The Great Louisiana BirdFest is an annual
event of the Northlake Nature Center. It is held each year in the spring
when many species are migrating north through Louisiana from Mexico and
South America. (See http://losbird.org/checklist.htm
for a birding checklist.) Our location in southern Louisiana makes this
an excellent time of year for birding. The weather is typically warm but
not yet hot and the trees are usually leafing out, but still thin enough
for improved visibility.
BirdFest trips will visit varied habitat including swamps, wetlands,
pine savanna, and hardwoods of southeast Louisiana. Among the many excellent birding locations
scheduled for this year's BirdFest is Pine Island, a rookery located in a private preserve.
BirdFest includes birding trips, some Southern food and hospitality, and
a few workshops. Check the details below and join us for good birding
and a wonderful time. Before and
after our scheduled trips, take a leisurely walk through the Northlake
Nature Center property via a clearly marked path from BirdFest headquarters.
There are five miles of trails through our 400 acres, marked for self-guided
tours. Habitats at the Nature Center site include a grove of giant southern
magnolias, Cypress/gum swamp, and a beaver pond on Bayou Castine. You
may see wood ducks, migrant warblers, and if you're lucky, our flock
of over twenty wild turkeys! So, plan to take this pleasant walk.
Bird
Sighting List from 2000 (pdf format)
Bird
Sighting List from 2001 (pdf format)
Bird Sighting List from
2002 (pdf format)
Bird
Sighting List from 2003 (pdf format)
Bird
Sighting List from 2004 (pdf format)
Bird
Sighting List from 2005 (pdf format)
Bird Sighting List from 2006 (pdf format)
Great Louisiana Bird Fest 2008 |
Birding in South Louisiana
No other coast in the entire world is as busy with birds as the coast of Louisiana. Each year, nearly the entire eastern population and several
species of the western population of migratory neo-tropical songbirds and waterfowl migrate through Louisiana’s coast in what is one of the
world's greatest spectacles. On some days in April, more than a million birds will reach Louisiana's coast. Spring migrants arrive on
Louisiana’s coast after a long gulf crossing and rely on the coastal wetlands to restore depleted energy reserves and to provide food and cover.
The effects of weather on migration
In past years, approximately 125 to 150 species have been seen during BirdFest. The numbers are largely dependent on the weather. As is true in
any Gulf Coast birding location, numbers and species of birds is highly dependent on the weather, with the best birding following a strong cold front
moving through the birding site. This may create conditions for a “fallout” where trans-gulf migrants, battling wind and rain, go to ground soon
after they hit land. These “fallouts” offer the opportunity to see a high number of species and during these events hundreds of individuals of a
single bird species may be packed into very small areas where they can be easily observed. Although fallouts are not very common, we have
encountered them in a couple of spectacular years during BirdFest and there is always the possibility that this year could be one. Even in fair
weather when some trans-gulf migrants may continue inland many migrants will stop in south Louisiana. Our resident and breeding bird populations
are greatly augmented by migrants; Gray Catbird and Indigo Bunting are two examples, often arriving in flocks.
Birds that can be seen on most of the BirdFest trips
The following birds occur commonly in southeast Louisiana and can be expected on almost any trip and so may not be mentioned in individual trips.
Note that resident and breeding bird populations may be outnumbered by migrants for any given species.
Wintering Birds: Tree Swallow, Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warbler, and White-throated Sparrow.
Resident and Breeding Birds:
Great-blue Heron, Great and Snowy Egret; Black and Turkey Vulture; Laughing Gull, Mourning Dove, Chimney Swift, Ruby-throated Hummingbird,
Red-bellied and Downy Woodpecker; Great-crested Flycatcher, Eastern Kingbird, White-eyed Vireo, Blue Jay, American and Fish Crow; Purple Martin,
Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, Northern Mockingbird, Northern Parula, Pine Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Northern Cardinal,
Red-winged Blackbird, and Common Grackle.
Possible Migrants: raptors, vireos, warblers, tanagers, grosbeaks, orioles, thrushes, and buntings.
See Birding Checklists for species seen on prior year BirdFest trips.
What about Hurricane Katrina?
While Katrina did a great deal of damage to southeast Louisiana, the primary problem as far as birding is that some areas we have birded in past
years are currently not accessible. The hurricane will make it easier to see the birds because the dense foliage that is typical to south Louisiana
has been thinned. Shortly after the hurricane the bird population appeared to be back to pre-storm levels in most areas. We have chosen sites for
BirdFest 2008 (our 12th year!) that will provide the same excellent birding that you have come to expect at the Great Louisiana BirdFest, adding two
privately owned properties that have never been part of BirdFest.
Transportation
Note: Since Katrina, the availability of buses has been very limited and costs have skyrocketed. Rather than increase trip prices to cover these
exorbitant costs, we have scheduled all trips as ‘self-drive.’ Maps will be provided in advance and you will drive yourself to the meeting place
for the start of the trip.
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Our schedule this year includes new
and innovative trips. If you visited last year and missed some of our
unique birding sites, please register early so you won't be disappointed!
Follow the links below for detailed descriptions of this year's trips
and events and then register for those that you wish to attend.
- Reservations will be filled in the order
in which they were received. Many of the trips and events have limited
seating or space.
- Your registration and payment must be
received by April 4, 2008 to receive written confirmation.
- All participants will meet at the field trip locations.
Directions will be provided for each registered particpant. All trips are self-drive.
- The prices listed below are for non-members.
If you would like to become a member and receive discounted prices,
click here to buy your membership.
- If the trip that
you are interested in is full, email birdfest@northlakenature.org
to be put on the waiting list.
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Register to attend the Great Louisiana BirdFest
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Register
by Mail or
Register by
our Secure Online Registration Form Below
Click the
member / non-member links above to register for appropriate
field trip.
If you would like to be a member and receive discounted prices,
Buy Your Membership
Here
For ease of processing, please register only one person
at a time.
Do not select multiple quantities on the form....each person
must have their own registration form.
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