We did not want to drive too far, but we wanted to get out and do something. We decided to go back to Chickasabogue Park and hike a trail.

On a random note, this park is not pronounced like Bogue Chitto. The Choctaw influenced pronunciation rhymes with “Yoga”. Louisiana is known for pronouncing it like this. Other places pronounce it where it rhymes with “Rogue” or “Vogue”.

The park has a two-stage upgrade as part of a grant. The first part has been completed which included the campground update, disc golf addition and play area. The play area included a playground, basketball / tennis / pickleball court, picnic area, wet play area, socker and baseball field. Ryker would absolutely love the playground. Part 2 of the update will include redoing the beach area, boat ramp, and nature museum.

We opted to hike the Indian Loop and partial Cemetery Loop because they travel along the river for part of the hike. They have added at least one Disc Golf course through the woods that modified the trails. Unfortunately, they have not updated the trail map. Fortunately, we did not get lost. We did not always know where we were, but we were definitely not lost.

The hike was mostly through thick forest, so there was not much to see. We took a dead end side route, and finally found the river. Here, we saw Golden Club. No idea what it is, but it was neat looking. Some of the pictures are from the same spot with different stalks in focus. One has a bug on it, and the last view is the other side.

While looking at these, a snake swam by. The camera did not focus well in the shade, so the snake is blurry. John’s best bet is that it is a Northern Pine Snake.

While John was photographing the flower and snake, Kate found some reptiles. One looks like a juvenile or female Green Anole.

The other appears to be a Common Five-lined Skink.

Kate also had to take a selfie.

All through the hike, we kept seeing medium sized bright yellow butterflies. We are not sure about the type, but it might be a Cloudless Sulphur Butterfly. It is definitely a Sulphur of some type.

After the hike, we stopped down at the beach, but the only thing we saw were more Golden Club.

After this, we picked up food and headed home. At home, Kate thought she saw a Blue-grey Gnatcatcher, but it was an Eastern Bluebird.

The Bluebird was startled by a Cardinal.

After this left, a yellow bird showed up, and John thought it was a Goldfinch. It appears that it might be a Pine Warbler. None of the pictures are great, but if you piece them together, it looks more like a Pine Warbler than a Ruby-crowned Kinglet. It looks nothing like a Goldfinch.

In picture 1, the beak is too think for a kinglet and the coloring is wrong for the finch. In picture 2, you can see the yellow throat and olive streaking. In picture 3, you can see the two distinct white wing bars. In picture 4, you can see the eye ring is yellow with a horizontal split.

We also saw a wildcat on the prowl around our RV.

Well, she thinks she is a wildcat.