FAUNA

The long-term management of a large stable fresh marsh and adjacent agricultural land make White Lake one of the most important waterfowl wintering areas in coastal Louisiana. In October 1987, the USFWS published a refined North American Waterfowl Management Plan, Category 23B, Gulf Coast. This plan ranked Central Gulf Coast habitat preservation needs for waterfowl, including the States of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. From a list of 28 sites, Louisiana's Pan Am Unit ranked SECOND in order of importance. White Lake south of the GIWW comprised about 60% of the acreage in the Pan AM Unit. Property north of the GIWW also provides excellent waterfowl habitat. Blue-winged teal (Anas discos) use these marshes, especially the Refuge, and ag-lands to stage prior to transgulf migration. The mottled duck (Anas fulvigula) resides on these wetlands and ag-lands year round with significant numbers staging here each September. The fulvous whistling-duck (Dendrocygna bicolor) nest and stage in these wetlands. Wood ducks (Aix sponsa) and black-bellied whistling-ducks (Dendrocygna autumnalis) also occur on White Lake.

The most impressive numbers of migratory waterfowl utilizing these marshes include: mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), northern pintail (A. acuta), gadwall (A. strepera), green-winged teal (A. crecca), and blue-winged teal. The numbers of mallards using the Refuge (Unit C) and the gravity flow Hunting Area (Unit E) are what make the White Lake stand out as a very special area for waterfowl. Over 200,000 mallards have been observed on the Refuge, along with large numbers of pintail, green-winged teal, snow geese (Chen caerulescens) and white-fronted geese (Anser albifrons). The Refuge (Unit C) is as important for mallard resting as any area in Southwest Louisiana. The Hunting Area, Unit E, is likely the second most important area.

White Lake provides abundant habitat for a variety of avian species. The Nature Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), in 1997, published an aquatic and terrestrial species listing for the Mermentau River Basin. According to this list, White Lake will seasonally have migrant passerine birds, shorebirds, wading birds, rails, gallinules, and the common moorhen. Hawks and owls are also common. Coastal terns and gulls undoubtedly use habitat contained on White Lake at times. Several large breeding rookeries of waders occur on White Lake. Along Blackfish Bayou, buttonbush supports a rookery with a large number of black-crowned night herons (Nycticorax nycticorax)

Other Fauna include: