Adventures in bird watching at BREC’s Bluebonnet Swamp Nature Center
Through the tall trees of the Bluebonnet Swamp, I see my first red-bellied woodpecker.
I look through my binoculars to get a closer view, and he’s a beauty. He’s got a striking red head, black and white barred wings and back, and that trademark red belly.
I look through our tour guide’s powerful telescope for an even better view. I can see every feather, every marking, and I admire him as he pecks at the underside of a tree branch.
I had never seen birds as little marvels, and I certainly never thought I would get excited about spotting a species I had never seen before. But, spending a morning birding at the BREC Bluebonnet Swamp made me see these creatures in a completely new way.
Our birding group’s tour guide is Jane Patterson, president of the Baton Rouge Audubon Society. She teaches birding leisure courses at LSU and takes her classes on trips to the swamps and lakes of Baton Rouge and nearby areas. Through her enthusiasm and knowledge of birding, she brings many newcomers into the sizeable local birding community.
“Once you start paying attention you realize how much there is out there,” Patterson says. “You see the little house sparrows at the grocery store and pigeons on a wire, and there’s nothing particularly interesting about them. Then you see your first ruby-crowned kinglet or indigo bunting, and it’s a whole new world.”
Patterson makes it clear early on during the trip that we are on the hunt for the two barred owls, a male and a female, who live in a nest in the trees. When she takes us to the nest, it’s empty. We wait for a few minutes but decide to move on.
Though seeing an owl on my first birding trip would be a rare accomplishment, I’m still in awe of all the other birds we do see in the swamp. There are cedar waxwings, hummingbirds, cardinals, blue jays and many a yellow warbler. Soon, Patterson even has us identifying birds by their songs and calls.
After an hour, I start to experience what Patterson refers to as “warbler neck,” the neck pain caused by constantly looking up through the trees for extended periods of time. On top of that, a water moccasin catches my eye in the mucky swamp waters below, and I start thinking it might be time to go.
But Patterson, with her sharp eyes, is already setting up her telescope and smiling giddily. When some members of the group question her, she simply points up to a tree straight ahead.
It’s hard to make it out at first; it’s so well camouflaged in the tree. But soon we see the back of a stunning barred owl. As we collectively freak out, the owl turns its head around to look at us, almost posing for the onslaught of photos each group member takes with their phone.
It’s the perfect ending to an amazing morning immersed in nature.
Patterson points out, though, that we don’t even have to leave the city to experience nature—many of these birds are in our own backyards.
“All we need is a pair of binoculars,” she says.
