On April 2 we hosted one of our biggest paddle + birding excursions ever out at the West Pontchartrain-Maurepas Swamp Important Bird Area. Over 40 paddlers joined us to experience the beauty of this protected wetland — and we captured some beautiful shots of the area’s thriving wildlife!

Thank you to Byron Almquist of Canoe & Trail Adventures and Jane Patterson of the Baton Rouge Audubon Society for leading our excursion and showing us the beauties of nature. We were greeted at the camp by the acrobatics of two mating swallowtail kites! We observed over 50 bird species, and it was an especially prolific day for Prothonotary Warblers. You can see the complete lists of the birds we spotted here and here.

Thank you as well to the Maurepas hunt club for treating us to delicious crawfish spaghetti for lunch, and thanks to all of our paddlers for your enthusiasm and support of our work. With your help, we are working hard to preserve priceless natural sites like the Maurepas Swamp Important Bird Area.

Paddlers Kristyn Whatley and Tim Nguyen also got some great images of the local wildlife!