Atchafalaya Basin Fall Workshop Report

The weather was marvelous, as it usually is on a Louisiana fall day, when we ventured into Grand River Flats with six canoes for my Atchafalaya Basin photography workshop, which was held a couple of weeks ago in late November.  The low sun and scattered clouds gave all a great opportunity for landscape photos of the bald cypress trees decorated with roosting cormorants and ancient stumps cut in the cypress logging hey day of the early 1900s.

The surprise was numerous 4 to 5 foot alligators and one seven footer, we were not expecting gators since we have had some frosts already this year. All 10 students got close. I reminded everyone that in my first years out here when the alligators were endangered I rarely saw one in this part of the basin.

Sunset was colorful and the cypress trees continued to gain more cormorants, as the evening grew dark. We also saw two bald eagles that have a nest nearby.

 Check out our next workshop on February 11 at the Eagle Expo in Morgan City, where we will visit an eagle’s nest in Terrebonne Parish. Stay tuned for more info on that coming soon. And, don’t forget, the next Atchafalaya workshop will be in March 2010.  Hope you can join us.