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Feb 24, 2009 | by Kevin Loughlin
What does Fat Tuesday have to do with pelicans? Well, nothing really… However, Fat Tuesday in French is Mardi Gras. When we think Mardi Gras of course New Orleans comes to mind. New Orleans is in Louisiana… who’s state bird is the Brown Pelican. Okay, its a stretch but I had to make this blog about birds, not about dancin’ in the streets.
My last visit to New Orleans, if memory serves, was 1991, the week between Christmas and the New Year. I was there for a wedding, but of course we had to visit the French Quarter, which was full of college students awaiting the Sugar Bowl game. I doubt if any of them actually remembered to go to the game!
While in the city I took the opportunity to visit the Audubon Aquarium, which I enjoyed immensely. I especially appreciated the Louisiana Bayou display which included the famous White Alligators — with their incredible blue eyes. The nearby Audubon Park and Zoo I hope to visit in the future.
John James Audubon spent a bit of time in New Orleans before departing for England to attempt selling his artwork. Actual information on where and when he lived in the city is difficult to come by, but he did sail from the port of New Orleans with about 300 prints of his work on his first attempt to sell the art we all know him for today.
More on Audubon in a future blog… but I will leave you with this small section from one of Audubon’s prints of a Vigors Vireo, now known as a Pine Warbler.
photo © Kevin Loughlin
painting by John James Audubon