bettekauffman

1st Quarter: Quail

This coming Sunday we will gather on zoom at 2:30 p.m. for our 2022 1st Quarter program and meeting. And just maybe this will be our last members’ meeting on zoom? We can hope!

No later than 2:35 p.m., I will ask a member of the Events Committee to introduce our guest speaker. Austin Klais is a wildlife biologist associated with Quails Forever.

Quails Forever is sometimes knows as “the habitat organization.” Its mission is to conserve quail, pheasants and other wildlife through habitat improvements, public access, education, and conservation advocacy.

We will have opportunity for questions and discussion. This should be a highly interesting and informative hour.

At 3:30 we will conduct a short business meeting. Items on our agenda include upcoming events, especially Rendezvous 2022.

Please be reminded that our meetings are open to any person interested in learning more about us. Members should have received the zoom invite via email earlier today. Please do not share it on social media but feel free to send it to people you know who might want to attend.

If you did not receive the zoom link via email and want to attend, please contact me via <lmnneofficers2017@gmail.com>.

I’m looking forward to seeing you Sunday on zoom!

Upcoming Events

Waterfall Hike

This Saturday, Feb. 26, Master Naturalist Suzanne Laird-Dartez will lead a hike to the waterfalls in the J.C. “Sonny” Gilbert Wildlife Management Area near Sicily Island. Don’t miss it! This is surely one of Louisiana’s most beautiful and unusual WMAs.

One thing that makes this WMA unusual is the steepness of the terrain. Indeed, it has waterfalls! Waterfalls are not at all common in mostly flat Louisiana. Suzanne recommends that you carry a trekking pole. I have two and I can’t go so if anyone wants to borrow mine, contact me to make arrangements.

To join the hike, 1) be at the Rock Falls Trailhead inside the WMA at 10:30 a.m., OR 2) be at the Dollar General in Wisner at 10 a.m. to caravan to the trailhead. After hiking the 1.5 mile Rock Falls Trail, those who want more will caravan to the St. Mary’s Falls trailhead to hike another 1.5 mile loop.

In addition to a trekking pole, bring your own water, snacks, and bug repellent. These trails are rather steep and rocky in places; wear serious footgear.

Also be reminded that to visit a Louisiana WMA, you need a current hunting, fishing or wild Louisiana license.

*Trillium (*Trillium sp.) on the Rock Falls Trail, March 2019

Finally, it’s late February. That means you might get to see a snake and it almost certainly means the trillium will be up and possibly blooming. Keep a sharp eye and have fun!

This event is hosted by Louisiana Master Naturalists–Northeast but is open to all who are able to handle a “moderate difficulty” hike. Here’s a link to Suzanne’s Facebook event: Waterfall Hike.

Upcoming Events

February Fun

Folks, we have some good stuff scheduled in February! Here’s an overview.

February 10, 5:30 p.m. – Nature Photography 2, conducted by Charles Paxton on zoom. That’s this coming Thursday evening. Contact Charles at <lmnacoms@gmail.com> for the zoom link.

February 13, 2 p.m. – We’ll meet at Black Bayou Lake with our kayaks and canoes and paddle to the eagle’s nest. If you need to rent a kayak, contact H2Go. I’ll do a blog post about this event with additional details soon.

February 17, 5:30 p.m. – Wild Talk, an online conversation salon about natural history subjects. The subject for February is “Birds.” I am busy planning quiz questions! But I want others to provide quiz questions as well, because I can’t compete answering my own questions, right? So… we just had a terrific Birds workshop and LOS has just completed its winter meeting; sharpen your pencils, folks. This should be fun and educational. Again, contact Charles Paxton at <lmnacoms@gmail.com> for the zoom link.

February 26, 10 a.m. – Suzanne Laird Dartez will lead us on the Waterfall Hike at the J.C. “Sonny” Gilbert WMA near Sicily Island. We’ll meet at the Dollar Store in Wisner. I’ll do a blog post with more details on this event closer to the time.

February 27, 2:30 p.m. – 1st Quarter Member meeting; guest speaker: Auston Klais, Wildlife Biologist with Quail Forever. Zoom event. Again, blog post with details forthcoming.

*Screen capture, Quail Forever website, 1/30/2022.*

Its looking like a fun month! See you soon.

Upcoming Events

Picture this!

Everyone can take better nature pictures, and an opportunity to learn how begins Thursday of this week.

The LMN-NE Events Committee is offering a series of basic nature photography workshops via zoom beginning Thursday, January 20, at 5:30 p.m. The meetings will begin with a bit of introductory conversation as people gather, then focus on specific nature photography topics. Participants will share tips and tactics from their own experience.

Charles Allen and me at the cattail pond on the Charles Allen Nature Preserve near Columbia, La. I have no recollection of what I was taking a picture of, but very possibly a dragonfly. More importantly, I have no recollection of who made this photo. Anyone want to claim it? I’d love to give you credit.

Who knows? You might pick up an idea that will make a difference in LMNA’s statewide photography competition, offered each year in conjunction with our statewide conference, Rendezvous. The photo above would go in the “naturalists at work” category.

Master Naturalists from across the state have also been invited to this series, so you will get to meet some new folks. Charles Paxton is the host. To prevent zoom-bombing, the zoom link is not published here. Contact Charles via email at <lmnacoms@gmail.com> and he will email you.

Workshop Adventures

7 Things–

–simple things–you can do to help birds:

Drink shade-grown coffee
Citizen science (e.g., eBird, iNaturalist)
Reduce plastic use (good for the entire planet)
Make windows safer
Keep cats indoors
Plant natives
Avoid pesticides

And it is vitally important to do these things because we have lost almost 3 billion birds, just since 1970. For more information about these measures and about why we should care about birds, visit the 3 billion birds website.

*Golden-crowned Kinglet (*Regulus satrapa)

This and much more we learned last Saturday from Terri Maness, instructor for LMN-NE’s birds certification workshop. BTW, did you know that although a few particular points about the evolution of birds are still debated, most experts agree that birds are dinosaurs. Well, direct descendants. Think flying reptiles.

The rain quit by noon Saturday, so we piled on layers against the dropping temp and blustery winds and went out looking for birds at Black Bayou Lake NWR. We quickly learned that in open areas, the birds were hunkered down. Those with better hearing than I could hear them but we didn’t get many glimpses of them.

However, twice we went into wooded areas, where trees broke the back of the wind, and immediately began seeing the little birds. What a delight to be surrounded by ruby-crowned and golden-crowned kinglets! We heard song sparrows and saw white-throated and swamp sparrows.

*White-throated Sparrow(*Zonotrichia albicollis)

Out on the open water of the lake we saw a few ducks but mostly lots of pied-billed grebes–which we learned from Terri’s lecture are not ducks, but a different family of the Avian line. (I feel so smart knowing that now!)

And then there was the red-tailed hawk, perched on a tree overlooking the prairie out in front of the visitor center at BBLNWR. See it in my photo? No, you don’t. Because I never spotted it. I thought sure I was looking in the right place and I clicked away, but… in vain. Others saw it. I know because they have posted photos in our Facebook group. So go there, please, to see the red-tailed hawk.

One day I’m going to publish a collection of my photos of clumps of leaves, sticks, shadows, etc.–all kinds of things that were supposed to be birds and weren’t! So goes bird photography.

See the Events list in the right hand column of this website to see what’s upcoming and I’ll blog about it as quickly as I can get to it.