My month of April 2024 was consumed by helping my chapter prepare for hosting the statewide meeting of Louisiana Master Naturalists, “Rendezvous 2024,” then recovering from having hosted it! Indeed, it was a great event. Many of our members from south Louisiana were quite surprised to learn about the wonderful natural resources we have in this corner of the state.

I didn’t get much shooting done in April, in part because hosting such an event is all-consuming and leaves one quite drained! However, one of the field experiences we scheduled as part of the event was early morning birding at Restoration Park in West Monroe, La. I was able to take a break from directing traffic, answering questions, checking on speakers, etc., to tag along.

Our eBird checklist shows that we identified 35 species of bird and 132 individual birds. That’s pretty good for a small park in an urban environment!

Restoration Park came about when local city officials got together with biologists at the local university and decided to do something about this former industrial site that had become a wasteland of trash and invasive plant species. They restored it to it’s former glory as a small wetland that also serves as flood control for the surrounding area. It now has a well-maintained trail around the wettest area and a boardwalk across it.

On this day we saw a Kingfisher in action, Mallards on the water, a Great Blue Heron in a tree, Northern Rough-winged Swallows swooping about, and more. But my fave was this magnificent Red-shouldered Hawk at the top of a pine tree just as we were about to leave the park!

#YearInReview