Lima - Adventures of a Louisiana birder: 1 year, 2 wings, 300 species

Adventures of a Louisiana Birder

A D VENTURES

OF

A L O U I S IANA
BIR D ER

1 YEAR * 2 WINGS * 300 SPECIES

MARYBETH LIMA

Louisiana State University Press
Baton Rouge

Published by Louisiana State University Press

Copyright 2019 by Louisiana State University Press

All rights reserved

Manufactured in the United States of America

First printing

Designer: Michelle A. Neustrom

Typeface: Sentinel

Printer and binder: Sheridan Books, Inc.

Map by Lynn Hathaway

Illustrations by Aaron Hargrove

Library of Congress Cataloging - in - Publication Data

Names: Lima, Marybeth, 1965 author.

Title: Adventures of a Louisiana birder : one year, two wings, three hundred species / Marybeth Lima.

Description: Baton Rouge : Louisiana State University Press, [2019] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2018046200 | ISBN 978-0-8071-7137-0 (cloth : alk. paper) | ISBN 978-0-8071-7158-5 (pdf) | ISBN 978-0-8071-7159-2 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: Lima, Marybeth, 1965 | Bird watchersLouisianaBiography. | Bird watchingLouisiana. | BirdsLouisiana.

Classification: LCC QL684.L8 L56 2019 | DDC 598.072/3409763dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018046200

The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources.

This one is for all you mommas out there, two in particular:

Kathleen (Kay) Florence Rogers and Mary Eleanor Hathaway

CONTENTS

PREFACE

When I began writing this book, my main purpose was to share stories about birds, birders, and Louisiana, to shine a light on these communities and places. My hope was that some random birders living outside the state might read the book and think to themselves, Wow, I really want to visit Louisiana to bird. I think I would have a wonderful time. Louisiana is, I humbly submit, one of the best states for birding in the country, and among the most underappreciated. Our official state checklist, which includes all bird species seen within our borders, numbers 482 and counting. Louisianas species diversity is high in part because we have portions of two of the nations four major migratory flyways (Mississippi and Central) located within the state. We also sport 397 miles of coastline, and although our pelagic (ocean) bird species diversity is nothing like what youd encounter in California or New England, it is still respectable enough to contribute substantially to our state list.

Louisiana offers great birding year - round . One can see almost every North American species of duck and sparrow in the winter. Spring migration colors start flying through in late March and keep birders of all stripes spellbound until mid - to late - May . The sweltering summer is our slow season, although the coastline is a wonderful reprieve from the heat and yields a number of shorebird and tern species. Also, a post - breeding population of Wood Storks, mostly from Mexico, heads over to hang out in south Louisiana during the summer, and some of our intrepid birding souls manage to find summer rarities like the Ruff or Gray Kingbird. Fall migration is the season of understated color and greater challenges, as the birds would rather blend in than stand out. And then, back toward winter, American White Pelicans show up in droves at the LSU lakes and bring out half the citizens of Baton Rouge to see them.

During the almost five years in which I wrote this book, the contours of near death and death intertwined with my birding. As a result, I added two additional goals: to illustrate the ways in which birds and birding (and by extension, any beloved pursuit) can help one get through tough times, and to share the story of the end of a persons life in the hopes that the experiences that come with it might be helpful to others.

I am not a professional birder, far from it. I am more an active amateurwhich isnt to say Im not entirely consumed. Its just that my talent for birding doesnt match my passion (although my mom thinks it doesmore on that later). Birds and the people who are passionate about them are intensely interesting to meinteresting and fun and magical and crazy and idiosyncratic all at the same time. Birding offers a perspective on the human condition, at the intersection of people and birds. Birding is also about communities, both human and avian, contained in the larger ecosystem in which we all reside.

The stories, rituals, and customs at disparate intersections have been the focus of my professional life (intersections of biology and engineering, of university and community). Birds help me understand the world and make me a better person, a person passionately interested in the world being a fair, just place for all its inhabitants, particularly ones with wings and beaks. Hopefully I am not plagiarizing myself by ending this preface with exactly the same sentence I used in my book Building Playgrounds, Engaging Communities: I hope that you enjoy reading this book as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Adventures of a Louisiana Birder

LISTING TOWARD LISTING

The truck peeled backward down the dirt road and angled in uncomfortably close to my rear bumper. The man who jauntily exited and headed for my passenger window looked a little like a Bantam Rooster.

Watch yall doin? he demanded.

A Christmas Bird Count, sir, I answered. We count the birds out here in rice country on this day each year.

Ah, he said, visibly relaxing and blooming a smile. So, what have you seen so far?

Lots of geese, but duck numbers this year are pretty low.

You right about that, he responded. Its on account of Wildlife and Fisheriesthey been feeding the ducks out at Lacassine National Wildlife Refuge. It kind of isnt fair. Wildlife and Fisheries encourages us to hunt and we all go out and buy our duck stamps, but in the middle of duck season they ring the dinner bell for the ducks in a place were not allowed to hunt.

Ah, I said.

Not only that, but that blasted crop duster went through here this morning.

Yes, it flew right over our heads a few times. Wed been watching two Vermilion Flycatchers when the biplane first motored overhead. Although the brilliant red, adult male flycatchers stood their ground during the planes closest passes, many other birds had flushed and our team had tried to count them as they scattered.

That thing scared off whatever few ducks were left. Anyway, I watch stuff around here. What do yall want to see?

Everything.

Yall seen the eagles yet?

Yes, in the fields off Highway 335.

Nodding, he said, How bout the cranes?

Which ones? In rural Louisiana, crane is something of a generic term, the same way that coke is generic for a soft drink of any flavor. A crane might be a Sandhill Crane, but it could also mean an egret or heron species.

Whoopers, he said, the big ones. I havent seen them in awhile, but they used to hang out together, three of em, on this very road youre on nowgo down farther, past those trees up there, and search the fields. I sure hope theyre okay. I try to watch out for them and make sure that no one shoots them.

Another truck was attempting to traverse the road and the mans truck was blocking it, so he said his goodbyes.

Some twenty minutes later and about three - quarters of a mile down the road, my entire Christmas Bird Count (CBC) team drew in an excited, collective breath when we viewed three Whooping Cranes foraging in a rice field about a quarter mile north of the road. Two were bent over, slowly probing the ground, while the third stood erect; I viewed it eye - to - eye , because this beautiful all - white bird with red crown accents stood as tall as I did. The product of a six - year , concerted reintroduction effort, these individuals were among the seventy - two total whoopers in the state. We reported the presence of the cranes, but not their location, to ensure that the cranes were not further disturbed by humans.