During a winter swamp tour, your airboat pushes stealthily through murky, amber waters. The edges of the swamp are fringed with gray, knobby cypress, bare and skeletal in the winter chill, and tupelo trees just beginning to show faint signs of life.
It may be that the irises and swamp mallow wait until April to bloom in Barataria Preserve in order to avoid competition with the vibrant hues of Louisiana’s winter bird population. From Ruby-crowned Kinglets to Blue-headed Vireo, some of Barataria’s most brilliant inhabitants are deprived of camouflage during winter’s chill, making February and March an ideal time to spy on feathered warblers who are just awakening and breaking the swamp’s silence.
From your unobstructed 360° view of the Louisiana swamplands aboard one of our modern airboats, you’ll catch sight of the golden plumage of the Prothonotary Warbler, or swamp canary, as it searches for bits of sedge and grass to build its nest inside the cozy cavity of a bald cypress. White egrets drift ghostlike among the palmettos, stalking small fish and frogs that live in the brackish water.
On the uppermost branches of these same trees, committees of American Vultures spread their vast wings to allow the morning sun to dry their damp feathers, and regal Red-shouldered Hawks watch for small mammals from their high perches. Witnessing the profusion of bird species – more than 300 in all – that make up the Barataria Preserve gives visitors a first-hand glimpse of the lush wildlife hidden away in the swamps of southern Louisiana.
Louisiana Tour Company’s airboat tours provide you an up close look at the mysterious creatures that thrive in the swamps and bayous surrounding New Orleans. While spring in Barataria Preserve may boast an abundance of wildflowers, your winter airboat tour offers a view of the swamps that is mystical in its otherworldly isolation. Come see for yourself.
