California Gull, Iceland Gull, Thayer’s Gull, Glaucous Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Lesser Nighthawk, Great Kiskadee, Tropical Kingbird, Couch’s Kingbird, Gray Kingbird, Fork-tailed Flycatcher, Bell’s Vireo, Yellow-Green Vireo, Black-whiskered Vireo, Chestnut-collared Longspur, Connecticut Warbler, Tropical Parula, Black-throated Gray Warbler, Townsend’s Warbler, Spotted Towhee, and Bullock’s Oriole. 

Not too shabby. Louisiana has never before seen such birding skill as it did in 2013.

Louisiana birders have been lucky, too, and that's nothing new.  The foundation for Louisiana birding was laid down long ago by LSU, and LSU has strengthened the base.  From 3x5 cards to Labird, our state has a centralized and scientific approach to watching birds that many states lack.  The ease of plugging into our state network and the fact that Louisiana birders are in essence modest scientific contributors rather than birding megalomaniacs on the loose is what makes birding here such a treat.  It isn't like that everywhere.  A while back, I saw a letter to the editor of a birding magazine that expressed an opinion that the magazine should have fewer articles about birds and more about birders.  Amazingly, some American birders think like that.  Luckily for us, that birder-first, selfie mentality was absent from Louisiana in 2013.  Let’s hope it stays beyond our borders for many years to come!