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Rare birds: Brown boobies right at home beneath Causeway
NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune ^ | 10/24/16 | Robert Rhoden, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune

Posted on 10/26/2016 4:10:26 PM PDT by BBell

Birds are familiar and welcomed sights along the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway. Brown pelicans set their large wings and glide amazingly close to motorists on the bridge. And large, frenzied swarms of purple martins appear at each end of the bridge at sundown during certain times of the year.

Now some rare birds have also decided to make the Causeway their home, although largely out of sight. Several groups of brown boobies, large brown-and-white, fish-eating sea birds commonly seen farther south in tropical waters, have taken up residence alongside and beneath the Causeway. Bridge General Manager Carlton Dufrechou said about nine pair are making themselves at home on the Causeway's piling caps, about eight miles from the north shore.

"They like to nest in cliffs. I guess this is the closest to a cliff they can find around here," Dufrechou said.

Causeway inspectors checking out the underside condition of the bridges spotted the sea birds, he said. They thought they saw the boobies earlier this year and confirmed the sighting recently.

Carolyn Atherton, curator of birds at the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans, took a look at the Causeway's photos and confirmed the birds are brown boobies. She said they are rare sights in this area.

"I think this group has been here most of this year, and the number has even grown a bit," she said. "I don't really know why they are staying here."

(Excerpt) Read more at nola.com ...


TOPICS: Outdoors; Pets/Animals
KEYWORDS: brownboobies; causeway; louisiana; rarebirds
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To: EEGator

I saw Wendy Whoppers at a strip club once. The “volunteer” who went onstage to ummm, try out the machinery I’ll bet will make that the best memory of his life.


21 posted on 10/26/2016 6:05:08 PM PDT by max americana (fired every liberal in our company at every election cycle..and laughed at their faces (true story))
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To: MagUSNRET

Could you imagine those on a quarter horse at full gallop, she can’t either,she would not only kill herself,she would kill the horse


22 posted on 10/26/2016 6:18:29 PM PDT by advertising guy (I cannot wait for the book KILLING O'REILLY)
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To: BBell
Heck, one of them is bad enough ...


23 posted on 10/26/2016 6:21:55 PM PDT by BlueLancer ("If the present tries to sit in judgment on the past, it will lose the future." Winston Churchill)
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To: BlueLancer

You could shove a roll of nickels up each of those nostrils!


24 posted on 10/26/2016 6:24:34 PM PDT by MagUSNRET
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To: MomwithHope

Enough.....we had a beaver thread earlier. The double entendre limit has been reached.


25 posted on 10/26/2016 6:29:13 PM PDT by xp38
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To: All
My favourites... :

Andrea...

(Tries mightily to remember to breathe...)(!)

26 posted on 10/26/2016 8:54:25 PM PDT by Utilizer (Bacon A'kbar! - In world today are only peaceful people, and the muzrims trying to kill them)
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To: BBell

Brown boobies?

That’s racist!


27 posted on 10/26/2016 10:05:03 PM PDT by Jack Hammer
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