Explorations of the Shreveport/Bossier Area

I've decided to explore the Shreveport-Bossier area of Louisiana this winter. So far I've only been to the Red River NWR, which opened in 2012, I think. When you get there, there is a "green" visitor's center, powered by solar panels. At the back of the building is a nice porch with wooden rocking chairs and tables looking out over Lake Catherine. A group of older men were relaxing in the chairs and told me that one of them had photographed Bald Eagles earlier that morning. Unfortunately, I didn't see the eagles.

I walked one side of the park one week and the other the next. The far side of the park was flooded over, and had been since March, according to the park staff.

I was mainly looking for birds, which there were a lot of! I sat on the porch for a while just watching the birds visiting the bird feeders. On the lake itself were Cormorants, Gulls, Egrets, Wood Ducks, Mallards, and Grebes.

Sadly, large portions of the park were heavily damaged by feral pigs. At one point, I passed by an area where I could tell the pigs must be sleeping in the brush because it smelled so awful. Pigs are a big problem here in the Arklatex region. One ranger told me that some people buy pigs, sneak them onto public lands, and then release them so they have something to hunt later. I was baffled because I couldn't understand why someone would even think of doing that.

Posted on December 15, 2015 06:04 AM by cosmiccat