Louisiana Birding

[gail bisson]

I am hoping someone can steer me in the right direction with regards to bird photography hot spots in Louisiana. My daughter and her fiance will be living there for the next 3 years while doing their residency. We plan on visiting them and currently have a 3 week road trip to LA in November. We will fly into New Orleans and stay there for a few nights and then rent a car and do a road trip along the Gulf Coast. We could fly out of Houston or NOLA.
Info is very sparse re: bird photography. I have the LA brochure that lists several birding trails but as we all know, birding and bird photography are 2 different beasts.
Do you have any suggestions or any person you can suggest that I contact for info?
Thanks in advance for your help,
Gail

[Lyle Gruby]

Hi Gail,

I am far from an expert for birds in Louisiana, but I have been there to photograph birds once. We went in the spring and we stayed either in or right around Lafayette. There is a rookery on two ponds right next to a landscaping business on the outskirts of Lafayette. The rookery had roseate spoonbills, snowy egrets, great egrets, cattle egrets, little blue herons, etc. The photography is very easy and you should be able to get great shots with your 600--in fact the 600 could be a little too much in some instances. We also took a guided bird photo tour on a lake outside of Lafayette. I don't now remember the name of the lake, but I believe Lake Martin is a good spot for photography. There are also tours given in the Atchafalaya Wildlife Refuge. I believe hiring a guide down there is also pretty reasonably priced. I bet I still have some of the guide's contact info buried in my desk if you'd like it. Maybe this could at least get you started.

[Diane Miller]

We've been through southern LA several times in the last few years. The rookery at Lake Martin is easily accessible by car but it's active in spring, and the nests are WAY back in the trees. The ponds Lyle refers to are at the entrance to Rip Van Winkle Gardens, east of Abbeville. It's also a spring rookery although there may be some birds year-round. What you will find year-round are alligators. LOTS of alligators. Everywhere. Be VERY careful.

There is an egret rookery at Jungle Gardens on Avery Island, but photography angles are limited. Lots of alligators, though.

Lacassine NWR should be good but we haven't found a lot there in two trips except a lot of alligators. There is another NWR west of there (I think) -- can't come up with the name right now.

The Atchafalaya Basin is an amazing area, and the most alligator-infested swamp in the world.

I've heard there is an Audubon preserve somewhere west of New Orleans but have never checked it out.

[Michael Hansen]

Hi Gail,

Since I started birding, I made it a point to always subscribe to whatever email list gives announcements for birds seen in the state and such. Since you do have some time, you may wish to do this. I've often found birders that not only share their birding reports, but also their photos, and these would be the individuals you'd want to contact, off-list perhaps. Even though my emphasis has changed to photography, I still keep myself subscribed to these lists for many reasons.

Also, I see the Louisiana Ornithological Society has a list of about a dozen names or so of people who are bird guides, those who will answer by email, by phone, in person only, etc. You may be able to get some information that way, as well.

The address for the email list is: http://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/LABIRDintro.html

And for the birding guides: http://www.losbird.org/contacts.htm


Hope this helps!
Mike

[David Stephens]

Here's the Photostream of a friend that mainly shoots at Lake Martin. There are lots of stunning shots here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/imagehunter1/sets/72157623836695682

[Wheeler McDougal Jr.]

Gail,
I have photographed birds two different years in southern LA. Each year I have gone with a nature photographer by the name of Charlie Bush his web site is as follows:http://charlesbushphoto.com/

I highly recommend him. I have always used him in the spring of the year, but I know he runs several fall tours and I know he books one-on-one tours as well. He would be a great source for getting to know the area. Good luck.

Mac

[Tim Harding]

Cameron Prairie NWR was fantastic when I was there last spring (March 2015). Lots of action concentrated in a smaller area than some of the other reserves.