It Looked like a Christmas Tree!

My sister Connie and her husband, Gary had moved to Grand Isle, Louisiana twenty years ago. They had just retired and one of her new friends there, described the spring fallout of birds by saying that some years it looked like the trees had been decorated for Christmas.

Now I was seeing what she had said as the mulberry tree in front of us was filled with so many colorful wild birds, so many that it really did look like a Christmas tree. Bright red scarlet tanagers, summer tanagers, red-orange breasted orchard orioles, were just a few of the birds only a few feet away.

Other colors were bright yellows and greens of other birds in their spring breeding plumage. In a few short minutes we acquired three new birds for our life list, a Cape May warbler, a Blackpoll warbler, and a Tennessee warbler.

Of course, I didn’t have the good camera, but Renita had thought to bring the small one and I did take a few images with my phone. There were about twenty birders, and local bird lovers gathered to enjoy the beauty, and the birds didn’t seem to care.

They were too busy stuffing themselves with ripe mulberries. Some would land and hop to a berry, while others would pick the berries in flight, and then land before devouring the sugar rich pulp. Usually they would eat the berries one small berry at a time, until the large fruit was a size where they could gulp down the rest.

I only saw one bird with any berry stains, and that was a female Red Breasted Gros Beak. It made me laugh as I usually stain my clothes my clothes whenever I start to eat any berries, at least that’s what Renita says.

We had earlier seen a similar tree at the state park, where one birder there had said that he had experienced the best birding of his life, (and this was a person with a lot of years of bird watching). We had seen lots of birds in that mulberry tree, but not as many as today.

(There are seven birds in the above image taken at Grand Isle State Park, they include blue grosbeaks, indigo buntings, a painted bunting, cat bird, and part of an orchard oriole)

A professional photographer, and expert birder provided everyone with a running commentary and a bird identification as the birds flitted in and out of the heavily laded fruit tree. He told us that we needed to appreciate it as the birds were getting ready to leave for the north, perhaps even Nebraska and Minnesota, (now that the snow is finally melting).

It was one of the best birding experiences we have ever had! Thank you, Connie, for showing us such a sight, Renita and I will always remember it.  If you ever get a chance and are lucky to see a fallout take it, (a fallout is when the birds have migrated across the Gulf of Mexico and have encountered strong north winds. When that happens they, fallout exhausted on the first land they see)!

Remembering this day, we can say that we were truly blessed, Clear skies.