As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Monday 29 October 2012

Bird watchers flock to coastal Louisiana


THORNWELL, La. (AP) - An elusive chicken-like marsh bird is drawing nearly 130 bird watchers from 27 states and Poland, Kuwait, England and Canada this weekend to the rice fields of Jefferson Davis Parish.

The American Press reports the bird watchers, naturalists and photographers are trying to catch a glimpse of the yellow rail and other native bird species during the annual Yellow Rails and Rice Festival.

The festival runs through the weekend with birding trips, boat tours, bird banding and photography workshops, a rice mill tour and a Cameron Parish coast tour.

"The festival is designed with fun in mind," said Donna Dittmann of the Louisiana State University Museum of Natural Science. "Jefferson Davis Parish is a fantastic place for birds and birding," she said.

Sharon Guarnete and her husband, Al, who live near Philadelphia, were among first-timers attending this year's festival.

"We are bird watchers and have never seen a yellow rail," Al Guarnete said. "So we read about this last year on a website and put in on the calendar for this year."

Al Guarnete has been birding for 49 years. Sharon Guarnete, who has not been bird watching as long, says it's a hobby they can enjoy together.


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