BBB Day 7

March 2
Hiked 3 miles

What a day! It was VERY cold but beautifully sunny (hope I can stop saying the “very cold” soon). We headed out on the Creole Nature Trail about 8:30. First was a short ferry ride, for which my Senior Citizen received a free ride (vs. the $1 charge!).

We took the 1.5 mile Wetland Walkway and did little else but freeze (note the clothing):



But redemption: four Roseate Spoonbills flew overhead, enticing us further:



There are these small pitch outs (for anglers and hunters) and trails for birders along this 100 or so mile route. We skipped the next walking trail (man, it was cold) and continued north through the bayous around Calcasieu (pronounced Kal Ka Chew) Lake. When we headed east to start the next part of the loop, we were stopped and crawled along Highway 10 for an hour (an accident or something on our route). It was tense and we almost turned around and headed west to Texas, but, frankly, we couldn’t! So onward.

And guess what? Sandhill Cranes in a field (thought they were sheep):

Our persistence totally paid off. At the Cameron Prairie National Wildlife Refuge’s Visitors Center, we saw funny diving Moorhens:




…a Red-eared Turtle (too elusive for a picture), and a new bird to us, an Anhinga:



There were Roseate Spoonbills, more Moorhens, Ibises and Coots in the back boardwalk. Things were definitely looking up. The attendant told us to expect alligators at our next stop.

So off to the Pintail Wildlife Drive (a three mile drive with a 1/2 mile boardwalk trail). Wow again. We saw three kinds of Geese (we think Snow, Ross and White-fronted) and probably a Little Blue Heron (in the foreground):



…many more Coots (here hanging out with an Ibis):



…which was one of many Glossy Ibis (a new bird to us):



…and a beautiful Northern Shoveler (beautiful colouring):



Here’s another new bird (a Black-necked Stilt in the water and in flight):





and yet another unknown (and as yet unidentified) bird we saw:



Then “Gator Girl” (fully wrapped up in hand-made headband and mitts):



…spotted these guys (and a third, but sadly he was belly-up, so we presume dead):





We left this drive with a special sighting of a Great and Snowy Egret together:



Sorry to bore you with all the bird chatter and pictures, but it was an amazing day.

We have ended up back in our Internment Camp RV park for another night, so new new view from my chair, but here’s the sunrise and sunset from our campsite (not so bad!):

: