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Tag: Barataria Preserve

Faraway Places: Trees at Barataria Preserve, LA

Faraway Places: Trees at Barataria Preserve, LA

A few days ago I posted about the reptiles and amphibians I saw while at Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve. This post will focus on some of the dominant tree species. The three most notable trees were bald cypress, dwarf palmettos and live oaks. Bald cypress trees (Taxodium distichum) are one of only a handful of deciduous conifer trees (other North American examples include the Dawn Redwood and various species of Larch).  Like other conifers, they have needle-like…

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Faraway Places: Herpetofauna at Barataria Preserve, LA

Faraway Places: Herpetofauna at Barataria Preserve, LA

Barataria Preserve south of New Orleans, part of the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve, is one of the park’s 6 locations and contains more than 23,000 acres of swamp, marsh and waterways. I had expected to see a myriad of birds while there, but the true diversity in my wildlife sightings turned out to be in the herpetofauna. A few days prior to my visit, Louisiana had experienced unseasonably cold weather with temperatures in the 30s.  The bright…

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