MANCHAC SWAMP IN THE SPRING
Tuesday April 16, 1996 was a beautiful Spring day here. Morning
temperatures in the 40’s and humidity down around 40%.
Loretta (Sanchez Moore) and her son Chris were visiting in Hammond and I
had invited them to go canoeing in the Ruddock area, Shell Bank Bayou,
Lily Bayou, Buzzard Bayou and the connecting canals.
We left about 7 AM stopped for gas and were in the water before eight.
When we pulled up at the put in a Snowy Egret gracefully flew away,
objecting to our presence. I knew that it would be a great day.
Loretta and I were in the tandem, the Wenona Jensen 18, and chris was in
the Dandy, a solo canoe. Along Shell Bank Bayou there were several
Great Egrets and when we turned into the canal leading to Lily Bayou we
saw several Prothonotary Warblers and Red Wing Blackbirds. A hugh
Barred Owl flew overhead and lit in a tree just ahead. We got a good
look at it as we paddled by.
Cypress trees, tupelo gum and swamp maples were all decked out in their
shiny new foliage. We crossed Lily Bayou and entered the canal to
Buzzard Bayou. After paddling the three quarter mile length we
discovered Buzzard was closed off with Hyacinths. Chris and I changed
places as he was having trouble with the solo canoe.
A Ruby Crowned Kinglet ignored me as I paddled by four feet under the
branch it was perching on.
I was a little ahead and Loretta called out that she saw an iris bloom.
I said just wait weíll see plenty more.
Paddling South on Lily Bayou Loretta spotted the first alligator. It
was really hard to spot out in the duckweed with only the head sticking
up. Easy to take for a stick until you see those big eyes. We saw
several more out in the duckweed and then there were two sunning on a
log. A four footer and a six footer.
There was another Barred Owl and a few Snowy and Great Egrets and a
couple of Great Blue Herons. Not as many as I had expected.
We came to the end of the wide part of Lily Bayou where the old rundown
hunting camp is, four wood Ducks came flying out of the woods and passed
right over us. Entering the little narrow channel that goes into the
swamp from there we began to see a lot more iris in bloom. All a
beautiful light purple.
The little stream took us out of the swamp into a marsh. The water
plantain was everywhere some blooming. It was like a sea of green
speckled with the purple iris like freckles on a face.
There were more birds. White Ibis, Great and Snowy Egrets, a Little
Blue Heron, a Green Heron. An Ibis sat in the tree on my right and a
Cormorant perched atop the tree on my left. Kingbirds darted through
the air after insects. A couple of Anhingas were soaring way above us.
How wonderful it was to be away from civilization for a few moments.
Much as I hated to we had to turn around and head back.
It was a beautiful trip.
Hulin Robert
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