SW16: Birding and Biking the Bayou

Bird's Eye View

Wow, the things you find in the swamp when you least expect it!

Day 37: March 13

Having been skunked out of gators and Spoonbills at Brazos Bend, we decided we'd revisit the Cameron Prairie National Wildlife Refuge. And we were not disappointed. Not only did we see some nice birds:

...including this flying Spoonbill:

...and these Ibises:

...and these migrating Snow Geese:

...and a Cormorant that never did swallow the Catfish:

...we also saw this turtle...

and 18 (!) Gators (including a smiling one) in the 3-mile loop:

The trip was worth it.

We continued east on Highway 82, through high waters (it has rained a lot) and people fishing from every bridge and pitch-out. There is still old damage from Katrina, but flooding seems a way of life. The houses and “camps” are built on stilts:

...and people even called theirs “Our Cajun Hi Rise”!

We got to Palmetto Island State Park and decided to stay for two nights to decompress from all the driving. We took Site 14, but a strange odour and a chat with our Ontario neighbours, Marj and Ross from Owen Sound, led us to find the discarded crawfish shells and rice tossed all around the campsite. Guess there was quite a party last night.

So we moved to Site 17 ($18 E/W plus $6 processing fee for the first night). We took a short bike ride and David noticed a “something” in my front tire and Ross said it was a Goat Tooth thorn. When we pulled it out, all the air went out of the tire. Of course it did. But we're happy to be here.

Here's the view from my chair:

Day 38: March 14

We patched the bike tube and set off for a 6-mile bike ride on every paved road in the park (things were wet!). We spotted eight gators in the Evangeline Pond (I sing that Emmy Lou Harris song a lot here). And my tire went flat again (it's hot and sunny and we think the glue on the patch just melted).

So we fixed it and just hung out for the afternoon, though I did ride a bit more and heard “the big ole hawg” someone had pointed out to me!

Nice day on the Bayou!

Day 39: March 15

We had plans to go to New Orleans or to the Gulf Coast, but rain warnings made us decide to stay close by, where the weather was to be good, and to explore more of Louisiana.

So, we headed to Lake Fausse Pointe State Park, an hour and a half away.

Here's what we saw en route:

• blue flashing lights and prisoners picking garbage, complete with striped pants:

• flooded rice fields filled with crawfish pots (and Great Egrets eating up a storm)
• “The Dixie Chopper: The World's Fastest Lawn Mower”
• a group of men prepping a pig for a BBQ
• roosters in shelters made from old election posters (and penned Pit Bulls; I'll leave that to your imaginations)
• beehives on the levee:

We got to the park early, and it was mostly under water. Most sites had a dry parking area with water all around. Some tables and firepits were under water! We chose Site 24 ($18 + $6 processing, E/W) as a fairly dry spot.

We rode our bikes on all the dry, paved roads and ole Owl Eyes (me) spotted this Barred Owl fishing. As we watched, she also took her catch, a crawfish, over to her nest to feed her chick (we could see the little ball of fluff moving). It was an amazing sight.

Oh, and a little later, I spotted this matching Gekko:

...and this gator:

After lunch, we decided to ride the levee:

... then Eagle Eyes (David) spotted this one:

After a 22 km biking day, we relaxed at our site. Our neighbour told us to expect a lot of noise over night (we are basically in a swamp!). Before we packed it in, we saw this sweet little Yellow-crowned Night-Heron just across the road:

A nice way to end the day at our swamp-side campsite: