Rare Bird Alert Tuesday, 24 November 1998 Baton Rouge Audubon Society Rare Bird Alert Area: Baton Rouge and Louisiana statewide Highlights: WESTERN GREBE * ( * Louisiana State Review List) CINNAMON TEAL * SURF SCOTER SWAINSON'S HAWK BUFF-BELLIED HUMMINGBIRD BLACK-CHINNED HUMMINGBIRD CALLIOPE HUMMINGBIRD * RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD TREE SWALLOW (large roosts) BULLOCK'S ORIOLE * others birds mentioned: horned grebe eared grebe double-crested cormorant anhinga ruddy duck snow goose american wigeon gadwall canvasback redhead bufflehead yellow-crowned night-heron american bittern roseate spoonbill bald eagle american coot dunlin stilt sandpiper black-necked stilt american golden-plover wilson's plover franklin's gull forster's tern common loon white-winged dove rose-ringed parakeets barn owl chuck-will's-widow ruby-throated hummingbird vermilion flycatcher western kingbird (probable) scissor-tailed flycatcher cedar waxwing eastern bluebird swainson's thrush wood thrush brown creeper golden-crowned kinglet pine siskin american goldfinch tennessee warbler nashville warbler northern parula magnolia warbler yellow-rumped warbler black-throated green warbler black-and-white warbler northern waterthrush white-crowned sparrow savannah sparrow leconte's sparrow indigo bunting baltimore oriole orchard oriole rusty blackbird bronzed cowbird Transcript: Welcome birders to the BRAS' rare bird alert. The following was recorded on Tuesday November 24. Highlights include an immature SWAINSON'S HAWK at Port Fourchon, 3 SURF SCOTERS on University Lake in Baton Rouge, an immature male and 2 female CALLIOPE HUMMINGBIRDS near St. Gabriel, a WESTERN GREBE in Cameron Parish, a CINNAMON TEAL in New Orleans, huge roosts of TREE SWALLOWS in canefields by the Mississippi River and a BULLOCK'S ORIOLE and a BUFF- BELLIED HUMMINGBIRD in LaPlace. An immature light morph SWAINSON'S HAWK was seen 11/22 along Fourchon Road between Theriot and Estay Roads at Port Fourchon in Lafourche Parish. The hawk was last seen at Belle Pass following a barge up the channel. 3 SURF SCOTERS, an eclipsed-plumaged male and 2 females, were seen in the morning on University Lake in Baton Rouge on 11/21. Exit I-10 West at Dalrymple (no exit at Dalrymple on I-10 East) and turn right. Take the first left on May Street which runs between Park Lake on the left and University Lake on the right. Park in the gravel lot on the left. The scoters were seen out in the middle of University Lake, further out than the large flock of scaup and ring-necks. Subsequent efforts to refind them have been unsuccessful so far. An immature male CALLIOPE HUMMINGBIRD appeared at a feeder near St. Gabriel on 11/21. You are invited to call Van at 225(504)-642-0113 to arrange a time to visit. Also 2 female CALLIOPES appeared at another feeder near St. Gabriel the same day. Call Steve or Donna at 225(504)388-2855 if you want to arrange a time to see them. A WESTERN GREBE has been reported near the Sabine River bridge on LA 82 in Cameron Parish on 11/18. Exit I-10 at Sulphur and head south on LA 27 to Holly Beach where you turn right onto LA 82. Follow 82 west to the Sabine River bridge at the Texas border. The grebe was seen near the boat launch. No additional reports have been received. Two large congregations of TREE SWALLOWS, each estimated to be over 1 million, have been found in canefields along the Mississippi River. One roost is located near Lucy in St. John the Baptist Parish across the Mississippi River from LaPlace. Take I-310 across the Mississippi River and take the next exit (exit 7 marked Hahnville/Luling) to get to River Road (LA 18) which runs along the west bank. Go west on LA 18 for 11 miles to an iron pipe gate on the left and park. This spectacular event occurs around dusk (~5:15 pm on 11/22 - lasts 7-10 minutes). A second equally large roost is in Vacherie in St. James Parish. And about 10,000 swallows are roosting in cane at the foot of the I-310 bridge in Luling in St. Charles Parish. A CINNAMON TEAL has appeared in New Orleans at the same spot as last year in a canal behind the Abramson High School. Exit I-10 at Read Blvd (after I-610 rejoins I-10) and turn right heading south on Read. In about 2 blocks turn right and head west on Dwyer Rd. The canal is on the right hand side of the road. If you don't find the teal there, just look for other access spots to the canal working your way back towards I-10. The male BULLOCK'S ORIOLE continues at 1409 Glendale and the male BUFF-BELLIED HUMMINGBIRD continues at 800 Fagot Loop, both addresses in LaPlace in St John the Baptist Parish. BUFF-BELLIES are also in New Orleans, Lafayette, Lake Charles and Cameron. A number of RUFOUS (or at least selasphorus) HUMMINGBIRDS are in Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Lafayette, Lake Charles and Cameron. And BLACK-CHINS are in Gramercy in St. James Parish, St Gabriel in Iberville Parish, Lafayette and Lake Charles. And some lingering RUBY-THROATS are scattered around as well. Migration reports are winding down and the number of wintering birds is on the increase. Here is a sampling of some of the more interesting reports: Sightings from 11/22: Cameron Parish: a probable WESTERN KINGBIRD at Peveto Woods Sanctuaries. St. Tammany Parish: 3 BUFFLEHEAD, an immature BALD EAGLE, 5 BLACK-NECKED STILTS, 2 WHITE-WINGED DOVES, 60 CEDAR WAXWINGS and 1 INDIGO BUNTING in Mandeville. St. Charles Parish: an adult BALD EAGLE on LA 18 near Killona. Orleans Parish: 550 AMERICAN WIGEON, 4 REDHEAD, 14 BUFFLEHEAD, 1 BLACK- THROATED GREEN and 1 BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER and 1 NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH at Bayou Savage NWR in New Orleans East. Lafourche Parish: a HORNED GREBE, over 150 SNOW GEESE, numbers of WIGEON, a dozen or so GADWALL, 7-8 BUFFLEHEAD, an adult YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT- HERON, 6 ROSEATE SPOONBILLS, 24 STILT SANDPIPERS, a FRANKLIN'S GULL and 2 COMMON LOONS at Port Fourchon. Jefferson Parish: 1500 DUNLIN, a juvenile AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER, a WILSON'S PLOVER (all at the Exxon Fields), 175 WHITE-WINGED DOVES, 1-2 CHUCK- WILL'S-WIDOWS, an immature male RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD, 2 SCISSOR-TAILED FLYCATCHERS, 10-15 CEDAR WAXWINGS, a SWAINSON'S and 1-2 WOOD THRUSHES, 2 GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS, 3 TENNESSEE WARBLERS, a NORTHERN PARULA, a MAGNOLIA and a BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER, an INDIGO BUNTING, a BALTIMORE and 2 ORCHARD ORIOLES and a BRONZED COWBIRD on Grand Isle. Sightings from 11/21: Caddo Parish: PINE SISKINS at a feeder in southeast Shreveport. Vermilion Parish: 2 VERMILION FLYCATCHERS continue on LA 82 near the Acadiana Marina. Iberville Parish: 12 RUSTY BLACKBIRDS near St. Gabriel. Orleans Parish: 1 ANHINGA, 11 CEDAR WAXWINGS, a NASHVILLE and 516 YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS and a NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH at Recovery One in New Orleans East. Sightings from 11/19: Lafayette Parish: a BROWN CREEPER, GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS and AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES at the Acadiana Park Nature Station in Lafayette. Orleans Parish: a WHITE-WINGED DOVE at Bucktown in New Orleans. Sightings from 11/18: Caddo Parish: 4 EARED GREBES, 3300 DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS, over 3000 RUDDY DUCKS, 315 GADWALL, 275 CANVASBACKS, over 15,000 AMERICAN COOTS, 3 FRANKLIN'S GULLS, 2 FORSTER'S TERNS and 4 COMMON LOONS on Cross Lake. St. Martin Parish: CANVASBACKS, REDHEADS and EASTERN BLUEBIRDS at the USL Experimental Farm near Cade. Orleans Parish: 2 AMERICAN BITTERNS, 50 CEDAR WAXWINGS and 520 YELLOW- RUMPED WARBLERS near Recovery One in New Orleans East. Plaquemines Parish: hundreds of AMERICAN WIGEON and RING-NECKED DUCKS and a CEDAR WAXWING in the Delta region. Sightings from 11/17: East Baton Rouge Parish: a SCISSOR-TAILED FLYCATCHER, about 12 WHITE- CROWNED, 100 SAVANNAH and 6-8 LECONTE'S SPARROWS at Richfield Riversilt about 5 miles south of LSU on River Road in Baton Rouge. Iberville Parish: a BARN OWL and a WOOD THRUSH near St. Gabriel. And, if you're interested in ROSE-RINGED PARAKEETS, try the wires or palm trees along Robert E Lee between Elysian Fields and Paris in New Orleans. Exit I-610 at either Paris (2C) or Elysian Fields (3) and head north. Robert E Lee is approximately 3-4 major intersections north of the interstate. Try around dawn or late evening. 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