We're very pleased to say that the Refuge is open again after the government shutdown.
 "Nature Provides", a magnificent shot of a Green Heron catching a fish by Tony Tramontana was judged Best in Show! Congratulations and thank you to all the great photographers who entered 220+ pictures in this year’s FoBB Photo Contest, an annual event organized originally in 2003 by Charlie Heck, Sr.
First-place winning photos will be displayed in the Refuge Visitor Center as soon as possible, and all ribboned photos will be displayed on the webpage: Annual Photo Contest - FRIENDS OF BLACK BAYOU LAKE NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE in a slideshow pdf. Our thanks to the contest chairs, Leslie Calhoun and Kimberly Paxton, along with the anonymous judges. The Charles Heck Memorial Grand Prize winner this year was taken by amateur photographer Tony Tramontana and is entitled "Nature Provides" Fall Celebration 2025 Canceled Due to Government Shutdown
Friends of Black Bayou regrets to announce that the annual Fall Celebration, originally scheduled for Saturday, October 11, has been cancelled due to the ongoing federal government shutdown, which has temporarily closed refuge facilities and visitor access to buildings at Black Bayou Lake National Wildlife Refuge. Although the Visitor Center and Conservation Learning Center are closed, the refuge’s trails and boat launch remain open for public use. Visitors are encouraged to continue enjoying the natural beauty of the area responsibly during this time. Friends of Black Bayou looks forward to resuming programs and events when the refuge fully reopens, including a future dedication of the newly completed Snake Room in the Conservation Learning Center. We appreciate the community’s understanding and continued support of our mission to celebrate and protect Black Bayou Lake National Wildlife Refuge. Sincerely, Board of Directors Friends of Black Bayou, Inc. The 2024 Friends of Black Bayou Lake National Wildlife Refuge Fall Celebration was a great success, with beautiful fall weather, and lots of fun, food, and celebration of wildlife. Some people asked about the delicious "mud pie" recipe, and that recipe is online always on the "Fall Celebration" page as a PDF file. Here is a text, in case that is helpful to ya! Thanks for coming out to the refuge. Recipe for Black Bayou Lake Fudge Pie BLACK BAYOU LAKE FUDGE PIE
by Nell Odom, Friends of Black Bayou INGREDIENTS: 4 Tbsp. Cocoa 1 Stick butter (do not substitute oleo) 2 Eggs 1 Cup Sugar 1/2 Cup Flour 1 tsp. Vanilla 1 partially baked pie shell INSTRUCTIONS: Bake pie shell for approximately 10 minutes before adding pie mixture. Melt cocoa and butter. Mix eggs, sugar & flour. Add chocolate mixture and mix well. Add vanilla. Bake at 350 for 22 minutes. VARIATIONS: +Fudge Nut Pie -add 1/2-1 cup chopped pecans.or walnuts +Coconut Fudge Pie-add 1/2 cup coconut +Almond Joy Fudge Pie-add 1/2 cup coconut and chopped almonds +Peanut butter Fudge Pie-add 1 cup peanut butter chips by C. Paxton Sunday, September 8th, at Black Bayou Lake National Wildlife Refuge, The Louisiana Master Naturalists Northeast Group and eminent Lepidopterist and author, Craig Marks gathered at Black Bayou Lake NWR for our second butterfly count at BBL. Craig has just completed a butterfly count at The Poverty Point World Heritage Site.
The full report will come in due course, but there were 12 participants including LMN-NE and Friends of Black Bayou members, in her LMN-NE Facebook post Dr. Bette Kauffman announced some great news: "we identified 27 species and counted 277 butterflies! That's pretty good. This was only our second count at BBL and last year's yielded only 19 species." The most counted butterfly was the Gulf Fritillary with 130 observations of adults, 48 caterpillars and 11 chrysalises! Dr. Kauffman announced a particularly remarkable observation was that of a Dorantes Longtail Skipper, this was made by Naturalist Stephen Pagans and photographed by himself and his companion Charles Paxton, when validated this will be a first official record of the species for Ouachita Parish! Last year we had a prolonged drought in Fall. This year has seen better conditions. The refuge continues to play an important role in scientific research and Citizen Science is proving to be useful!
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Banner image "Caught" By Jon K. Guice
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