Birds of Tensas River NWR

   What : 220 images of 14 different species (2 new species)
   When : Oct 18th 2008 / 4.5 hrs of birding
   Where : Tensas River NWR, Northeastern Louisiana

I was on a business assignment for 3 weeks in Vicksburg, Mississippi in October of 2008. My company had donated some money to the local Audubon Society and through them I was lucky enough to meet up with Bill S., a local Bird Photographer who offered to go shooting with me at near by Tensas River NWR in NE Louisiana. Bill is also a Nikon user and his arsenal includes a D300 with a Nikkor 500mm lens along with the 200-400 zoom lens. We left Vicksburgh at 6:30am and arrived at the refuge in less than an hour. The refuge consists of close to 70,000 acres of bottomland hardwoods and oxbow lakes so there is a lot of space to cover.

As we drove a few miles into the refuge, we notices a number of sparrows by the side of the road and decided to stop the car and see if we can get them close by pishing. A little Wren showed a lot of interest but was against the sun. I took a few pictures and after he left I realized that it was a Sedge Wren - a new species for me.. What a way to start the day!! We continued on the drive and encountered small flocks of birds (mostly Warblers and Sparrows) but most of them were very difficult to photograph as they were high up on trees. There were a few exceptions such as a couple of Black-throated Green Warblers, Savannah Sparrows and Eastern Phoebes.

The refuge was full of Mocking Birds but it was another gray bird that made me very happy when it made its appearance; the Loggerhead Shrike. We were able to get close enough to take some good photos of the second new species of the day. Soon there after we saw something that Bill who visits the refuge regularly has not seen before. An endangered Louisiana Black Bear was heading our way. We took a few shots before it changed course and moved into the near by woods.

Another first for me was seeing a flock of 50 Greater White-fronted Geese fly over. We get one here and there up in New Jersey but this was the first time I saw them in numbers. I would not have noticed then if it wasn't for their unfamiliar call as they were flying high and fast. Great stuff.

One of our final stops was a platform that overlooked one of the many lakes in the refuge. I have never seen a bigger concentration of Vultures (more than 100 Black and Turkey resting on trees or soaring effortessly in the warm and clear southern sky). A lone Anhinga did its best Vulture impersonation as it took off and after riding the thermals for a couple of minutes was on its way.

I enjoyed my visit to the Tensas River Refuge very much even though I was unable to locate an Ivory-billed Woodpecker (last credible citing occurred here in the mid 1940s). Bill went out of his way to ensure that I had a successful visit.

New Species

Other Species