Rare Bird Alert Friday, 30 October 1998 Baton Rouge Audubon Society Rare Bird Alert Area: Baton Rouge and Louisiana statewide Highlights: CORY'S SHEARWATER * (* Louisiana State Review List) BLACK SCOTER WHITE-TAILED KITE ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK * LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL POMARINE JAEGER BUFF-BELLIED HUMMINGBIRD RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER VERMILION FLYCATCHER BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER BULLOCK'S ORIOLE * SHINY COWBIRD * (possible - not relocated) BRONZED COWBIRD Others birds mentioned: american white pelican brown pelican ruddy duck american wigeon mississippi kite bald eagle american coot lesser yellowlegs long-billed dowitcher least sandpiper dunlin wilson's phalarope black skimmer eurasian collared-dove rose-ringed parakeets alder/willow flycatcher scissor-tailed flycatcher worm-eating warbler mourning warbler white-crowned sparrow leconte's sparrow field sparrow lark sparrow Transcript: Welcome birders to the BRAS' rare bird alert. The following was recorded on Friday October 30. Highlights include a LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL, a BLACK SCOTER, WHITE-TAILED KITES, a ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK, VERMILION FLYCATCHERS, a BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER, the report of a SHINY COWBIRD and BRONZED COWBIRDS in Cameron Parish and a BULLOCK'S ORIOLE and a BUFF-BELLIED HUMMINGBIRD in LaPlace. >From the LOS weekend on 10/25 in Cameron Parish: a LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL on Rutherford Beach. On 10/24: a BLACK SCOTER off Rutherford Beach; 6 WHITE-TAILED KITES along LA 82 near Holly Beach; a ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK near the Equinox Oil field off LA 82 in Johnson Bayou; a female VERMILION FLYCATCHER and a female BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER at the Equinox Oil field and a VERMILION at the cemetery near the Johnson Bayou High School; a report of a SHINY COWBIRD about a half mile from the western ferry landing; and at least 2 BRONZED COWBIRDS in a residential area in Cameron. Call if you would like directions to any of these spots. The SHINY COWBIRD could not be relocated the next day. A male BULLOCK'S ORIOLE is coming to a feeder in LaPlace since around the end of September. From Airline Hwy in LaPlace, turn north by the McDonald's onto Carrollwood. Go to the second stop sign and turn left onto Concord. Go 1 block and turn right onto Glendale. The oriole and usually some wintering hummingbirds are at the second house on the left (1409 Glendale). Be prepared for a long wait as he only comes a few times sporadically throughout the day. The male BUFF-BELLIED HUMMINGBIRD continues at 800 Fagot Loop in LaPlace and a BUFF-BELLY is in New Orleans. A number of RUFOUS (or at least selasphorus) HUMMINGBIRDS are in Baton Rouge, New Orleans and Lafayette. Call if you would like more detailed directions (225-763-6805). Migration reports are still coming in, but I only mention ones that constitute late or early dates, high numbers or are unusual for the locale. Sightings from 10/29: over 2000 AMERICAN WHITE PELICANS, 200 BROWN PELICANS, a fair number of AMERICAN WIGEONS, a light phase adult POMARINE JAEGER, 260 BLACK SKIMMERS, a WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW and 2 FIELD SPARROWS on islands in Baptiste Collette Bayou in Plaquemines Parish; and well over 15 EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVES on Louisiana Avenue in Port Allen, with flocks near the corners of Louisiana and Jefferson Street and Louisiana and 4th Street. Sightings from 10/27: a CORY'S SHEARWATER at the Ewing Bank oil platform south of Venice; for the past week 2 adult BALD EAGLES have been stooping on a flock of pintails and other ducks about 8 miles south of Morgan City in St Mary Parish (apparently a bald eagle recovering from a stoop can be quite entertaining); over a 2 hour period, 8 LESSER YELLOWLEGS, 350 LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS, 250 LEAST SANDPIPERS and 4 DUNLIN migrating along the Red River in Caddo Parish; and a late MISSISSIPPI KITE was heard in Baton Rouge. Sightings from 10/26: 2 adult BALD EAGLES flying past the French Quarter in New Orleans. Sightings from 10/25: a BALD EAGLE over the Red River in Caddo Parish; an immature SCISSOR-TAILED FLYCATCHER on Nicholson Drive in front of the new LSU golf course in Baton Rouge; a female MOURNING WARBLER in St. Gabriel in Iberville Parish; 7 BALD EAGLES congregating near the US 90 bridge at Amelia in St Mary Parish; a late WILSON'S PHALAROPE near Lake Arthur in Jefferson Davis Parish; and 2 BRONZED COWBIRDS continued in Cameron. Sightings from 10/24: 950 RUDDY DUCKS and 6500 AMERICAN COOTS on Cross Lake in Caddo Parish; a WHITE-TAILED KITE on Pecan Island in Vermilion Parish; and a LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL, ALDER/WILLOW FLYCATCHER and LARK SPARROW in Cameron Parish. Sightings from 10/23: 2 WHITE-TAILED KITES along LA 27 near Holly Beach. And, if you're interested in ROSE-RINGED PARAKEETS, try the wires or palm trees along Robert E Lee between Elysian Fields and Paris in New Orleans. Exit I-610 at either Paris (2C) or Elysian Fields (3) and head north. Robert E Lee is approximately 3-4 major intersections north of the interstate. (My map doesn't seem to have a mileage scale.) Try around dawn or late evening. Thanks for calling the Baton Rouge rare bird alert and good birding. Compiler: Karen Fay Home phone # : 225-763-6805 RBA phone # : 225-768-9874 Email address: lamskite@aol.com RARE BIRD ALERT ARCHIVE