Sabine Woods Report and Bird Alert -- September 13, 2009

A Work Day was held at Sabine Woods on Saturday September 17th with 14 volunteers.  Despite rain, quite heavy for a period in the middle of the morning., we got a lot accomplished.  Howard Davis had bushhogged  for us about three weeks prior, so the focus was on working on the open areas and trails to cut the new growth and to get the grass and vegetation shorter.  Almost all of the "traditional" trails inside the woods were re-found and re-opened . The little pond at the drip was overgrown and the vegetation there was cut down.  Repairs to the water supply at the drip are almost complete – the absence of a hardware store anywhere closer to the Woods than 30 miles prevented completion – but this will occur shortly.  (This year, enormous quantities of very tall (up to 15 feet) growth of giant ragweed has occurred, and we worked on cutting it down in some areas to prevent it seeding for next year in areas where the woods have normally had a more open understory.  (There is plenty left, especially in the western parts of the Woods.)  It appears that giant ragweed is more tolerant of salt water than other understory species, and also that seeds were spread far and wide by the storm surge. It does require sunlight for growth, so it will hopefully be present in diminished quantities as the canopy recovers.

The main pond now has some water in it, and a sample taken on Saturday showed a salinity of 2.8 ppt, which means we probably do not need to be concerned any longer.  More water will further dilute any salt, and on Sunday, the pond probably held twice as much water as it did Saturday. The recent very beneficial rains should help flush any remaining salt away from the rest of the Sanctuary.

We thank most sincerely all those who came and worked in the rain, and brought the equipment which so facilitated the work. Andy Allen, Howard Davis, John Haynes, Harrison Jordan, Gary Kelley, Brad Lirette, Steve Mayes, Wendy Mires, Sally and Chuck Moffet, Richard Orgeron, Christine Sliva, and Jana Whittle.

Perhaps the most interesting bird this weekend was a Groove-billed Ani, found by Jana after the work day on Saturday on the remains of one of the mulberries opposite where the McFaddin headquarters building stood before Ike.

This weekend, there were a fair number of migrants in Sabine Woods. The most numerous species, especially on Sunday, was Ruby-throated Hummingbird.  Significant numbers were swarming around a few oaks that apparently had very sweet sap where the acorns had detached. The most numerous warbler was certainly Canada Warbler, ranging from birds with very black necklaces to others where the necklace was scarcely visible. There were probably 20 or more individuals present on Sunday.  Other warblers seen included several Hooded Warblers, a few Kentucky Warblers, and others seen as one or two included Mourning, Black-and-white, and Prothonotary Warblers, American Redstart and Northern Waterthrush.  Red-eyed Vireos were present in some numbers; one or two White-eyed were seen, and a Warbling Vireo was present on Sunday.  Flycatchers were numerous.  Great Crested Flycatchers were particularly plentiful on Sunday, and all the expected Empidonax were present along with numerous Eastern Wood Pewees.  Female or young Summer Tanagers were seen both days, as was Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Sunday's bird being a young bird, clearly with rufous on the primaries, but with no hint of yellow in the lower mandible, and a very washed out undertail pattern.  A Veery – very rarely seen in fall migration – was seen on Sunday.

A substantial migration of Eastern Kingbirds east to west along Highway 87 was obvious on Sunday, and the swallow migration included lots of Barn Swallows and a smaller number of Bank Swallows.

John A. Whittle