Summer Camp - Week #2

Week #2 of summer camp at the Audubon Center at Francis Beidler Forest is underway (see Summerville Journal Scene article regarding week #1). Today's tour of the boardwalk revealed a plethora of wildlife!

Exploring the height of the Meeting Tree.

Female (large) and male Golden Silk Orbweaver (Nephila clavipes).

Banded Water Snake (Nerodia fasciata fasciata).

River Frog (Rana heckscheri).

Giant Leopard Moth (Hypercompe scribonia).

Unidentified mating dragonflies.

Greenfly Orchid (Epidendrum conopseum) in bloom.

Female Dark Fishing Spider (Dolomedes tenebrosus) with egg sac.

American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis).

Juvenile Yellow-crowned Night Heron (Nyctanassa violacea).

Barred Owl (Strix varia).

Crayfish (a.k.a. Barred Owl dinner).

White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) doe and fawn.

Mating Ebony Jewelwing Damselflies (Calopteryx maculata).

White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) fawn.

Images by Mark Musselman

The Green Menance

We plagiarized the title from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) pamphlet on the Emerald Ash Borer (Agrilus planipennis).

From the USDA pamphlet: The Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) is a very small but very destructive beetle. Metallica green in color, its slender body measures 1/2-inch long and 1/8-inch wide. The average adult beetle can fit easily on a penny.

Native to China and eastern Asia, the EAB probably arrived in North America hidden in wood packing materials commonly used to ship consumer goods, auto parts, and other such products. Although no one can say for certain when the EAB arrived in southeastern Michigan, the scientific community now believes the beetle may have been present for up to 12 years before it was detected, based on its widespread distribution and destruction. The USDA officially identified the EAB in the summer of 2002.

This beetle is responsible for the death or decline of tens of millions of ash trees (Fraxinus spp.). As of December 2008, EABs have been detected in 10 states (Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin) and parts of Canada. Although not suspected to be in South Carolina, the traps shown in the images have been placed near the nature center at Aububon's Francis Beidler Forest in order to detect the presence of EABs should they arrive.






















Though the EABs method of arrival into the United States is unknown, the spread of EABs is well-documented. The artificial spread of the EAB is facilitated by humans moving common ash tree products such as firewood, nursery stock, green lumber, and chips. Some states are under full quarantine while others have quarantines in only portions of their state. Individuals face fines for moving ash products (mainly firewood) from quarantined areas. Firewood stacked for more than a year can still harbor EAB larvae and pose a risk for the spreading of the EAB.

Eggs laid in bark crevices hatch in about 10 days. The worm-like larvae then begin tunneling and feeding under the bark. This tunneling and feeding eventually girdles the tree cutting off the roots from the leaves...death of the tree is inevitable. Some native predators (woodpeckers and parasitic insects) have been seen attacking EABs, but their efforts have not been enough to slow the spread of the EAB or prevent the death of ash trees.

Previous blog entries on non-native species are "Save the Insects" and "Christmas Tree". More information on the Emerald Ash Borer can be found at the USDA Forest Service and USDA and Michigan DNR & Dept. of Agriculture.


Images by Mark Musselman

Upland Bird Banding

The last two bird banding Mondays at Audubon's Francis Beidler Forest have provided some surprises at the mist net sites along the fire lines in the upland pine/hardwood.

Here is Jeff Mollenhauer's, director of bird conservation, report from June 29th:

We had an absolutely fabulous day banding on Monday at the Audubon Center at Francis Beidler Forest. Probably our best day ever!

In the first check of the nets, we caught four birds: an unbanded after-second-year (ASY) male Prothonotary Warbler (hooray!), a Swainson’s Warbler that we banded last year (hooray!), and two Carolina Wrens that we banded last year (hooray!). We caught more birds than ever before…16 birds total! We also caught a very unexpected bird…a Louisiana Waterthrush. Probably an early migrant, since based on the point counts that we did last year, we don’t think that we have any breeding in Four Holes Swamp. Having not caught a single Hooded Warbler, it came as a surprise to catch three in one day (2 males, 1 female). We only had one net run that came up with no birds and we spent very little time sitting down.

Total numbers are as follows:

Prothonotary Warbler – 1

Hooded Warbler – 3

White-eyed Vireo – 2

Acadian Flycatcher – 1

Kentucky Warbler – 1

Swainson’s Warbler – 2

Louisiana Waterthrush – 1

Carolina Wren – 4

Northern Cardinal – 1

Last Monday (July 6th), was another record banding day. While no Prothonotary Warblers were captured, several banded individuals were spotted out of the swamp...some with their fledglings. Additionally, an entire family (five) of White-eyed Vireos were captured in one net. In another net, three young Wood Thrushes snared themselves. Their presence suggests that their parents nested nearby, though the Beidler Forest staff has not reported hearing a Wood Thrush singing near the center for many years.

Images by Mark Musselman

Edisto Beach

After the first summer camp session at the Audubon Center at Francis Beidler Forest, we took a week off and enjoyed the sun and sand at Edisto Beach.

There are a few things one must understand in order to enjoy the beach experience without damaging the environment or harming the wildlife that share coastal zone and nearby waters. Some behaviors should be common sense. Unfortunately, as the Fourth of July crowd on Folly Beach demonstrated with their littering, common sense is not a common virtue. In response, Folly Beach is proposing a ban on drinking on its beaches.

While at Edisto Beach, storms at sea sent copious amounts of seaweed, driftwood and trash onto our 50-yard stretch of beach. The image below shows that the majority of the human-produced trash was beverage containers (as was the case on Folly Beach). Several of the aluminum cans, shredded by their time underwater, had barnacles attached. The shredded cans posed a hazard to the bare feet of the beachgoers and items like plastic bags and rubber gloves become choking hazards or intestinal blockages for sea turtles and marine mammals.

It is unlawful to trapse through the fragile dunes and the sea oats that tenuously hold the sand in place. Additionally, shorebirds like the Wilson's Plover nest on the sand in and around the dune system. Shorebird eggs are well-camouflaged on the sand to avoid predation, so they can easily be stepped on by humans and free-roaming dogs. Dogs and humans running on the beach can cause resting shorebirds to flush into flight and thereby consume valuable energy without purpose. Repeated disturbance can deplete the birds' energy and affect their ability to raise their young and/or migrate. Therefore, giving a wide berth to birds on the beach and keeping pets and children from chasing birds will help maintain healthy shorebird populations.

Finally, the beach zone is an area for wildlife reproduction. Our stretch of beach had three sea turtle nests marked off to prevent compaction by foot traffic that would prevent hatchlings from making it out of the nest. Nest disturbance by humans and disorienting lights nearby homes and streets are the greatest non-natural threats to the young turtles. Edisto Beach, like many other beach communities, does its best to communicate this information to both local residents and the multitude of visitors.

Horseshoe crabs too came near shore to mate. The millions of eggs that they will produce will help feed Red Knots migrating from the Arctic to points as far as the southern tip of South America. Barriers (human-designed sea walls) to the high tide line on the beach where the crabs seek to lay their eggs and the use of adult horseshoe crabs for bait are the main threats to the species and the species to which they are connected in the foodweb. Individuals flipping the mating pairs of crabs are not helpful either.

Enjoy the beach, but understand it first so that your presence is not detrimental to the ecosystem.

Images by Mark Musselman

A065

After the first week of summer camp, we took a short vacation to Edisto Beach (more on that tomorrow), so the blog has been quiet.

Project PROTHO research continues at the Audubon Center at Francis Beidler Forest with Prothonotary Warblers (Protonotaria citrea)beginning to move out of the swamp with their fledglings.

A065 is a fledgling that has been observed along the boardwalk between markers 137 and 140 in recent weeks. A065 was about 6 weeks old when the images were taken on 6/17/09. A065 is one of the chicks from A056 (male) and A064 (female) nest at marker 138. A065's nest was the one with the cowbird chick (see end of blog 5/19/09). Only the male has been seen feeding A065 during the past couple of weeks. Perhaps the female is on a second nest or perhaps she is taking care of one of the other chicks from the nest.

Yesterday's banding along the fire lines in the upland pine/hardwood forests provided glimpses of various banded Prothonotary Warblers, some with fledglings, that have decamped from the swamp.

Images by Jeff Mollenhauer

End of Summer Camp Session #1

The first session of summer camp 2009 at the Audubon Center at Francis Beidler Forest is over! The third session is already full, but there are still a few spaces open in the second session. A registration form can be found here as well as the schedule of events for the camp week.

The first half of summer camp was covered in the previous

entry. The images below tell the story better than any prose.

Finding the other member of their bird species by sound alone.

Capturing and observing insects under the powerline as insects are a critical component of the habitat, especially for birds with chicks to feed! Non-native insects compete with native insects for food and have been known to introduce disease into the native plant community. Non-native plants cannot or are not eaten by native insects, which limits the supply of food available to native insects. Additionally, non-native insects may not be eaten by native wildlife thus allowing those insect populations to increase unchecked.

Using the low boardwalk, campers created an event map, which included anything of interest that they heard, saw, smelled or experienced.

On Friday, campers were back on the main boardwalk to count bird species for the end-of-camp birdathon. Although, we only identified 10 species of birds, including the Barred Owl (Strix varia) taken by Don Wuori, we saw several species of well-fed snakes.

























Additionally, the process of counting birds to raise funds for conservation (one penny per species) helped to reinforce the fact that conservation does not just happen...it takes a commitment of time and resources to ensure the protection of vital habitat and the life within it.

The brown-painted nest boxes constructed from two juice cartons will be used next spring in Project PROTHO to help Prothonotary Warblers find suitable nesting sites in areas of the swamp that were logged prior to becoming part of the Francis Beidler Forest's 16,000+ acres. Not only did campers help with the Project PROTHO science by observing banded birds along the boardwalk and recording the data, their nest boxes will become an integral component in next spring's research efforts!

Finally, it was time for lunch with the family, a recap of the week's events, and swamp camp graduation certificates.

Images by Mark Musselman

Barred Owl image by Don Wuori

Summer Camp - Session #1

The first session of summer camp at the Audubon Center at Francis Beidler Forest is half completed! Banded birds, learned the 6 Ss of bird identification, walked the boardwalk (saw Prothonotary Warblers, snapping turtle, fawn, several Barred Owls, cottonmouth, bowfin, longnose gar, yellow-bellied slider laying eggs, and Yellow-crowned Night Heron gorging on crayfish), and made Prothonotary Warbler nest boxes for next spring's Project PROTHO restoration project! Insect studies, bird house building, Jeopardy!, and the end-of-week birdathon are still to come!

Releasing a Swainson's Warbler

Here are a few shots of the action so far:

Building nest boxes

Barred Owl

White-eyed Vireo unhappy with owl

Eastern Box Turtle

Images by Mark Musselman