¿ªÔÆÌåÓý


Re: SEG Environmental Chandeleur Islands Trip 23 April 2024

 

Wish I had been there!

Off topic, but I noticed that a few photos were uploaded to the wrong
species.

Jennifer Coulson
Pearl River, LA

On Wed, Apr 24, 2024 at 9:01?PM Johnson, Erik via groups.io <Erik.Johnson=
[email protected]> wrote:

LAbird,

I looked up cuckoo continental population estimates in the Partners in
Flight Database, which is largely based on USGS Breeding Bird Survey data.
About 8.4 million Yellow-billed Cuckoos in the U.S. and Canada versus about
0.9 million Black-billed Cuckoos, or a 10:1 ratio.
()

So why the 100:1 ratio detected in migration per Van (I'm inclined to
agree with that). Interesting that with a low sample, Robb got more of a
10:1 ratio in nocturnal flight - would be interesting to know how that
stacks up across a season, or multiple seasons.

In the eBird weekly abundance maps, Black-billed Cuckoo all but disappears
in migration.



My hunch is that Black-billed Cuckoo is more of a long-distance jumper
than Yellow-billed Cuckoo, which may be better described as a
short-distance skipper. The corollary is that Black-billed would pass
through faster, thus is less available for detection.

An alternative (or contributing factor) is that Black-bills are a lot less
easy to detect, but I just don't believe that Yellow-billed Cuckoo is 10x
as likely to be detected as a Black-billed. Black-bills do seem to be a lot
less vocal, however, so maybe that's some of it.

Someone needs to do a migration tracking study on Black-billed Cuckoos!
Only 3 Motus tags ever deployed, and no other tracking information seems to
be published.

Happy migration!
Erik Johnson
Sunset, LA
Erik.Johnson AT Audubon.org



-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Robb Brumfield via
groups.io
Sent: Wednesday, April 24, 2024 8:22 PM
To: James V Remsen <najames@...>; Jack Rogers <jack@...>
Cc: LABIRD <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [labird] SEG Environmental Chandeleur Islands Trip 23 April
2024

From my nocturnal flight call station in Baton Rouge the evening of April
22nd was a season high for migrating cuckoos. Between 9:30 pm and 3:30 am
(April 23rd) I had 24 individual yellow-billed and 2 black-billed.

Robb



Robb T. Brumfield, PhD
Associate Dean of Research & Administration, College of Science Roy Paul
Daniels Professor of Biological Sciences Curator of Genetic Resources,
Museum of Natural Science Louisiana State University | lsu.edu |
science.lsu.edu/
office: 225-578-4206|mobile: 225-202-8892|fax: 225-578-8826 robb@...
<mailto:robb@...>




From: [email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of James V Remsen via
groups.io <najames@...>
Date: Wednesday, April 24, 2024 at 7:49?PM
To: Jack Rogers <jack@...>
Cc: LABIRD <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [labird] SEG Environmental Chandeleur Islands Trip 23 April
2024 Jack et al. ¡ª wow, what an experience! Fascinating.

As for the cuckoo prevalence ¡­. Another hypothesis is that it was just one
of those ¡°cuckoo waves¡±. Spring waves are often dominated by one taxonomic
category. For example, sometimes there are ¡°cardinaline days" with
buntings, grosbeaks, and Dickcissels making up the bulk of the migrants.
Rarely there are ¡°thrush days, with Catharus species and Wood Thrush
predominating. Sometimes warblers steal the show. Sometimes Catbirds or
R-e Vireos are way over-represented.

As fo YB vs. BB cuckoos ¡ª indeed it¡¯s pretty clear that YB is a common
bird with a huge overall population, and BB is generally scarce. Although
YB has a larger breeding distribution, the difference is small compared to
the ratio of migrants detected, which I suspect is at least 100:1. Why the
disparity is so great is a mystery to me and to my buddies with whom I¡¯ve
discussed this on long birding trips. My personal high count for BB is 5,
way back in April 1979, and nowadays, seeing more than 1 in day is a big
deal. There have been years when I¡¯ve not seen one at all.

Van Remsen

===================

Dr. J. V. Remsen
Emeritus Prof. of Natural Science and Curator of Birds Museum of Natural
Science/Dept. Biological Sciences LSU, Baton Rouge, LA 70803
najames<at>LSU.edu

On Apr 24, 2024, at 5:01 PM, Jack Rogers via groups.io <jack=
[email protected]> wrote:

[You don't often get email from jack@.... Learn why
this is important at ]

LaBird
I hope you all have been having a birdy spring! Hopefully we get one
more front before the end of the month--these south winds have been
killing me!
I wanted to write to talk about the crazy day on the Chandeleurs that
we had yesterday. As part of an ongoing survey by SEG Environmental,
we bird the island once a month looking to assess the numbers of
several target species (Red Knot, Chandeleur Gull, Wilson's/Piping/Snowy
Plovers, etc.).
I think that we have all been most excited for the April survey, and
it definitely lived up to expectations.

For those that have not had the pleasure of visiting the Chandeleurs,
it is an amazing place. Most (I would estimate over 90%) of the
island's vegetation is Saltmarsh Cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora); in
some of the slightly higher elevation areas, there is also Phragmites
and Groundsel as well. Matt Conn and I surveyed the northern tip of
Chandeleur Island, which has almost no vegetation except for Spartina.
The birding was nothing short of excellent-we had 81 species (+1
Chandeleur Gull), which I think is pretty great considering there is
only 1 tree in that section (a 6 ft tall Mangrove). There were about
7 small mounds in the saltmarsh that had small groundsel bushes or
Phragmites stands. Each bush or stand of Phragmites was astoundingly
full of migrants. Take a look at our eBird checklist here
<<
70012706>> for the full rundown. My personal highlight was the best
Black-billed Cuckoo looks I can ask for! I know several other groups
had great birds as well: Cape May Warbler (x2), Yellow Rail (!!), and
Blackpoll Warblers were seen by other surveyors on their more southerly
transects.

I was most interested by the incredible density of Cuckoos compared to
smaller migrants (e.g. warblers, buntings, etc). The only thing I can
think of is that there is really nothing for cuckoos to eat on the
islands:
there is no fruit, no insects much larger than saltmarsh moths or
horseflies, nothing that Cuckoos could theoretically refuel themselves
with after a trans-Gulf flight. Whereas there are plenty of tiny
insects (aphids, mosquitos, miniscule beetles and saltmarsh flies) for
warblers to eat, and plenty of seeds for INBUs etc. I also found the
ratio of Yellow- to Black-billed Cuckoos interesting. I believe that
Matt and I had a 100% detection rate of Cuckoos within our section,
and am pretty positive in a 100% correct identification rate as well.
I have always thought that my lack of mainland BB Cuckoos was a
detection error, but now I am wondering if it is more of a disparity in
population sizes.

I wrote this in my eBird comments, but this was really one of the most
exciting days of birding in my life. Small groundsel bushes (2 feet
high with a diameter of 18 inches) were holding ridiculous totals of
birds such as one that held 7 Y-b Cuckoos, 3 Catbirds, 2 Ovenbirds, 1
Swainson's Thrush, and 2 Yellow Warblers. An absolutely incredible
experience, and just wanted to share that with you all.
Thanks for reading this monologue and good birding to y'all, Jack
Rogers

--
Jack Rogers
LSU Renewable Natural Resources
Baton Rouge, Louisiana/Mt Pleasant, SC My Flickr page
<<
os/90726323@N05/>>



















Re: Peveto water feature camera

 

Great Job Dave!!!

-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Karen Terrell via groups.io
Sent: Wednesday, April 24, 2024 5:50 PM
To: Katherine Gividen <gividen.katherine@...>
Cc: mark900@...; LABIRD <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [labird] Peveto water feature camera

Thanks, Dave. This is wonderful!!!
On Apr 24, 2024, at 4:55?PM, Katherine Gividen <gividen.katherine@...> wrote:

?This is FANTASTIC! Thank you for sharing!
On Apr 24, 2024, at 3:17?PM, mark900 via groups.io <mark900@...> wrote:

?Congratulations on both a great camera set up and excellent editing.

Mark Hefter
mark900@...
(917) 860-9323
On Apr 24, 2024, at 1:20?PM, Dave Patton via groups.io <davepatton122@...> wrote:
?I have been playing with trail cams at Peveto since last fall. It
took a while to figure out the settings I like best as far as
frequency and duration etc. I settled on 5 second video clips as a
compromise between battery life, lots of clips of nothing, lighting,
rain, etc.... I think posting on Vimeo is a good way to go without
all the ads and I think is accessible easily by the public. The
Images are pretty good, but need a monitor bigger than most cell
phones. On my desk top monitor, the species are pretty easy to ID.
These are almost all birds, but I have other critters I can feature in clips to come.
This first video is at the mister dishes from April 11 thru 17th.


Dave Patton
Baton Rouge Audubon











Peveto Dish 3, birds and mammals

 

I put together another video from a different dish. This one is Dish 3, and
is in the open woods behind the mister and water hole dishes. The woods in
view behind the dish include a travel lane for many animals not often seen
in the sanctuary. I spare you a full 20 minute visit by a roaming group of
Common Grackles, but it can be interesting to watch as they arrive, drink,
and feed among the leaf litter. Then they are gone.
Dave Patton
BRAS


<>
<>


Re: SEG Environmental Chandeleur Islands Trip 23 April 2024

 

LAbird,

I looked up cuckoo continental population estimates in the Partners in Flight Database, which is largely based on USGS Breeding Bird Survey data. About 8.4 million Yellow-billed Cuckoos in the U.S. and Canada versus about 0.9 million Black-billed Cuckoos, or a 10:1 ratio.
()

So why the 100:1 ratio detected in migration per Van (I'm inclined to agree with that). Interesting that with a low sample, Robb got more of a 10:1 ratio in nocturnal flight - would be interesting to know how that stacks up across a season, or multiple seasons.

In the eBird weekly abundance maps, Black-billed Cuckoo all but disappears in migration.


My hunch is that Black-billed Cuckoo is more of a long-distance jumper than Yellow-billed Cuckoo, which may be better described as a short-distance skipper. The corollary is that Black-billed would pass through faster, thus is less available for detection.

An alternative (or contributing factor) is that Black-bills are a lot less easy to detect, but I just don't believe that Yellow-billed Cuckoo is 10x as likely to be detected as a Black-billed. Black-bills do seem to be a lot less vocal, however, so maybe that's some of it.

Someone needs to do a migration tracking study on Black-billed Cuckoos! Only 3 Motus tags ever deployed, and no other tracking information seems to be published.

Happy migration!
Erik Johnson
Sunset, LA
Erik.Johnson AT Audubon.org

-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Robb Brumfield via groups.io
Sent: Wednesday, April 24, 2024 8:22 PM
To: James V Remsen <najames@...>; Jack Rogers <jack@...>
Cc: LABIRD <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [labird] SEG Environmental Chandeleur Islands Trip 23 April 2024

From my nocturnal flight call station in Baton Rouge the evening of April 22nd was a season high for migrating cuckoos. Between 9:30 pm and 3:30 am (April 23rd) I had 24 individual yellow-billed and 2 black-billed.

Robb



Robb T. Brumfield, PhD
Associate Dean of Research & Administration, College of Science Roy Paul Daniels Professor of Biological Sciences Curator of Genetic Resources, Museum of Natural Science Louisiana State University | lsu.edu |science.lsu.edu/
office: 225-578-4206|mobile: 225-202-8892|fax: 225-578-8826 robb@...<mailto:robb@...>




From: [email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of James V Remsen via groups.io <najames@...>
Date: Wednesday, April 24, 2024 at 7:49?PM
To: Jack Rogers <jack@...>
Cc: LABIRD <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [labird] SEG Environmental Chandeleur Islands Trip 23 April 2024 Jack et al. ¡ª wow, what an experience! Fascinating.

As for the cuckoo prevalence ¡­. Another hypothesis is that it was just one of those ¡°cuckoo waves¡±. Spring waves are often dominated by one taxonomic category. For example, sometimes there are ¡°cardinaline days" with buntings, grosbeaks, and Dickcissels making up the bulk of the migrants. Rarely there are ¡°thrush days, with Catharus species and Wood Thrush predominating. Sometimes warblers steal the show. Sometimes Catbirds or R-e Vireos are way over-represented.

As fo YB vs. BB cuckoos ¡ª indeed it¡¯s pretty clear that YB is a common bird with a huge overall population, and BB is generally scarce. Although YB has a larger breeding distribution, the difference is small compared to the ratio of migrants detected, which I suspect is at least 100:1. Why the disparity is so great is a mystery to me and to my buddies with whom I¡¯ve discussed this on long birding trips. My personal high count for BB is 5, way back in April 1979, and nowadays, seeing more than 1 in day is a big deal. There have been years when I¡¯ve not seen one at all.

Van Remsen

===================

Dr. J. V. Remsen
Emeritus Prof. of Natural Science and Curator of Birds Museum of Natural Science/Dept. Biological Sciences LSU, Baton Rouge, LA 70803 najames<at>LSU.edu

On Apr 24, 2024, at 5:01 PM, Jack Rogers via groups.io <jack@...> wrote:

[You don't often get email from jack@.... Learn why
this is important at ]

LaBird
I hope you all have been having a birdy spring! Hopefully we get one
more front before the end of the month--these south winds have been killing me!
I wanted to write to talk about the crazy day on the Chandeleurs that
we had yesterday. As part of an ongoing survey by SEG Environmental,
we bird the island once a month looking to assess the numbers of
several target species (Red Knot, Chandeleur Gull, Wilson's/Piping/Snowy Plovers, etc.).
I think that we have all been most excited for the April survey, and
it definitely lived up to expectations.

For those that have not had the pleasure of visiting the Chandeleurs,
it is an amazing place. Most (I would estimate over 90%) of the
island's vegetation is Saltmarsh Cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora); in
some of the slightly higher elevation areas, there is also Phragmites
and Groundsel as well. Matt Conn and I surveyed the northern tip of
Chandeleur Island, which has almost no vegetation except for Spartina.
The birding was nothing short of excellent-we had 81 species (+1
Chandeleur Gull), which I think is pretty great considering there is
only 1 tree in that section (a 6 ft tall Mangrove). There were about
7 small mounds in the saltmarsh that had small groundsel bushes or
Phragmites stands. Each bush or stand of Phragmites was astoundingly
full of migrants. Take a look at our eBird checklist here
<<
70012706>> for the full rundown. My personal highlight was the best
Black-billed Cuckoo looks I can ask for! I know several other groups
had great birds as well: Cape May Warbler (x2), Yellow Rail (!!), and Blackpoll Warblers were seen by other surveyors on their more southerly transects.

I was most interested by the incredible density of Cuckoos compared to
smaller migrants (e.g. warblers, buntings, etc). The only thing I can
think of is that there is really nothing for cuckoos to eat on the islands:
there is no fruit, no insects much larger than saltmarsh moths or
horseflies, nothing that Cuckoos could theoretically refuel themselves
with after a trans-Gulf flight. Whereas there are plenty of tiny
insects (aphids, mosquitos, miniscule beetles and saltmarsh flies) for
warblers to eat, and plenty of seeds for INBUs etc. I also found the
ratio of Yellow- to Black-billed Cuckoos interesting. I believe that
Matt and I had a 100% detection rate of Cuckoos within our section,
and am pretty positive in a 100% correct identification rate as well.
I have always thought that my lack of mainland BB Cuckoos was a
detection error, but now I am wondering if it is more of a disparity in population sizes.

I wrote this in my eBird comments, but this was really one of the most
exciting days of birding in my life. Small groundsel bushes (2 feet
high with a diameter of 18 inches) were holding ridiculous totals of
birds such as one that held 7 Y-b Cuckoos, 3 Catbirds, 2 Ovenbirds, 1
Swainson's Thrush, and 2 Yellow Warblers. An absolutely incredible
experience, and just wanted to share that with you all.
Thanks for reading this monologue and good birding to y'all, Jack
Rogers

--
Jack Rogers
LSU Renewable Natural Resources
Baton Rouge, Louisiana/Mt Pleasant, SC My Flickr page
<<
os/90726323@N05/>>





Re: SEG Environmental Chandeleur Islands Trip 23 April 2024

 

From my nocturnal flight call station in Baton Rouge the evening of April 22nd was a season high for migrating cuckoos. Between 9:30 pm and 3:30 am (April 23rd) I had 24 individual yellow-billed and 2 black-billed.

Robb



Robb T. Brumfield, PhD
Associate Dean of Research & Administration, College of Science
Roy Paul Daniels Professor of Biological Sciences
Curator of Genetic Resources, Museum of Natural Science
Louisiana State University | lsu.edu |science.lsu.edu/
office: 225-578-4206|mobile: 225-202-8892|fax: 225-578-8826
robb@...<mailto:robb@...>




From: [email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of James V Remsen via groups.io <najames@...>
Date: Wednesday, April 24, 2024 at 7:49?PM
To: Jack Rogers <jack@...>
Cc: LABIRD <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [labird] SEG Environmental Chandeleur Islands Trip 23 April 2024
Jack et al. ¡ª wow, what an experience! Fascinating.

As for the cuckoo prevalence ¡­. Another hypothesis is that it was just one of those ¡°cuckoo waves¡±. Spring waves are often dominated by one taxonomic category. For example, sometimes there are ¡°cardinaline days" with buntings, grosbeaks, and Dickcissels making up the bulk of the migrants. Rarely there are ¡°thrush days, with Catharus species and Wood Thrush predominating. Sometimes warblers steal the show. Sometimes Catbirds or R-e Vireos are way over-represented.

As fo YB vs. BB cuckoos ¡ª indeed it¡¯s pretty clear that YB is a common bird with a huge overall population, and BB is generally scarce. Although YB has a larger breeding distribution, the difference is small compared to the ratio of migrants detected, which I suspect is at least 100:1. Why the disparity is so great is a mystery to me and to my buddies with whom I¡¯ve discussed this on long birding trips. My personal high count for BB is 5, way back in April 1979, and nowadays, seeing more than 1 in day is a big deal. There have been years when I¡¯ve not seen one at all.

Van Remsen

===================

Dr. J. V. Remsen
Emeritus Prof. of Natural Science and Curator of Birds
Museum of Natural Science/Dept. Biological Sciences
LSU, Baton Rouge, LA 70803
najames<at>LSU.edu

On Apr 24, 2024, at 5:01 PM, Jack Rogers via groups.io <jack@...> wrote:

[You don't often get email from jack@.... Learn why this is important at ]

LaBird
I hope you all have been having a birdy spring! Hopefully we get one more
front before the end of the month--these south winds have been killing me!
I wanted to write to talk about the crazy day on the Chandeleurs that we
had yesterday. As part of an ongoing survey by SEG Environmental, we bird
the island once a month looking to assess the numbers of several target
species (Red Knot, Chandeleur Gull, Wilson's/Piping/Snowy Plovers, etc.).
I think that we have all been most excited for the April survey, and it
definitely lived up to expectations.

For those that have not had the pleasure of visiting the Chandeleurs, it is
an amazing place. Most (I would estimate over 90%) of the island's
vegetation is Saltmarsh Cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora); in some of the
slightly higher elevation areas, there is also Phragmites and Groundsel as
well. Matt Conn and I surveyed the northern tip of Chandeleur Island,
which has almost no vegetation except for Spartina. The birding was
nothing short of excellent-we had 81 species (+1 Chandeleur Gull), which I
think is pretty great considering there is only 1 tree in that section (a 6
ft tall Mangrove). There were about 7 small mounds in the saltmarsh that
had small groundsel bushes or Phragmites stands. Each bush or stand of
Phragmites was astoundingly full of migrants. Take a look at our eBird
checklist here <<>> for the full
rundown. My personal highlight was the best Black-billed Cuckoo looks I
can ask for! I know several other groups had great birds as well: Cape May
Warbler (x2), Yellow Rail (!!), and Blackpoll Warblers were seen by other
surveyors on their more southerly transects.

I was most interested by the incredible density of Cuckoos compared to
smaller migrants (e.g. warblers, buntings, etc). The only thing I can
think of is that there is really nothing for cuckoos to eat on the islands:
there is no fruit, no insects much larger than saltmarsh moths or
horseflies, nothing that Cuckoos could theoretically refuel themselves with
after a trans-Gulf flight. Whereas there are plenty of tiny insects
(aphids, mosquitos, miniscule beetles and saltmarsh flies) for warblers to
eat, and plenty of seeds for INBUs etc. I also found the ratio of Yellow-
to Black-billed Cuckoos interesting. I believe that Matt and I had a 100%
detection rate of Cuckoos within our section, and am pretty positive in a
100% correct identification rate as well. I have always thought that my
lack of mainland BB Cuckoos was a detection error, but now I am wondering
if it is more of a disparity in population sizes.

I wrote this in my eBird comments, but this was really one of the most
exciting days of birding in my life. Small groundsel bushes (2 feet high
with a diameter of 18 inches) were holding ridiculous totals of birds such
as one that held 7 Y-b Cuckoos, 3 Catbirds, 2 Ovenbirds, 1 Swainson's
Thrush, and 2 Yellow Warblers. An absolutely incredible experience, and
just wanted to share that with you all.
Thanks for reading this monologue and good birding to y'all,
Jack Rogers

--
Jack Rogers
LSU Renewable Natural Resources
Baton Rouge, Louisiana/Mt Pleasant, SC
My Flickr page
<<>>





Re: SEG Environmental Chandeleur Islands Trip 23 April 2024

 

Jack et al. ¡ª wow, what an experience! Fascinating.

As for the cuckoo prevalence ¡­. Another hypothesis is that it was just one of those ¡°cuckoo waves¡±. Spring waves are often dominated by one taxonomic category. For example, sometimes there are ¡°cardinaline days" with buntings, grosbeaks, and Dickcissels making up the bulk of the migrants. Rarely there are ¡°thrush days, with Catharus species and Wood Thrush predominating. Sometimes warblers steal the show. Sometimes Catbirds or R-e Vireos are way over-represented.

As fo YB vs. BB cuckoos ¡ª indeed it¡¯s pretty clear that YB is a common bird with a huge overall population, and BB is generally scarce. Although YB has a larger breeding distribution, the difference is small compared to the ratio of migrants detected, which I suspect is at least 100:1. Why the disparity is so great is a mystery to me and to my buddies with whom I¡¯ve discussed this on long birding trips. My personal high count for BB is 5, way back in April 1979, and nowadays, seeing more than 1 in day is a big deal. There have been years when I¡¯ve not seen one at all.

Van Remsen

===================

Dr. J. V. Remsen
Emeritus Prof. of Natural Science and Curator of Birds
Museum of Natural Science/Dept. Biological Sciences
LSU, Baton Rouge, LA 70803
najames<at>LSU.edu

On Apr 24, 2024, at 5:01 PM, Jack Rogers via groups.io <jack@...> wrote:

[You don't often get email from jack@.... Learn why this is important at ]

LaBird
I hope you all have been having a birdy spring! Hopefully we get one more
front before the end of the month--these south winds have been killing me!
I wanted to write to talk about the crazy day on the Chandeleurs that we
had yesterday. As part of an ongoing survey by SEG Environmental, we bird
the island once a month looking to assess the numbers of several target
species (Red Knot, Chandeleur Gull, Wilson's/Piping/Snowy Plovers, etc.).
I think that we have all been most excited for the April survey, and it
definitely lived up to expectations.

For those that have not had the pleasure of visiting the Chandeleurs, it is
an amazing place. Most (I would estimate over 90%) of the island's
vegetation is Saltmarsh Cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora); in some of the
slightly higher elevation areas, there is also Phragmites and Groundsel as
well. Matt Conn and I surveyed the northern tip of Chandeleur Island,
which has almost no vegetation except for Spartina. The birding was
nothing short of excellent-we had 81 species (+1 Chandeleur Gull), which I
think is pretty great considering there is only 1 tree in that section (a 6
ft tall Mangrove). There were about 7 small mounds in the saltmarsh that
had small groundsel bushes or Phragmites stands. Each bush or stand of
Phragmites was astoundingly full of migrants. Take a look at our eBird
checklist here <> for the full
rundown. My personal highlight was the best Black-billed Cuckoo looks I
can ask for! I know several other groups had great birds as well: Cape May
Warbler (x2), Yellow Rail (!!), and Blackpoll Warblers were seen by other
surveyors on their more southerly transects.

I was most interested by the incredible density of Cuckoos compared to
smaller migrants (e.g. warblers, buntings, etc). The only thing I can
think of is that there is really nothing for cuckoos to eat on the islands:
there is no fruit, no insects much larger than saltmarsh moths or
horseflies, nothing that Cuckoos could theoretically refuel themselves with
after a trans-Gulf flight. Whereas there are plenty of tiny insects
(aphids, mosquitos, miniscule beetles and saltmarsh flies) for warblers to
eat, and plenty of seeds for INBUs etc. I also found the ratio of Yellow-
to Black-billed Cuckoos interesting. I believe that Matt and I had a 100%
detection rate of Cuckoos within our section, and am pretty positive in a
100% correct identification rate as well. I have always thought that my
lack of mainland BB Cuckoos was a detection error, but now I am wondering
if it is more of a disparity in population sizes.

I wrote this in my eBird comments, but this was really one of the most
exciting days of birding in my life. Small groundsel bushes (2 feet high
with a diameter of 18 inches) were holding ridiculous totals of birds such
as one that held 7 Y-b Cuckoos, 3 Catbirds, 2 Ovenbirds, 1 Swainson's
Thrush, and 2 Yellow Warblers. An absolutely incredible experience, and
just wanted to share that with you all.
Thanks for reading this monologue and good birding to y'all,
Jack Rogers

--
Jack Rogers
LSU Renewable Natural Resources
Baton Rouge, Louisiana/Mt Pleasant, SC
My Flickr page
<>





Re: Peveto water feature camera

 

Thank you very much. Enjoyed that!


On Wed, Apr 24, 2024 at 5:50?PM Karen Terrell via groups.io <karen710=
[email protected]> wrote:

Thanks, Dave. This is wonderful!!!
On Apr 24, 2024, at 4:55?PM, Katherine Gividen <
gividen.katherine@...> wrote:

?This is FANTASTIC! Thank you for sharing!
On Apr 24, 2024, at 3:17?PM, mark900 via groups.io <mark900=
[email protected]> wrote:

?Congratulations on both a great camera set up and excellent editing.

Mark Hefter
mark900@...
(917) 860-9323
On Apr 24, 2024, at 1:20?PM, Dave Patton via groups.io
<davepatton122@...> wrote:

?I have been playing with trail cams at Peveto since last fall. It
took a
while to figure out the settings I like best as far as frequency and
duration etc. I settled on 5 second video clips as a compromise between
battery life, lots of clips of nothing, lighting, rain, etc.... I think
posting on Vimeo is a good way to go without all the ads and I think is
accessible easily by the public. The Images are pretty good, but need a
monitor bigger than most cell phones. On my desk top monitor, the
species
are pretty easy to ID. These are almost all birds, but I have
other critters I can feature in clips to come.
This first video is at the mister dishes from April 11 thru 17th.


Dave Patton
Baton Rouge Audubon















--
Sandra Barbier
LaPlace, LA


Re: Peveto water feature camera

 

Thanks, Dave. This is wonderful!!!

On Apr 24, 2024, at 4:55?PM, Katherine Gividen <gividen.katherine@...> wrote:

?This is FANTASTIC! Thank you for sharing!
On Apr 24, 2024, at 3:17?PM, mark900 via groups.io <mark900@...> wrote:

?Congratulations on both a great camera set up and excellent editing.

Mark Hefter
mark900@...
(917) 860-9323
On Apr 24, 2024, at 1:20?PM, Dave Patton via groups.io <davepatton122@...> wrote:
?I have been playing with trail cams at Peveto since last fall. It took a
while to figure out the settings I like best as far as frequency and
duration etc. I settled on 5 second video clips as a compromise between
battery life, lots of clips of nothing, lighting, rain, etc.... I think
posting on Vimeo is a good way to go without all the ads and I think is
accessible easily by the public. The Images are pretty good, but need a
monitor bigger than most cell phones. On my desk top monitor, the species
are pretty easy to ID. These are almost all birds, but I have
other critters I can feature in clips to come.
This first video is at the mister dishes from April 11 thru 17th.


Dave Patton
Baton Rouge Audubon











SEG Environmental Chandeleur Islands Trip 23 April 2024

 

LaBird
I hope you all have been having a birdy spring! Hopefully we get one more
front before the end of the month--these south winds have been killing me!
I wanted to write to talk about the crazy day on the Chandeleurs that we
had yesterday. As part of an ongoing survey by SEG Environmental, we bird
the island once a month looking to assess the numbers of several target
species (Red Knot, Chandeleur Gull, Wilson's/Piping/Snowy Plovers, etc.).
I think that we have all been most excited for the April survey, and it
definitely lived up to expectations.

For those that have not had the pleasure of visiting the Chandeleurs, it is
an amazing place. Most (I would estimate over 90%) of the island's
vegetation is Saltmarsh Cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora); in some of the
slightly higher elevation areas, there is also Phragmites and Groundsel as
well. Matt Conn and I surveyed the northern tip of Chandeleur Island,
which has almost no vegetation except for Spartina. The birding was
nothing short of excellent-we had 81 species (+1 Chandeleur Gull), which I
think is pretty great considering there is only 1 tree in that section (a 6
ft tall Mangrove). There were about 7 small mounds in the saltmarsh that
had small groundsel bushes or Phragmites stands. Each bush or stand of
Phragmites was astoundingly full of migrants. Take a look at our eBird
checklist here <> for the full
rundown. My personal highlight was the best Black-billed Cuckoo looks I
can ask for! I know several other groups had great birds as well: Cape May
Warbler (x2), Yellow Rail (!!), and Blackpoll Warblers were seen by other
surveyors on their more southerly transects.

I was most interested by the incredible density of Cuckoos compared to
smaller migrants (e.g. warblers, buntings, etc). The only thing I can
think of is that there is really nothing for cuckoos to eat on the islands:
there is no fruit, no insects much larger than saltmarsh moths or
horseflies, nothing that Cuckoos could theoretically refuel themselves with
after a trans-Gulf flight. Whereas there are plenty of tiny insects
(aphids, mosquitos, miniscule beetles and saltmarsh flies) for warblers to
eat, and plenty of seeds for INBUs etc. I also found the ratio of Yellow-
to Black-billed Cuckoos interesting. I believe that Matt and I had a 100%
detection rate of Cuckoos within our section, and am pretty positive in a
100% correct identification rate as well. I have always thought that my
lack of mainland BB Cuckoos was a detection error, but now I am wondering
if it is more of a disparity in population sizes.

I wrote this in my eBird comments, but this was really one of the most
exciting days of birding in my life. Small groundsel bushes (2 feet high
with a diameter of 18 inches) were holding ridiculous totals of birds such
as one that held 7 Y-b Cuckoos, 3 Catbirds, 2 Ovenbirds, 1 Swainson's
Thrush, and 2 Yellow Warblers. An absolutely incredible experience, and
just wanted to share that with you all.
Thanks for reading this monologue and good birding to y'all,
Jack Rogers

--
Jack Rogers
LSU Renewable Natural Resources
Baton Rouge, Louisiana/Mt Pleasant, SC
My Flickr page
<>


Re: Peveto water feature camera

 

This is FANTASTIC! Thank you for sharing!

On Apr 24, 2024, at 3:17?PM, mark900 via groups.io <mark900@...> wrote:

?Congratulations on both a great camera set up and excellent editing.

Mark Hefter
mark900@...
(917) 860-9323
On Apr 24, 2024, at 1:20?PM, Dave Patton via groups.io <davepatton122@...> wrote:

?I have been playing with trail cams at Peveto since last fall. It took a
while to figure out the settings I like best as far as frequency and
duration etc. I settled on 5 second video clips as a compromise between
battery life, lots of clips of nothing, lighting, rain, etc.... I think
posting on Vimeo is a good way to go without all the ads and I think is
accessible easily by the public. The Images are pretty good, but need a
monitor bigger than most cell phones. On my desk top monitor, the species
are pretty easy to ID. These are almost all birds, but I have
other critters I can feature in clips to come.
This first video is at the mister dishes from April 11 thru 17th.


Dave Patton
Baton Rouge Audubon








Re: Peveto water feature camera

 

Congratulations on both a great camera set up and excellent editing.

Mark Hefter
mark900@...
(917) 860-9323

On Apr 24, 2024, at 1:20?PM, Dave Patton via groups.io <davepatton122@...> wrote:

?I have been playing with trail cams at Peveto since last fall. It took a
while to figure out the settings I like best as far as frequency and
duration etc. I settled on 5 second video clips as a compromise between
battery life, lots of clips of nothing, lighting, rain, etc.... I think
posting on Vimeo is a good way to go without all the ads and I think is
accessible easily by the public. The Images are pretty good, but need a
monitor bigger than most cell phones. On my desk top monitor, the species
are pretty easy to ID. These are almost all birds, but I have
other critters I can feature in clips to come.
This first video is at the mister dishes from April 11 thru 17th.


Dave Patton
Baton Rouge Audubon





Re: Peveto water feature camera

 

Thank you for the link, this is fantastic! Great speed ID practice too!
Shae

On Apr 24, 2024, at 13:20, Dave Patton via groups.io <davepatton122@...> wrote:

?I have been playing with trail cams at Peveto since last fall. It took a
while to figure out the settings I like best as far as frequency and
duration etc. I settled on 5 second video clips as a compromise between
battery life, lots of clips of nothing, lighting, rain, etc.... I think
posting on Vimeo is a good way to go without all the ads and I think is
accessible easily by the public. The Images are pretty good, but need a
monitor bigger than most cell phones. On my desk top monitor, the species
are pretty easy to ID. These are almost all birds, but I have
other critters I can feature in clips to come.
This first video is at the mister dishes from April 11 thru 17th.


Dave Patton
Baton Rouge Audubon





Re: Peveto water feature camera

 

Ok, thanks.

On Wed, Apr 24, 2024 at 2:55?PM Dave Patton <davepatton122@...> wrote:

Roselie,
Viewing this and others I will post should be free viewing to the public.
You would pay if you want to create an account and upload your videos. This
video is made up of fifty-five, 5 second clips. The camera recorded 710
clips activated by motion over this time period. Lots of Grackles and
Catbirds. I edited them together into one video and it does jump from one
to the next. If I get better with video editing, I will work on
transitions. I think you have a slide bar to pause and advance forward and
back, but I am not sure exactly what the public view is. I suspect the
video quality and playback will vary with internet connection and playback
device. It can be expanded to full screen which looks pretty good on my
monitor.
Dave Patton

On Wed, Apr 24, 2024 at 2:11?PM Roselie Overby <rosebird49@...>
wrote:

Does it just jump from one view to another? And did I read correctly
that I'll have to pay $12 a month for Vimeo?
Roselie Overby


Re: Peveto water feature camera

 

Roselie,
Viewing this and others I will post should be free viewing to the public.
You would pay if you want to create an account and upload your videos. This
video is made up of fifty-five, 5 second clips. The camera recorded 710
clips activated by motion over this time period. Lots of Grackles and
Catbirds. I edited them together into one video and it does jump from one
to the next. If I get better with video editing, I will work on
transitions. I think you have a slide bar to pause and advance forward and
back, but I am not sure exactly what the public view is. I suspect the
video quality and playback will vary with internet connection and playback
device. It can be expanded to full screen which looks pretty good on my
monitor.
Dave Patton

On Wed, Apr 24, 2024 at 2:11?PM Roselie Overby <rosebird49@...> wrote:

Does it just jump from one view to another? And did I read correctly that
I'll have to pay $12 a month for Vimeo?
Roselie Overby


Re: Peveto water feature camera

 

Does it just jump from one view to another? And did I read correctly that
I'll have to pay $12 a month for Vimeo?
Roselie Overby

On Wed, Apr 24, 2024 at 1:26?PM Harriett Pooler via groups.io
<harriett.pooler@...> wrote:

Dave,
I love this footage! Thank you for taking the time to put in a camera at
Peveto. So cool seeing those warblers from inside my house :-)
Harriett

On Wed, Apr 24, 2024 at 1:20?PM Dave Patton via groups.io <davepatton122=
[email protected]> wrote:

I have been playing with trail cams at Peveto since last fall. It took a
while to figure out the settings I like best as far as frequency and
duration etc. I settled on 5 second video clips as a compromise between
battery life, lots of clips of nothing, lighting, rain, etc.... I think
posting on Vimeo is a good way to go without all the ads and I think is
accessible easily by the public. The Images are pretty good, but need a
monitor bigger than most cell phones. On my desk top monitor, the species
are pretty easy to ID. These are almost all birds, but I have
other critters I can feature in clips to come.
This first video is at the mister dishes from April 11 thru 17th.


Dave Patton
Baton Rouge Audubon










Re: Peveto water feature camera

 

Dave,
I love this footage! Thank you for taking the time to put in a camera at
Peveto. So cool seeing those warblers from inside my house :-)
Harriett

On Wed, Apr 24, 2024 at 1:20?PM Dave Patton via groups.io <davepatton122=
[email protected]> wrote:

I have been playing with trail cams at Peveto since last fall. It took a
while to figure out the settings I like best as far as frequency and
duration etc. I settled on 5 second video clips as a compromise between
battery life, lots of clips of nothing, lighting, rain, etc.... I think
posting on Vimeo is a good way to go without all the ads and I think is
accessible easily by the public. The Images are pretty good, but need a
monitor bigger than most cell phones. On my desk top monitor, the species
are pretty easy to ID. These are almost all birds, but I have
other critters I can feature in clips to come.
This first video is at the mister dishes from April 11 thru 17th.


Dave Patton
Baton Rouge Audubon






Peveto water feature camera

 

I have been playing with trail cams at Peveto since last fall. It took a
while to figure out the settings I like best as far as frequency and
duration etc. I settled on 5 second video clips as a compromise between
battery life, lots of clips of nothing, lighting, rain, etc.... I think
posting on Vimeo is a good way to go without all the ads and I think is
accessible easily by the public. The Images are pretty good, but need a
monitor bigger than most cell phones. On my desk top monitor, the species
are pretty easy to ID. These are almost all birds, but I have
other critters I can feature in clips to come.
This first video is at the mister dishes from April 11 thru 17th.


Dave Patton
Baton Rouge Audubon


Big Day Fundraiser

 

LABIRD,

Many of you have supported the Minden High School Nature Club over the years, and we desperately need your support now.

The 6th Annual Minden High School Nature Club¡¯s Bird-a-thon fundraiser is this Sunday, 28 April. Two club members will assist me with a Birding Big Day in Claiborne Parish to document as many species as possible. You can pledge an amount per species or make a donation outright.

Will you help the club meet its pledge goals?

Currently, we are about $3000 below our goal of meeting last year¡¯s total! Every pledge or donation makes a HUGE difference!

Your money isn¡¯t wasted! Each year, we give a deserving, graduating senior club member a $1000 college scholarship!

It takes about $195 to cover the cost of one student to go to our four-day trip to Petit Jean State Park. $220 for a student to go on our four-day trip to Southwest Louisiana.

A pledge of 50 cents or a dollar per species from a few more people helps these kids tremendously!

If you¡¯re able to help, please reply with a pledge amount or donation amount. I¡¯ll send you the mailing address for a check payment, or you can Venmo me if you prefer.

Thank you so much!!

John Dillon
Minden High School
Nature Club Founder and Co-Sponsor since 2007


Re: Strange Scarlet Tanager

 

Reminds me of the yellow morph Northern Cardinal, possibly a very similar mutation.
________________________________
From: [email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of Alicia Plotkin via groups.io <tess@...>
Sent: Monday, April 22, 2024 9:55 PM
To: Paul Conover <zoiseaux@...>; LABIRD <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [labird] Strange Scarlet Tanager

[You don't often get email from tess@.... Learn why this is important at ]

WARNING: This email originated outside of the University of New Orleans system. The sender of this email could not be validated and may not actually be the person in the ¡°From¡± field. Do NOT click links or open attachments if the message seems suspicious in any way. Never provide your user ID or password.



See
<>

On 4/22/2024 10:48 PM, Paul Conover wrote:
Labird,

Mac Myers and I came across a Scarlet Tanager the color of a
Prothonotary Warbler while birding Willow Island yesterday. Photos at

<>


Paul Conover

Lafayette











NOTICE: This message, including all attachments transmitted with it, is intended solely for the use of the Addressee(s) and may contain information that is PRIVILEGED, CONFIDENTIAL, and/or EXEMPT FROM DISCLOSURE under applicable law. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution, or use of the information contained herein is STRICTLY PROHIBITED. If you received this communication in error, please destroy all copies of the message, whether in electronic or hard copy format, as well as attachments and immediately contact the sender by replying to this email or contact the sender at the telephone numbers listed above. Thank you!


Re: Strange Scarlet Tanager

 

Very cool, thanks!

-------- Original message --------From: tess@... Date: 4/22/24 9:55 PM (GMT-06:00) To: Paul Conover <zoiseaux@...>, LABIRD <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [labird] Strange Scarlet Tanager See 4/22/2024 10:48 PM, Paul Conover wrote:> Labird,>> ??? Mac Myers and I came across a Scarlet Tanager the color of a> Prothonotary Warbler while birding Willow Island yesterday. Photos at>> >>> Paul Conover>> Lafayette>>>> >>