SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA
CAMERON PARISH & the GULF COAST
For coastal migrants, local specialties, & just a little bit of Texas!
|
Dates:
|
Saturday, 31 March through Saturday, 7 April 2007: 8 days and 7 nights.
|
|
We'll visit:
|
Cameron Parish, the state's premier birding locale, with its
vast marshlands and beautiful, bird-filled beaches. It is famous for
its migrants, rarities, and intriguing breeding birds.
|
|
Ancient wooded ridges known as cheniers that can abound with
migrant songbirds. Because of its position in the very center of the
Mississippi flyway, nearly HALF of eastern North America's
migratory songbirds pass through Louisiana each spring. This
is the Louisiana counterpart of High Island, Texas-- minus the
crowds of people.
|
|
Sabine NWR, Holly Beach, Lacassine NWR, and
Louisiana's famous rice fields for shorebirds, waterfowl,
long-legged waders, and rails.
|
|
You can reasonably expect 190-200 species on this incredible
tour. A complete list of the species seen on previous tours is
available upon request.
|
SPECIAL OFFER!
You may wish to combine the Louisiana Tour with a week on
Dauphin Island and the Alabama and Mississippi Gulf
Coasts. The dates for Alabama are 8-14 April, immediately
following the Louisiana tour. You will receive a $200 discount
if you participate in both tours. See our separate Alabama itinerary
for more details.
|
|
Southwest Louisiana
31 March - 7 April 2007
|
Day |
Agenda
|
|
1
|
|
Meet at Lafayette Airport, where the tour begins. Plan to arrive by
about 12:00 noon. Due to Hurricane Katrina we did not conduct this
tour in 2006. It's good to be returning to this beautiful area. Our
first stop will be nearby Lake Martin for the impressive
long-legged wader rookery, Roseate Spoonbills, and
nesting Prothonotary Warblers. Then we'll bird our way
southwest to the Gulf Coast, looking for Wilson's Phalarope,
Purple Gallinule, and Black-bellied Whistling-Duck along
the way. Our first five nights will be near the town of Cameron.
|
|
|
Wilson's Phalarope does it's twirling feeding display.
--David Nelson
|
|
|
|
2
|
|
|
Least Terns are common along the Gulf Coast.
--Tom Amico
|
|
A full day of birding in Louisiana's famed marshlands and beaches.
We'll concentrate on Sabine (pronounced suh BEAN') Refuge and Holly
Beach. Target species include Neotropic Cormorant, Cave
Swallow, Fulvous Whistling-Duck, Bronzed Cowbird,
and unusual gulls. Rarities in the Holly Beach area during
recent spring migrations include Masked Duck, Tropical
Kingbird, and Shiny Cowbird, among many others. On a recent
tour we found a Western Grebe, swimming offshore.
|
|
|
3
|
Today we'll drive east to Oak Grove and Grand Chenier to look for
Snowy Plover, Brewer's Blackbird, and Least
Bittern. Whenever the proper weather conditions prevail we will
abandon our afternoon plans and bird the nearest chenier. Northerly
winds can bring down thousands of Gulf migrants, and the trees may be
alive with warblers, vireos, thrushes,
tanagers, grosbeaks, and other songbirds.
Fallouts such as these have produced first state records including
Townsend's Warbler, Hepatic Tanager, and Hooded
Oriole. Let the north winds blow!
|
|
4
|
A full day in the coastal refuges including Lacassine, Rockefeller,
and Cameron-Prairie. Here we should find Scissor-tailed
Flycatcher, Dickcissel, and Painted Bunting. Some
time spent scoping rice fields may produce flocks of Marbled
and Hudsonian Godwits, Franklin's Gull, and many other
aquatic species. We'll search for Crested Caracara, the
northernmost population on the continent.
|
|
5
|
This is a good day to drive into east Texas to visit Sea Rim State
Park and Sabine Woods. On a recent tour we planned our visit with the
mid-day arrival of a cold front and brief, heavy rain. This resulted
in the fallout of hundreds of Neotropical migrants: 50 Orchard
Orioles, 75 Indigo Bunting, half a dozen Painted
Buntings, 4 Cerulean Warblers, Western Kingbirds,
Philadelphia and Yellow-throated Vireos, almost 20
different warblers, and many more wonderful birds. It was quite an
afternoon--we'll hope for an encore!
|
|
6
|
A return to Holly Beach may yield a few seabirds such as a
Parasitic Jaeger or Northern Gannet. Sabine Lake and
Blue Buck Pond are good for Whimbrel, Long-billed
Curlew, and a variety of waterfowl. By now we will have
seen Inca Dove, White-winged Dove, and Eurasian
Collared-Dove. Other possibilities include Anhinga,
Summer Tanager, and Brown-headed Nuthatch. Overnight in
Lake Charles.
|
|
7
|
|
Today's birding will be an inland loop through Calcasieu and
Beauregard Parishes. We'll look for Mississippi and
Swallow-tailed Kites at Niblett's Bluff, Greater
Roadrunner at Old River, and pine forest specialties such as
Red-cockaded Woodpecker, Bachman's Sparrow, and
Brown-headed Nuthatch at Kisatchie National Forest. The river
bottoms should be good for Barred Owl, Red-headed
Woodpecker, and Swainson's and Prothonotary
Warblers. A second night in Lake Charles.
|
|
|
We are likely to find a Barn Owl or two.
--Jim and Deva Burns/
Natural Impacts
|
|
|
|
8
|
Our final morning will be open for anything we want to do. If we have
missed Red-cockaded Woodpecker, there will be more time to look
for it. If our target species cooperated, then another search of the
rice fields may yield an unusual shorebird such as a Curlew
Sandpiper or Ruff. If the cheniers are full of
songbirds, we'll take time to enjoy them and look for new
species. After lunch we'll return to Lafayette Airport, where the
tour ends.
|
|
|
Leader:
|
The
BIRD TREKS
tour to Southwest Louisiana will be led by Bob Schutsky.
Bob has lots of experience with all of the target species, having led
previous tours to Louisiana and nearby Texas, Florida, and Mexico.
|
|
Price:
|
$1695 per person based upon double occupancy. Single accommodations
are available for an extra charge of $295.
|
|
Includes:
|
Expert guide service, entrance fees, all ground transportation within
Louisiana, ALL meals, and lodging for 7 nights. ALL
tips are also included in the tour fee, except for anything that
you may wish to give to your tour leader(s).
Does not include cost of airfare to and from Lafayette, Louisiana.
BIRD TREKS
will, upon request, help you obtain the least expensive air
transportation. Also not included are the cost of alcoholic beverages
and items of a personal nature.
|
|
Deposit:
|
A $400 deposit will assure your space on the tour. The balance is due
25 January 2007. We expect this tour to fill quickly; please send
your deposit SOON to avoid disappointment.
|
Extra
Services:
|
We offer the services of our exclusive
BIRD TREKS travel agent,
Lori Heathcote, in arranging your air travel. Lori has 20 years
of experience in the travel industry and is a veteran birder. Contact
her through Bailey Travel at 1-800-224-5399, or you can e-mail
lori@baileytravel.com.
By dealing with Lori you have the security of a 24-hour toll-free
telephone number in case of any travel emergency. She can also assist
you with all pre- and post-tour travel plans.
|
Refund &
Cancellation
Policy:
|
With written notice more than 60 days prior to the first day of the
tour, 100% of your deposit will be refunded, minus a $75 service fee.
With 30-60 days notice, you will receive a 50% refund of the full cost
of the tour. No refund can be made with less than 30 days notice.
You will receive a full refund if you provide a replacement.
We strongly recommend that you purchase trip
cancellation insurance to protect your investment in case of injury or
illness to you or your family prior to or during a tour. Click on the
following link to Access America or contact
BIRD TREKS for information
on obtaining this coverage.
|
| |
Robert M. Schutsky
216 Spring Lane
Peach Bottom, PA 17563
Phone: 717-548-3303
Fax: 717-548-3327
e-mail: info@birdtreks.com
|