New Orleans

Anyone out there have advice on bird photography in the New Orleans area? I will be going there in early August.

It's been years since I've been to New Orleans, so I can only give limited help.

 

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The bayou country along the Gulf is full of the various wading birds you see in Florida. This is where I saw my first roseatte spoonbill, , least bittern, and wild alligator. We just drove around a lot, looking for places to the east that we could bird from the car. Access was a problem, as a lot of the land is in private ownership. You might try to track down a good map for information on public land, refuges, etc. I remember one particularly frustrating place right next to the Gulf, where we could see hundreds of reddish egrets, tri-colored heron, and the like behind massive "no trespassing signs" erected by the oil company that owns the site.

It will be HOT, but try Lacassine NWR and Sabine NWR, both near Lake Charles. You'll find much information about these and all National Wildlife Refuges in Laura & WIlliam Riley"s book GUIDE TO NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGES.

Don't mean to scare you, but Natalie's comment about it being HOT is an understatement. Unbelievably humid, too. It's pretty hot nowadays here in Dallas, but nothing like New Orleans in August. Must be why frozen daquiri's are so popular and come in so many flavors down there :-)

<p>Sorry, last time I was there was before I got serous about photography, so I can't say much about the shooting. But did I mention that it's really HOT there, especially in August... whew!