Hello all, Thought I would report on a couple birds that I recently saw in Louisiana. One being slightly out of habitat. For those of you that have been to The Crescent City and spent some time in the French Quarter, I need not explain to you Pat O'Briens. For anyone else, Pat O'Briens is a New Orleans institution, serving the best Hurricanes on either side of the Mississippi. One of the better features is the Patio Bar. Last Wednesday, on a misty afternoon while sipping a Hurricane, someone pointed out a bird and asked me what it was. Flitting about in the courtyard among the bricks, slates, and handful of trees was a Hooded Warbler. Naked eye bird, thirty feet away. Eventually the bird came to within ten feet, sitting on one of the black iron tables. Soon it was joined by another, a few feet away. The birds stuck around long enough for me to watch it become blurry in the mist. Since this was a non-birding vacation, the only birding I did get in was at the Barataria Preserve of the Jean Lafitte National Park, while my friends sought out alligators. Some birds were in in good numbers, including Prothonotaries, Hoodeds, White-eyed Vireos, Yellow-throated Warblers, and Parulas. Also there were a few red-eyed Vireos, a Kentucky, and a couple Least Bitterns. Nice to know that they have arrived at least on the continent. Yours, Todd Day BlkVulture@aol.com Jeffersonton, VA