Rare Bird Alert Friday, 23 October 1998 Baton Rouge Audubon Society Rare Bird Alert Area: Baton Rouge and Louisiana statewide Highlights: WHITE-TAILED KITE SWAINSON'S HAWK BUFF-BELLIED HUMMINGBIRD RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD VERMILION FLYCATCHER CLAY-COLORED SPARROW BULLOCK'S ORIOLE * (* Louisiana State Review List) Others birds mentioned: double-crested cormorant american white pelican greater white-fronted goose snow goose american wigeon cattle egret white ibis white-faced ibis wood stork osprey bald eagle cooper's hawk merlin peregrine falcon yellow rail virginia rail american coot least sandpiper common loon whip-poor-will chimney swift red-cockaded woodpecker eastern wood-pewee acadian flycatcher eastern kingbird white-eyed vireo gray-cheeked thrush swainson's thrush gray catbird brown-headed nuthatch tree swallow barn swallow cliff swallow sprague's pipit blue-winged warbler yellow-rumped warbler yellow-throated warbler pine warbler palm warbler cerulean warbler common yellowthroat wilson's warbler white-crowned sparrow savannah sparrow leconte's sparrow scarlet tanager dickcissel indigo bunting Transcript: Welcome birders to the BRAS' rare bird alert. The following was recorded on Friday October 23. Highlights include an adult SWAINSON'S HAWK and a VERMILION FLYCATCHER in Calcasieu Parish and a BULLOCK'S ORIOLE and a BUFF- BELLIED HUMMINGBIRD in LaPlace. A VERMILION FLYCATCHER was seen 10/17 on Gum Island Road in Calcasieu Parish. Exit I-10 at Sulphur and head south on LA 27. In 3 miles turn right and head west on West Dugas Road. West Dugas ends at Choupique Road in about 31/2 miles. Turn right and head north on Choupique, which will take several jogs during the next mile. At the third jog you'll be heading west. Continue west onto Gum Island Road when Choupique turns north again. No word as to whether this bird was a male, female or immature. An adult SWAINSON'S HAWK was seen on Johnny Breaux Road, also in Calcasieu Parish, and 2 YELLOW RAILS were spooked by a combine on this road, with the driver saying he has seen lots of them in other fields as well. Now is the time to find a combine cutting rice. Johnny Breaux continues west where LA 108 turns to the north, approximately 10 miles west of LA 27. LA 108 intersects LA 27 approximately 5 miles south of I-10. You can also turn south on Fabacher Road from Gum Island Road to reach LA 108. A male BULLOCK'S ORIOLE is coming to a feeder in LaPlace since around the end of September. From Airline Hwy in LaPlace, turn north by the McDonald's onto Carrollwood. Go to the second stop sign and turn left onto Concord. Go 1 block and turn right onto Glendale. The oriole and usually some wintering hummingbirds are at the second house on the left (1409 Glendale). Be prepared for a long wait as he only comes a few times sporadically throughout the day. The male BUFF-BELLIED HUMMINGBIRD continues at 800 Fagot Loop in LaPlace and a BUFF-BELLY is in New Orleans. A number of RUFOUS (or at least selasphorus) HUMMINGBIRDS are in Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Lafayette and Sulphur. Call if you would like more detailed directions (225-763-6805). Migration reports are still coming in, but I only mention ones that constitute late or early dates, high numbers or are unusual for the locale. Sightings from 10/22: well the YELLOW-RUMPS are here (I've had earlier reports, but this was the first report over 20) - an OSPREY, a COOPER'S HAWK, a PEREGRINE FALCON and 23 YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS near Recovery One in New Orleans east; 4 OSPREY and 50-60 INDIGO BUNTINGS in New Orleans; a WHITE-EYED VIREO still at the Chalmette Battlefield in St Bernard Parish; 120 AMERICAN WIGEON and 175 LEAST SANDPIPERS along the Red River and 60 WHITE-CROWNED and 80 SAVANNAH SPARROWS in Caddo Parish; and a SPRAGUE'S PIPIT along with ~25 YELLOW-RUMPS migrating over St Gabriel in Iberville Parish. Sightings from 10/21: 2 slightly late EASTERN WOOD-PEWEES and 100-200 GRAY CATBIRDS in New Orleans; a rather late EASTERN KINGBIRD in Chalmette; 1 OSPREY, 2 COMMON LOONS and 5400 AMERICAN COOTS on Cross Lake in Caddo Parish; and over 500 GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE, 200 WOOD STORKS and 6 YELLOW RAILS in the ricefields between Rayne and Crowley. The rails were flushed by combines harvesting the rice. And a pair of BROWN-HEADED NUTHATCHES are coming to a feeder in Livingston. Call if you would like to see them. Sightings from 10/20: over 1500 WHITE IBIS roosting at Lake Martin in St Martin Parish; a MERLIN in New Orleans; and 450 CHIMNEY SWIFTS and several LECONTE'S SPARROWS in Caddo Parish. Sightings from 10/19: a CLAY-COLORED SPARROW behind the Pontchartrain Center near New Orleans; and at least one of the White Kitchen BALD EAGLES is back in St. Tammany Parish ; and thousands of SNOW GEESE migrating during the night over Shreveport. Sightings from 10/18: 850 AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS, a COOPER'S HAWK, a PEREGRINE FALCON, 50 CATBIRDS, a late CERULEAN WARBLER, 50 COMMON YELLOWTHROATS and a late DICKCISSEL in the Port Fourchon/Grand Isle area in Lafourche and Jefferson Parishes; a very confused VIRGINIA RAIL near a drain pipe puddle in the parking lot of the Superdome Holiday Inn in New Orleans; a late SCARLET TANAGER in Metairie in Jefferson Parish; a late EASTERN WOOD- PEWEE, 2 ACADIAN FLYCATCHERS, a GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH and SWAINSON'S THRUSH in St. Gabriel; 3 RED-COCKADED WOODPECKERS and 80 PINE WARBLERS at Indian Creek WMA, a female VERMILION FLYCATCHER at a private residence just south of Alexandria, 2927 BARN SWALLOWS over ricefields near Cheneyville and south of Alexandria, 107 TREE SWALLOWS and an OSPREY in Rapides Parish; and over 500 DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS, 530 GR WHITE-FRONTED GEESE and 125 TREE SWALLOWS at the Powhaten borrow pits in Natchitoches Parish. Sightings from 10/17: 450 WHITE PELICANS, 3 OSPREYS, 3 WHITE-TAILED KITES, 1 MERLIN, 3 PEREGRINES, a WHIP-POOR-WILL (Willow Island), a late BLUE-WINGED WARBLER and a WILSON'S WARBLER in Cameron Parish; 2 EASTERN KINGBIRDS on Gum Island Road and 580 CATTLE EGRETS, 100-150 TREE SWALLOWS, 500-600 BARN SWALLOWS and 1 late CLIFF SWALLOW on Johnny Breaux Road; over 300 WHITE-FACED IBIS in a field on Cherokee Road in Jefferson Davis Parish and a DICKCISSEL near Vincent Refuge in Vermilion Parish; an EASTERN WOOD-PEWEE and SWAINSON'S THRUSH in St. Gabriel; a PEREGRINE, 2 late YELLOW-THROATED WARBLERS and a DICKCISSEL in Venice, 145 PALM WARBLERS across from Ft Jackson and an EASTERN KINGBIRD in Belle Chasse in Plaquemines Parish; an early COMMON LOON near Recovery One in New Orleans east; and an OSPREY and RED-COCKADED WOODPECKER at Big Branch Marsh NWR in St Tammany Parish. Sightings from 10/16: a flock of 250 CHIMNEY SWIFTS over Metairie; and SWAINSON'S THRUSH in St. Gabriel. Thanks for calling the Baton Rouge rare bird alert and good birding. Compiler: Karen Fay Home phone # : 225-763-6805 RBA phone # : 225-768-9874 Email address: lamskite@aol.com RARE BIRD ALERT ARCHIVE