John K. Flores: April is a great month to take up birding

Nearly 20 years ago I took my first picture as a nature photographer. As part of the outdoor media, carrying a camera was normal for taking pictures of guys while covering a story about a big deer, big fish, or fishing tournament.

I was content doing that sort of photography, that is until I met an electrical salesman from Lafayette, named Danny Womack. Danny happened to be an avid duck hunter who invited me a few times to hunt with him on his lease in Forked Island. During one of our hunts, he suggested I join him after the season to take pictures of ducks. It sounded like fun and something different, so I agreed to go with him.

It was in late February when we got together. Blue winged teal migrate from Central and South America through Louisiana heading north to the breeding grounds at this time of year. What’s more, it’s normal to see big wads of 50 to 100 birds or more fly over the marsh and settle in a pond to feed.

Danny dropped me off in his duck blind and then went and set out a few dozen decoys. It was exactly as if we were hunting them, but without guns.

When Danny got back to the blind, he began setting up a tripod and fixed a Canon 500mm F4 telephoto lens on top with a gimbal mount. The whole thing looked like a big bazooka to me and dwarfed my little Pentax camera and Tamron 24-300mm lens.

I managed to capture “one” picture of teal passing and with that one click of my shutter I was hooked.

The next time Danny and I got together, he invited me to Sherburne Wildlife Management Area to take pictures of neotropical songbirds. It was mid-April and once again he broke out his heavy equipment, while I shot with my little Pentax.

I managed to capture a few pictures of a prothonotary warbler and it was the most amazing thing in the world to me. What beauty, I thought.

The truth be known, up to that point in my life, with countless hours in the marsh, woods, mountains, and water, I had never seen or heard this bird. What a shame.

Over the past two decades I’ve worked hard honing my skills with my camera and studying a variety of bird books to become somewhat of an amateur birder in the process.

Birding does a few things for me. One, I never stop learning. Two, it gets me outdoors during a time of year that otherwise would be the off season. And three, it’s some of the most challenging nature photography there is. You never know what you’re going to see or what the bird is going to do on an outing; let alone what the conditions will be.

If there’s a fourth thing, I’d have to say, it’s the exercise. I regularly walk several miles when birding.

April is the biggest month of the year for Louisiana birders. Essentially, everything is coming or going when it comes to the migration be it songbirds, shorebirds, raptors or waterfowl.

This past week, I saw two swallow-tailed kites flying over Gibson. I was west bound on La. 182 doing about 55 mph and practically stopped the truck in the middle of the road looking for a place to turn around to double back and go see them.

My brother, sister-in-law and niece were down from Michigan visiting. Along with my wife, they were my passengers. It’s a good thing they all tolerated my impulsiveness, because we all got to see these magnificent birds hovering over an open farm field. They looked to be some of the first arrivals of the year.

This past weekend, I took a walk on Bayou Teche National Wildlife Refuge and took several beautiful photographs of a prothonotary warbler. And, at Brownell Memorial Park and Carillon Tower I found a very friendly northern parula along the walking trail.

These were the most colorful that I was interested in. If I were keeping a list this past weekend, I’d have reported seeing about 50 cedar waxwings, a couple of Carolina wrens, a few Carolina chickadees, several swamp sparrows, a barred owl, hairy woodpecker, red-breasted woodpecker and a pileated woodpecker, but the best is yet to come.

Grand Isle will be holding its annual Migratory Bird Celebration Friday and Saturday, April 14-15. The festival is typically scheduled during the peak neotropical songbird migration period.

On Friday and Saturday, May 5-6, St. Bernard will be holding its Bird Festival at the Los Islenos Museum Complex.

Whether you’re a beginning or seasoned birder, a trip to southwest Louisiana to Peveto Woods Bird and Butterfly Sanctuary is a must during the month of April. And, after Peveto, a trip up the road to Sabine National Wildlife Refuge south of Hackberry won’t leave you disappointed.

During the April migration, these coastal communities offer opportunities to see scarlet tanagers, rose-breasted grosbeaks, numerous wood warblers, vireos and orioles.

It doesn’t take much to become a birder. A pair of binoculars, some rubber boots (ankle or knee), and a field guide to birds is all you need.

There’s also birding apps you can download to your phone like eBird Mobile App, Merlin, Audubon Bird Guide, BirdsEye Bird Finding Guide and EyeLoveBirds.

There’s no better time than April to start birding. All you have to do is look up in the air. Have a Happy Easter everyone …

John Flores is the Morgan City Review’s outdoor writer. He can be contacted at gowiththeflo@cox.net.