By Cyndi Sellers

Spring migration is on, and area birders are having a field day at Peveto Woods, Sabine Refuge, backyards, and roadsides around Cameron Parish. Interest reached a peak last week with the sighting of a Black-capped Vireo, only the second recorded in Louisiana.

Birders from all over descended on Peveto Woods in the Little Florida subdivision of Johnson Bayou to catch a glimpse and a photo of the rarity. It got so crowded locals complained the road was being blocked by cars. Birders complained of the visitors “bushwhacking” off the trails to find the elusive bird. It seems to have left the area now.

Judy Fruge reported Orchard Oriole, Painted Bunting, Worm-eating Warbler, Blue-winged Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Red-eyed Vireo, Indigo Bunting, Summer Tanager, Scarlet Tanager, and Rose-breasted Grosbeak in her “small but colorful list,” of birds seen Monday, Apr. 12, at Peveto Woods.

Suzanne Greathouse McFatter, of Grand Lake, wrote on Facebook that her backyard recently hosted a Yellow Warbler, rose-breasted Grosbeak, Scarlet Tanager, and Indigo Bunting. “After two hurricanes hitting us directly this past summer, it is refreshing to see leaves and blooms reappearing on the battered trees and plants, and now to see the birds flourishing.”

Mulberry trees are a great place to find colorful migrants right now. Several have been planted at Peveto Woods, and a large tree has been reported near the Cameron Courthouse. Spring migration will not last much longer, so now is the time to get out and enjoy the beauty of these passing songbirds.