Flooding & Christmas Bird Count

We received an early Christmas present when we got over 4 inches of much needed rain. The rain was so wide spread that the local rivers reached flood stage. The Tchefuncte crested at 21 feet on Christmas Eve. There was some flooding in the low areas on our land near the river.

The St. Tammany Christmas Bird count was conducted on Dec. 28. The morning was clear and cool, but the weather changed in the afternoon. We saw 37 species of birds during the 5 ½ hours that we observed. Here’s what we saw:

1 Red-shouldered Hawk 14 Mourning Dove 5 Red-bellied Woodpecker 4 Downy Woodpecker 6 Blue Jay 6 American Crow 11 Carolina Chickadee 9 Tufted Titmouse 4 Brown-headed Nuthatch 8 Carolina Wren 6 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 35 American Robin 1 Northern Mockingbird 1 Brown Thrasher 9 Pine Warbler 4 Eastern Towhee 1 Chipping Sparrow 34 White-throated Sparrow 1 Dark-eyed Junco

17 Northern Cardinal 160 Red-winged Blackbird 10 Common Grackle 14 American Goldfinch 1 Golden Crowned Kinglet 2 Orange Crowned Warblers 1 Belted Kingfisher 4 Black Vultures 9 Wood ducks 2 Eastern Woods Phoebe 2 Yellow bellied sapsucker 4 Yellow-rumped warbler 2 Blue-Gray gnatcatcher 1 Hermit Thrush 3 Tree Swallow 1 Eastern Bluebird 1 American Woodcock 1 Great Blue Heron