$35 (Includes Wine & Cheese)

The first of our two trips to Pine Island is dedicated to photography. There is a birding trip to this location on Sunday, April 19.
Pine Island, a 3,000-acre wildlife preserve, offers a unique photographic opportunity. Just west of the Tchefuncte River between Madisonville and Ponchatoula, Pine Island is a naturalist’s dream-come-true with thousands of roosting birds, alligators, and other wildlife.

Pine Island is the legacy of a logging operation once located in Madisonville. Cypress logging ceased at Pine Island nearly a century ago. For decades the family which until recently owned the property assured that nature took precedence in the area and maintained Pine Island as a wildlife refuge. The current owner continues that tradition. Today the private property is closed to the public, but birding photographers with the Great Louisiana BirdFest are offered a rare glimpse into this premier habitat.

You will drive through pines and mixed hardwoods, ending at the 300-acre man-made lake housing one of the south’s largest rookeries. The nests are far enough from the levee that you need a long lens and possibly a tripod to get the best shots. We suggest that you bring the longest lens you have. We also suggest fine grain film so that you can crop and enlarge your shots without losing image quality. If you do not have as long a lens as you might like, the photographers, who will be assisting with advice and guidance, may let you mount your camera body (if compatible) to their lens for a little while during the trip so you can really zoom in to get an unforgettable shot.

As dusk settles over the swamp, thousands of birds, including egrets, herons, ibis, cormorants, Anhinga and more fly in for an evening’s rest. From the levee, the sight of these incoming birds is truly spectacular. The photography session will remain at the rookery until just after sunset, allowing you to capture this wonderful event on film.

Note – This is a photography trip best captured with a long telephoto lens.  A point-and-shoot camera doesn’t do the site justice so be forewarned that many shots are long distance shots. There will be no birding guides on this trip.

If you are only interested in birding this trip is not for you. Please come to our birding trip to this site on Sunday.

• Wine and cheese will compliment this outing
• Easy walk.
• Among the birds likely to be seen are:
  • Wintering Birds: Pied-billed Grebe, Bald Eagle,
  • Resident and Breeding Birds: Double-crested Cormorant, Anhinga, Great Blue, Tricolored, Yellow-crowned Night, Black-crowned Night, Green, and Little Blue Herons; Cattle, Great and Snowy Egrets; White Ibis, Roseate Spoonbill (one year), Wood Duck, Vultures, Osprey, Wild Turkey, Purple Gallinule, Common Moorhen, passerines, and more.