Bayou Sauvage

I've never had a particularly meaningful relationship with birds. I mean, they're cool, and I like hearing them in the background, but I prefer to walk around with my Field Guide to North American Trees book because they stay still while I identify them.

I remember one time several years ago going to the Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge down near Atlantic City with Mike. It was well before we were dating, and he just wanted to go take pictures of birds. It was a gray, drizzly fall morning, and I was happy to go along for the ride and get some fresh air down in the wetlands and not really pay any attention to the birds. I learned that day that Mike knows a lot about birds, and I have subsequently directed about 97% of all bird questions and comments to him ever since.

Fast forward a few years till Mike, Katie and I were driving from Irwin, PA to Walpole Island, ON last summer. We stopped at some sort of wildlife or bird refuge in Ohio, on Lake Erie. There was a bird watching room in the visitors' center, with a big window overlooking a little area with a village of bird houses and feeders. There were a lot of birds. It was rather noisy. So I was testing Mike--

"What kind of bird is that?" Red winged black bird.

"What kind of bird is that?" Some sort of finch.

"What kind of bird is that?" Red winged black bird.

"No, the one with the yellow on its wing." Red winged black bird.

"No, the one with yellow on its wing." Red winged black bird.




So that about sums up my relationship with birds.

Yesterday I traveled east to Bayou Sauvage, just to look around and get familiar with the park. I'm giving my first presentation next week to a group of volunteers visiting New Orleans with Project Homecoming, where several of my roommates work, and I was asked that when weather permits, to actually bring the groups to the wetlands. I think that's a lovely idea, especially since Bayou Sauvage is only about 15 minutes away from where the volunteers stay during their time of service. I was met by a professor from UNO who knows a lot about the area. It was great to have a guide.


The park is really nice. There are a few different places to park and hike, with well maintained boardwalks through the wetlands and paths along the levees. I'm a little intimidated by the size of the group (next week's is about 30 people, but in the future it could be up to 90)-- mostly worried whether or not I'll be able to really present anything to such a large contingent out in the field effectively. But I'm excited to show them the actual environment I'm talking about.

Bayou Sauvage was hit hard by Katrina, taking out a lot of older cypress and live oak trees, but it's a pretty healthy ecosystem. There have been various planting and mulching projects, among other conservation efforts, but really, nature will heal itself over time if we just leave it alone. Say it with me-- humans are the worst! But it is in pretty good shape, and is a really good look at that healing process.

Before leaving the refuge, the professor and I stopped by another trail area that's actually an impressive bird rookery. I was amazed at how many birds we saw just from this one little stretch of boardwalk. Some of them looked familiar, like things I've seen in the wetlands at home-- little herons and egrets, some sand piper kind of things (again, you can see how good I am at birding).

Apparently the place will be full of birds in November and December as they migrate every which way (you know, or south). I might need to investigate. There's a train line that runs along the back edge of the refuge, and a freight train passed through as I was leaving yesterday. Watching all of the birds jump up and circle before realizing it was just a harmless train was pretty incredible. This was the first time I really recognized the diversity and beauty of birds. Doesn't mean I'm going to learn how to identify them, because they still move too fast for me, but it was just a really beautiful moment that this blog entry isn't going to do justice, so I'm going to stop trying to describe it now.