Early Birdfest
Northlake Nature Center 23135 Highway 190, Mandeville, Louisiana 70448
During spring migration next month, birds and doting birders will flock to the Northlake Nature Center for the Great Louisiana Birdfest. Anticipation builds year-round but will be especially steep this afternoon at a Backyard Garden Tea and Paddle hosted by Northlake at a private seventeen-acre estate. The garden sits on Bayou Lacombe and features a five-acre trail network blazed through mature multiple varieties of 440 azaleas. Spot woodland and water birds as well as early migrants and nesting birds as you sip tea. For a better view, hop in a canoe with the Louisiana Master Naturalists and Canoe and Trails Adventures to explore the bayou.
New this year will be a photographer's tour through the Atchafalaya Basin at sunset, led by Captain Billy's Cajun Man's Swamp Tours and Adventures. See the basin's ten eagle nests and their families. At pre-Birdfest, new birders can get an "Introduction to Birding, Binoculars, and Bird Guides" prep course with Jane Patterson, President of the Baton Rouge Audubon Society.
2 pm–6 pm. $30. northlakenature.org/birdfest.