Lake Martin, Louisiana

Five years ago I spent a week photographing nesting wading birds at Lake Martin near Breaux Bridge, Louisiana.  At the time it was listed as one of the top ten bird watching spots in the U.S. by the National Audubon Society.  An estimated 20,000 birds nested there, entertaining visitors and photographers who could park along Rookery Road while the birds went on with their daily lives practically ignoring all the human traffic.  The following images were taken that year:

Sadly, two weeks after I left, some unexplained event caused most of the birds in the southern half of the rookery to desert their nests and leave.  They did not return.  The northern section however continued to have a normal year but in 2006 after a good start, catastrophe struck again.  Reports indicate on Friday, March 17 all the birds were there, but on Saturday the entire colony had deserted.   There was a lot of fingerpointing and various theories but the mystery is still unexplained.  Possible natural causes included water levels, poor water quality, and a hurricane.  The sudden desertion on two separate weekends, however, caused many to blame a human component.  Reports of tour leaders disturbing the birds, kids shooting fire works, hunters, and unhappy locals all surfaced but nothing was ever proven.

Since I had some great experiences at Martin Lake I wanted to see if things had improved 5 years later.  Sadly, although there is some improvement, the rookery photography is very poor.  Some birds have returned but their relative numbers are small and they are far from the road.  The area is still great for scenics, large alligators, and flowers but if you want to photograph wading birds during the nesting season you would be better served to go elsewhere.

Cajun Country

A better reason for visiting this area is to experience some Cajun culture.  Breaux Bridge (http://www.breauxbridgelive.com/) is a small tourist town where you can get your full of Cajun and Zydeco music, crawdads and other Cajun cuisine, or immerse yourself in the rich Acadian history.  It gets my vote for being one of the friendliest towns you could find.  Don't be surprized if you are invited inside some of the older  homes while taking the historical walking tour through town, or walk into one of the stores and stay for an hour to listen to one of the local groups jamming.

 

Another good place to visit is Mulates Cajun Restaurant.  Although I can't say the food was extraordinary, the live music and dancing is well worth it.  The mental image of an eighty-something little Cajun lady in her black high lace-up shoes dragging her husband out on the dance floor will always be one of the first things I remember whenever Breaux Bridge is mentioned.  The New Orleans Mulates has a web site which give you a feeling for the place (http://www.mulates.com/) while a youtube video shows a typical night there (www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7LW64TS_IA).

A little exploring in the nearby area will reveal other attractions such as the tribute to Evangeline, a poem about an Acadian girl during the relocation of the Acadians to Louisiana from Canada.  The poem by Longfellow is his most famous work.

Lovers of "hot and spicy" should make a pilgrimage to Avery Island and tour the Tobasco factory there (http://www.tabasco.com/tabasco_history/visit_avery_island.cfm#targ)