Photo by Kerry Griechen

Lake Martin is located on The Nature Conservancy’s 9,500-acre Cypress Island Preserve in Breaux Bridge. By April the southern end of the rookery is bustling with 7,000-plus pairs of nesting birds. Lake Martin boasts being one of the largest wading bird rookeries in the United States.

In late February and early March, birds come back to the lake to find a mate and begin courtship. Nests are built on the lake’s button bushes and cypress trees. Nesting birds include great, snowy and cattle egrets, roseate spoonbills, great and little blue herons, black crowned night-herons and anhingas.

Birders flock to the lake with binoculars and spotting scopes to watch courting roseate spoonbills bobbing up and down on cypress limbs while passing courtship twigs. Snowy and great egrets grow out their feathers during mating and display these showy nuptial plumes. Alligators start hanging out under the trees hoping for an opportunistic meal.

Even folks without optics enjoy watching this avian symphony. The road that winds around the portion of Lake Martin where there are no levees provides a great opportunity to have a drive-by rookery experience. While binoculars provide an up-close view, bird nests are close enough to the road to be seen with the naked eye.

Courtship is in high gear on the lake but the avian activity overhead is equally as entertaining. Birds fly to and from the rookery bringing food to their mate and returning with new nesting material. Eastern bluebirds and barn swallows usually perch on the telephone wire along the lake. The rookery is a busy, noisy place and seemingly oblivious to any humans who show up.

Walking on the levees along the lake where palmettos and oak trees grow allows a glimpse of the nesting songbirds: prothonotary warblers, northern parulas, painted buntings and red-bellied woodpeckers. Barred owls are frequent visitors to the woodlands year round. This area is open for walking until late May when alligator nesting season begins.

The Visitors Center is open every day during the height of nesting season. Volunteer docents provide information on identifying the birds, amphibians, reptiles and plants found at Lake Martin. Additionally, information on the importance of rookeries and bird checklists is provided. Happy birding!


The Cypress Island Preserve Visitor Center, as well as a picnic pavilion and boardwalk, are open weekend days from 10 am to 3 pm. It is located approximately halfway between the town of Breaux Bridge and the city of Lafayette. Lake Martin, the preserve’s main visitor attraction, is approached by two paved roads, Highway 353 from Lafayette and Highway 31 from Breaux Bridge

Add Comment