A Visit to Big Branch March NWR

I like to get to spend some winter in south Louisiana.  I have a lot of friends between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. There is a lot to see and do and of course, lots of lovely paddles and birding available. 

I've talked to the Volunteer Coordinator  for a group of refuges in south Louisiana, and was even called and offered a job, but they don't have living quarters, only RV sites. But they do have gardening,  and canoe tours and lots of other stuff I'd enjoy doing. I decided to visit the Big Branch Marsh, located just off I-12 and only about 40 miles from Hulin's House. 

This refuge consists of mostly Marsh but has a few high spots where pine trees grow.  I easily found the Headquarters but almost nothing else. The Headquarters grounds are locked and there is no information in the kiosk outside the gate, to tell you where to go.  I knew there was a Lake Road, and a boardwalk that led to a two mile - each way - trail.  I planned to do all of this. 

I figured Lake Road would be along Lake Pontchartrain, so headed on down the road I was on.  I soon came to a roundabout that put me on Hwy 190.  I went east and quickly found  a gas station attendant who sent me west to Lake Road, the next turnoff, going west. Just before the turn,  I crossed Bayou Lacombe and had to stop to enjoy the early morning sunlight on the bayou. 

The bayou from the bridge on Hwy 190

Then I went through a little settlement that ran along another turn of the bayou. Immediately after that, my view was mostly of marsh. The morning was still a little hazy - I'd come through fog to get here - and the grass was so tall, I couldn't get a picture that showed the vastness of the marsh view.

Another view of Bayou Lacombe

Then I was driving between water and grass on both sides, with Bayou Lacomb to the east, looking like a little narrow lake with grassy islands where white pelicans loafed or flew in and out.

A little after sunrise across Bayou Lacombe

Incoming white pelicans

I saw nineteen pie-billed grebes

A boat launch

The road isn't very long and soon I was at the turn-around at Lake Pontchartrain.
Hulin reminded me of a great camping trip we had when we camped on Big Branch Property on the shores of the lake. Another friend paddled across the lake from New Orleans, visited for about an hour, then paddled back.

Royal Terns loafing in Lake Pontchartrain

A picture of my envy - I waited a half hour for these guys to get ready to leave

The only kingfisher I saw

I saw three shirkes

I thought this mailbox was most appropriate - there was water behind the house 

By this time it was almost ten o'clock so I stopped by the Visitor Center.  There I got directions to the walking trail and boardwalk, but then realized I didn't have time to go because I was due back at Hulin's house.  I'll have to check it out the next time I get to Louisiana.

The Visitor Center - once part of a monastery

The exhibits were excellent - this was part of a night exhibit - you had to find the animals with a flashlight off a "back porch"

Swamp maples were already in bloom - spring is beginning!

I had a wonderful time in Louisiana with Hulin, his daughter and granddaughters. I gave Renee a lesson on driving a stick shift after she got her learner's license.  Hulin and I threw a party for four friends and then we ate lunch with two of those friends and then went to a party thrown for one of Hulin's grand nephews who just got a football scholarship at Rice University, over in Houston, Texas.  The boy's name is also Houston.  We also did a short bike ride, my first since my surgery.  Hands didn't hurt at all!

I came home last night after picking up my sinker cypress board.  I was in panic mode Monday, after I called the place I thought was all ready to hand me the board, only to find they didn't even have a 16' long one.  I finally found one that I didn't have to haul as far, since it was about 100 miles closer to Galveston. But it was 18' long so was a little more floppy.  AND I forgot my racks so had to use foam racks.  I lost one in the first 20 minutes of driving and had to use my rope bag to hold the board up in the back.

Ready to drive off with my board

On the way home, I also managed to get in a little more birding at Sabine NWR in the southwest corner of Louisiana, and at North Jetty, which is about 2 miles from the Galveston Ferry landing on Bolivar. The only other excitement was that my battery died and I had to be pushed off the ferry.

'Twas a good day from 5:00 A. M. until after 7P. 

Exploring the Tammany Trace, A Rails-to-Trails Trail

After getting my car serviced Thursday morning in Covington, Louisiana, I decided to take a little walk. My GPS, after a few false directions, finally got me to the Covington trailhead of the Tammany Trace, a Rails to Trails trail. twenty-seven miles long. We spent Wednesday under light rain with a few heavy showers sprinkled in. Thursday was supposed to be partly cloudy, and started off that way, but the sun soon won the sky back.

The trailhead is actually several blocks away from the where the trail starts.  Both places have parking. This is the end of the trail for now, but there is another few miles further to the west, which is still in the planning stage. There is a little museum the trailhead, but it wasn't open yet when I left, and I forgot to check in on it when I finally got back to the car.  

I enjoyed the shops along the start of the trail

I was in a tiny green area looking at birdhouses against a background of building and sign

Loved the visual signage

After a few blocks of walking, I got to here

Closeup of flowers on blooming trees 

And enjoyed a series of these flower boxes on the second balcony of a large office building

I glimpsed these horses from the trail but had to take a short detour to get their pictures. 

Horse pair

Traffic was light - three walkers and six bikers were all that I saw in six miles of walking

I enjoyed the trees and birds along the trail.  The trees are from a remnant of a mixed hardwood/pine forest. I saw several kinds of oaks with pines mixed in.  I didn't take time to try and figure out what they all wore.  But I was glad the pines were there for the pine warblers, a few of which were singing their musical, one-note trills. I was also surprised to hear fish crows in town.  But all the crows along the trail were American Crows.  It was good to see and hear quite a few of them.  Many areas lost all their crows, and other corvids, to nile virus, so I appreciate them even more now. 

One of the oak species

Cardinals were also foraging and occasionally singing, along with Carolina wrens, chickadees, and red-winged blackbirds. White crowned sparrows were busy feeding but ducked out of sight before I could bag them with my camera. As I was walking back, the day got warm enough for the vultures  to fly, and one black vulture lazily circled over the trail. My last and best bird gift was a red-headed woodpecker who flew down in front of me to catch an insect, then flew back to a tree.  I thought he would let me take his picture, but I was shooting into the sun my maneuvers made him camera shy. I heard his call and realized I had just been stalking the same bird - probably his mate. These birds are in decline and are listed as threatened or threatened in most states so I so hope this was a mated pair. 

I was looking at invasive tallow trees when I spotted a small group of cedar waxwings

Most of the sweet gum balls were on the ground, but a few persisted, attracting chickadees

I'm sure this black vulture was enjoying the sun after having to sit out a rainy day yesterday

I had one sad note to my day.  I came to a lovely roofed rest stop and found it was in memory of Justin D. Addison. I found he died at this intersection after colliding with an SUV. (The only drawback to this trail is that the cars to not have to stop before crossing it. The stop signs are only for the people on it. ) It would be much safer it it had bridges over the many streets that cross it or made cars stop at the intersections. )

The Justin D. Addison rest stop and the decorated bike placed in his memory

But one nice safety feature is that  these little plaques occur frequently along the trail.  The numbers tell your location if you need to call for help.

In south Louisiana, real winter seldom happens and a few plants can be found in bloom in any season.  But the clover seemed to foretell spring's imminent arrival.

White Clover

Could not find a four-leaved clover but three leaved ones are still fine

This magnolia grandiflora bud needs to get growing if it's to flower in late March to April

I found one lonely little dandelion,  growing bravely

As I came back to town, I took a short detour to enjoy these steps

This was the first time I've walked the trail. Hulin and I used to ride it when I came to visit, sometimes riding it all the way out and back, with lunch in Mandeville.  This time I only was able to see a little under three miles of the trail.

Walked just under six miles - started at 0.34 miles

Rails to Trails has trails in most or all states.  Find one near you and have your own adventure.  Click here and then scroll down to find a trail in your state.

Whooping Crane Adventure

I seldom go to Rockport, without signing up for a tour on the waterways around Aransas National Wildlife Refuge on the Skimmer.

Five of us got up at 5:30 and ate a quick breakfast sans coffee and got to the Simmer's site before 7:00 A.M., our check-in time.  We were almost the first in line and soon were wandering around, looking for coffee.  We crossed to an inn and found they had breakfast set out.  The receptionist let us have a cup each, which held us until after the Skimmer left the dock.

All our days had beautiful sunrises and sunsets, and I was in place to capture the morning's beauty. I was mesmerized by the rapidly changing sky. Soon we all boarded and Captain Tommy gave us the safety speech. Then I escaped to the top, along with a couple of other people who were willing to live with the cold morning and the wind chill from the speeding boat.

View from the pier 

Warm inside and much more fun outside (photo by Natalie Wiest)

Captain Tommy managed to find all the birds in the bay, even while traveling at high speeds and would slow down so the rest of us could observe them. We saw lots of birds loafing on oyster reefs.  Many birds were in the air or perched in trees along the channel, after we got into the ship channel.  

Think all these terns are Caspians with laughing and ring-billed gulls and ??? - that little guy scratching 

Resting  oystercatchers

Juvenile  pelican

When we reached the marsh lands we started seeing lots of herons and egrets.  then we a group of juvenile whooping cranes far back in the marsh.  We saw a few other pairs of cranes at great distances before drifting close to the bank to observe two coyotes hunting.  One was trying to eat a turtle.

Part of a group of nine "teanager" cranes - these are two years old

Coyote with turtle

They blend well with the grasses

The only blue little blue heron we saw - the other one was a first year white one

We saw lots of great blues - we have ours and the northern ones 

Finally we got to the pair of cranes that live close to the waterway and drifted almost to the shore to watch them feed.

This brown looked really small against the background of the white ones

Crane pair

This peregrine falcon was on this structure - his normal resting place

We also got to watch the boats, running the oyster dredges.  The men sorted the oysters so fast, that it looked as though their hands were trembling.

Oyster boat leaving just before us

The dredge is pulled up and opened on top of the sorting table

The workers throw back all oysters under three inches

We completed this trip with a visit to Charlotte Plumber's Restaurant, next door to the Skimmer's building.  We all had to have raw oysters for appetizers, thinking we would be eating ones from the bay.  But our hostess said the oysters are mostly too small and they are getting their oysters from further down the coast. We had a lovely lunch, all finding our entrees to be very tasty.

After than, it was back to camp to pack up and then complete the four hour trip back to Galveston.  It was a very good weekend with good friends, good food, great weather, and good birding and paddling.

On the personal front,  as this post comes out, I'll be driving to visit one of my favorite friends,  Hulin, who is one of my adventuring mentors. At  91, he still is riding his bike and doing a little paddling. He needs a hip replacement to get back to his hiking.  He still cooks divinely and has introduced me to one of his best friends, Maria who is the age of my daughters.  I'm looking forward to spending time with her as well as with other mutual friends.


Stay warm, and have fun wherever you are.  Tell me what you are doing in the comments. I'd love to hear from you.