A Walk At Tickfaw State Park

I'm visiting one of my oldest friends in Hammond, Louisiana. Today we drove about thirty miles to Tickfaw State Park and did a little walk.

This park has swamps, sloughs, ponds, pine trees, and hardwoods. Much of the soil is sandy. We visited the fishing pond first to see if there were any birds. We heard and saw only a few, including ibis, green heron and red-bellied woodpecker. Crows were mobbing an owl or hawk, but we never got a glimpse of them.

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We then checked out the tent camping area.  Some of the tent pads were right next to a swamp. Not a good place to be walking in your sleep. 

 

 There was also lots of invasive plants. Baccharis, tallow,and privet were all prominent. But the tallow was starting to make its beautiful fall show,  which is one of the reasons people planted it as a yard tree.

 

A few wildflowers were still blooming.

 We also drove to the head of the Tickfaw River Trail and walked it.

It is mostly a boardwalk through a swamp that was mostly dry except for some sloughs. 

I saw or heard several birds here, pileated woodpecker, red-bellied woodpecker, belted kingfisher, hermit thrush, chickadee, and white-eyed vireo.  But I was only able to get a shot of the white-eyed vireo.

 

 Several bushes weren't hollies but had red berries on them. They made a lovely contrast to the mostly green shades.

 

This bridge is very new. I hadn't seen it before. That's Hulin with the walking sticks. We both use them because they give a better workout - and I feel safer hiking by myself in hills with them.

 

 I love this mix of land and water.