Birding on Grand Isle, Walking around the State Park

As always, we left Grand Isle on a happy note. It’s such a wonderful place and Connie and Gary are the best! Gary took me fishing to his secret place and I caught a sixteen-inch trout. He also took me out in his boat and after I set a record for small hardheads he finally found the spot and we caught three keeper trout and a bull red, (which of course was released unharmed as it was 36 inches).

We also took pictures of the destroyed Observation Tower and Fishing pier.

Dolphins feed in the surf, and as usual there were plenty of todaloo, which is a hermit crab.

They all posed menacingly shwoing their claws.

Our luck was against us and we didn’t see any, but we did see a flock of elegant terns. Renita also got a picture of a Summer Tanager, and a local birder told us of a tree called the Toothache tree.

Its leaves deaden your mouth, just don’t put in the whole leaf! Connie told us that a bird fallout happened right after we left. Clear skies

Magnificent Frigate Bird, A Grand isle Stormbird

In the twenty years that we have been visiting Grand Isle, Louisiana, we have sometimes seen the appearance of a bird the locals call a storm/rain bird. Whenever it appears you had better batten down the hatches as a strong cold front is approaching.

Five days ago, five of the birds appeared over the pond across from the Blue House. They wheeled and soared and even looked down to see if there was food they could steal from a seagull.

The birds almost never land, (if they come down in the water their feathers are not waterproof and they drown), as they have a very difficult time taking off. They feed by stealing food from birds that have caught the fish on the ocean’s surface.

Sure enough, the Frigates foreshadowed the flooding, tornadoes, lighting, and strong winds. Clear skies

Bettys RV and arrival at Grand Isle

We left High Island and our next stop was at Bettys Rv in Abbeville, Louisiana. If you are a fulltime rver, and have never stopped at Betty’s. well you have missed it. She is immersed in Cajun Culture and knows about everything and everyone. She can direct you to whatever is happening nearby and even invites in bands to perform at her happy hours.

Now Betty had called us and invited us to stop by. We are no longer full-timers but she told us that she would like to see us and even show a sample of our jewelry. Arriving at the same time as a local band was setting up, we were even greeted by several people that remembered us from our last visit, (it had been at least seven years ago). The band started and the Happy Hour got happier as many of the guests started doing shots, (we don’t’). As the happiness flowed the band loosened up and started to forget the words to several of the songs. At one point the daughter of one of the band members told everyone that, “No more shots were wanted”, and the band settled down. My favorite song was “Hey Mama and Papa no one wants to dance with me”. It was sung in Creole/Cajun and even though I did not understand many of the words it a was beautiful rendition.

Later we said good by to Betty as we were next headed to Grand Isle, Louisiana. We try to time it right, and sometimes we are lucky enough for a fallout. Apparently, a wave of warblers had been there but had left and so we waited for the next cold front.

Connie and Gary took us to the Iris Trail, the Iris are in bloom, and we noticed that the Blackberries were ripening and that the mulberry trees were full of berries. If a fallout did occur, the birds would have plenty to eat!

The front finally passed and today the wind has shifted to the Northwest. If any flocks of birds are flying across the Gulf of Mexico, they will be exhausted from fighting the headwind, and drop out on the Grand Isle, the first land they see. Maybe tonight or tomorrow morning. Clear skies

The Grand Isle Bird Fest of 2023

We arrived in Grand Isle, Louisiana, to find a place that was quite a bit different than normal The ditches and ponds were dry. It had not rained in a months, and we feared that the migrating birds would pass by the island. Added to the drought a strong south wind would allow the birds to reach the mainland.

The weather forecast changed and several days later it rained. Not as much as we had hoped for but at least some of the birds were feeding in the pond. As the annual Bird Festival drew near several strong fronts caused the wind direction to change and with this heavy rain along with coastal flooding filled the ditches. A magnificent frigate bird flew directly overhead but the light was bad, and I only got a poor image of it.

The locals call them rain birds and true to it’s name, it rained that night in windblown sheets. The wind was so strong that the water seeped around the window frames, and we had to place towels on and below the window ledges. It wasn’t as strong as the derecho from three years ago, but it was close as the wind speed was clocked at seventy-ix miles per hour.

Along with the added moisture, which soaked the ground, the strong winds blew down trees, including mulberry trees which were laden with unripe fruit.

The fallout arrived in several waves. Where we had rarely seen any birds, we now spotted numerous indigo buntings, and blue grosbeaks.

Besides these two blue birds, a rose breasted grosbeak, and

scarlet and summer tanagers posed for pictures along with a black and white warbler that fed on insects as it hopped from branch to branch on a dead tree.

The rains also brought on the sudden appearance of resurrection ferns, and overnight, new fern fronds sprouted full grown.

They appear on the large limbs of Southern Live Oak trees, (and almost as quickly retreat)

. We did catch a glimpse of a cerulean warbler, but it did not pose long enough for a picture. An American redstart also teased us as we tried to get its image.

When the birds are in the trees we must use manual focus or else the camera will focus on the leaves and branches. As a result we took over one thousand images to get about thirty good ones, (a great one is when we actually catch the fine plumage and the reflection in the birds eye).

Finally a white eyed vireo gave us a perfect pose,

along with a female summer tanager.

A common tern flew overhead and hooded warblers were everywhere.

We also saw Cape May Warblers and while we were told a Prothonotary warbler had been spotted we never did see it. One of the final images was of an orchard oriole but we couldn't get a clear shot.

It was a great week of birding and we also had quality family time with my sister Connie and her husband Gary and my nephew Blains new wife, Mari. She has a great smile and lights up all with her great attitude. We were blessed to see so many birds, Thanks again Connie and Gary, for the blessings of so many good times! Clear skies

The Audubon Society's Bird Banding during the 2023 Grand Isle Bird Festival

Each year we try to attend the Grand Isle Bird Fest. It’s usually around the middle of April and often coincides with a fallout. A fallout of birds happens when the birds migrate north across the Gulf of Mexico and run into a strong cold front. The north winds tire the birds and they, “Fall out”, on the first Island or land they reach. There they feed voraciously, regaining their strength before continuing their northward migration. At this year’s bird fest, a strong fallout occurred. In conjunction with the bird fest the Audubon Society, with Federal Permits

, conducted a bird banding operation.

The Audubon Society, puts out mist nets which are almost invisible to the birds. They fly into them and usually get entangled, allowing one to carefully capture them and place them in a sack for study and banding. (at one time twenty bird sacks were waiting for the researcher)!

The nets are constantly checked, and the birds quickly placed in bags and then delivered by a runner to the tagging area, (at one time twenty bird sacks were waiting for the researcher)!

There they are identified and weighed, by placing them in an open plastic pill bottle, The are also measured for length and age by blowing on their feathers to study the maturity of the bird.

They are finally leg banded with a seven or eight digit number and then released unharmed.

It was really amazing to watch bird experts conduct the trapping and tagging. On the first day 97 birds were captured, including four painted buntings. Renita and I were passing by when one male bunting flew into the net!

It was amazing to watch the study as it was happening! Thanks Renita for taking such great pictures of the banding operation. Clear skies

Grand Isle, A place of hope

It is rare for me to be at a loss of words, but I have had a hard time writing this entry. Grand Isle has been hit by so many hurricanes, many major, but this time Hurricane Ida left the worst devastation I have ever seen, and yet…… Some places are completely bare. The house had disappeared, and the lawn has been covering by sand. At many places the surge rolled over the top of the levee and found a place to erode.

People had driven their golf carts and four wheelers over it and destroyed the vegetation leaving a path which the sea exploited. It washed away the sand and then made a waterfall as it passed over the inner burrito, ( a structure the Corp of Engineers had designed and placed at the levee’s core). There it created a waterfall and undercut thru the levee leaving deep plunge pools of water. The trench than allowed the sea to surge over and much of the destruction was from the surge. There were a few places where the Corp had built pathways of interlocking concrete and these all survived with their surrounding levees containing the surge.

What the surge didn’t get the winds took but still some of the structures survived. It was probably a matter of luck, but still why are there some areas with lesser damage? Regardless many of the younger newcomers to Grand Isle have decided to never return. Carpetbaggers, VRBO, and others are calling trying to get the places for cheap and are not respected, perhaps even hated by some.

In spite of everything many have cleared away the debris and the sound of nail guns fills the air. So many still have hope, or stay perhaps because that they have friends there, and they are rebuilding. After all, for the locals, Grand Isle is their home My sister’s two houses both survived and escaped with some damage, but Gary repaired the damage and both are as good as new. Yet questions remain. will the Corps repair the damage levee? There is an argument about money and the estimate I heard was three point six million to rebuild the levee. Will the Coast Guard return to their base?

The new requirement for any insurance is that your house must be raised to twenty feet although the older places that survived are grandfathered in. A typical small structure’s flood insurance costs are over eight thousand dollars a year, if you can get it…… The state park is filled with FEMA trailers and the people there were all renters, you do need a work force. Who knows when it will open. The beaches of Elmer’s Island are open, and Gary took me fishing. We caught a keeper red and a keeper speckled trout and had a fish fry.

So, some things are normal. The school is open again but it has very few students. The road in, is still being repaired and in places corduroy logs are in place to prevent further road damage. A lot of the road is one way, and the pilot cars escort you past the workers. I am still amazed at all the places that are gone and many places so completely that I can’t remember what was there. I read an article that said that the levee must be repaired before the next big hurricane or the island may/will be cut it two.

The shrimpers have returned to the beach and the crabs are back.

The birds will not find much after flying across the gulf as so many trees are gone or damaged. Yet there is hope.

As I always end, Clear skies

Good Bye Grand Isle!

 

On another day at Grand Isle Dan and I went fishing. Nothing was happening at the fishing bridge or Elmer's Island but we did catch some large whiting in the surf. Dan caught his biggest redfish ever and it was a keeper, about twenty-seven inches long! All the fish were cooked along with a generous supply of frogs legs. Connie made two pies so of course we over ate!

On our last day of birding on Grand Isle we realized we had not gone for a walk on the beach. Connie, Dan, and Barb joined us for a leisurely stroll and let us renew our memories of such a special place. We did not find any special shells, fossils, or artifacts but we did have fun watching the birds.

A flock of black skimmers were facing into the wind and two of them were getting amorous.

Spring was definitely in the air as a willet in breeding plumage was zealous in guarding a puddle and chased all the other birds away.

We climbed the tower to get a good look at Barataria pass, Grand Terre, and the remains of the uncompleted fort and Dan and Barb posed for their image. Later, as the sun set we took a walk to the foot bridge by the pond.

It was a fun week on Grand Isle with exceptional birding, great food, and special times with friends and family. Thanks Connie and Gary for another special time. On to Keosauqua! Clear skies

ps The above picture is one I took while birding in the woods. The oak tree branch is covered with Ressurection ferns. They grow quickly after a heavy rainstorm,( we had seven inches in one hour), and then dry out, curl up, and seem to be dead until the next rain. (Polypodium polypodioides).Connie told me about them, (thanks Sis), and we have never seen them before. They do not hurt the tree.