Stephen Ingraham (who?)

the unofficial site for birders and digiscopers using Zeiss equipment.

ABA 2007: Lafayette, LA

It has only been 8 months since the Bangor Convention, but here we are in Lafayette, LA for the 2007 ABA Convention. For some reason the birders did not turn out in great numbers for Louisiana, and all those who didn't come, missed some great birding and the traditional great fellowship of the ABA Conventions. I was out every field-trip day, as volunteer leader,  spent time in some very interesting habitats, and throughly enjoyed the company of the folks on the bus. Evening gatherings and speakers also provided a refreshing reminder of why we love this endevor. Maybe the numbers will be back in Utah next year...but it won't be any better a time for it.

At the booth in the Hilton	Ted Floid leads us to a Red Cockaded Woodpecker and good views had by all!
The bridge at Chicot State Park with night herons and egrets and blackbirds and a point-blank Prothonatary Warbler	The river.
Tony Tekansic updates his bird (and life) list.	At the LA State Arbortum, we get the talk.
Lillys in the bog.	Looking for warblers.
Looking at mating Yellow-billed Cuckoos at Oakly Plantation, once the home of JJ Audubon.	Lunch at the Mary Jane Brown TNC Preserve. Birders demonstrating their skill level by eating and birding at the same time.
At the Brown Preserve: nesting Eastern Bluebirds	And the male.
Bill Clark receives the Ludlow Grism Award for publications in Ornathology, sponsored by Carl Zeiss Sports Optics.	McGee's Landing and the boat trip on the Atchafalaya.
All aboard.	Moving out into the bayou.
Under the 18 mile bridge.	Not many Bald Cypress remain.
Along the road by Lake Marton, from (and through) the window of the bus.	And again.
At the Spoonbill (mainly) rookery.	Home of LA's most famous citizen. A Crawfish hole.
Back on the Atchafalaya. This time in the small boats of the Atchafalaya Experience.	No better way to see the bayou.
There are both Barred Owls and Great Horned on top of those snags.	Eyes sharp...looking for Yellow-crowned Heron and Mississippi Kite nests.
Egrets on watch.	The Osprey nest with adults actively feeding chicks.
A few big cypress.	Beaver lodge (without the need for a dam).
Parking the big boat.	All of us in the two small boats to go back in for the Eagles.
Under the Eagle nest.	Nest and adult.