Project PROTHO Nest Boxes

It was nest box building time at the Audubon Center at Francis Beidler Forest. The Prothonotary Warblers will be returning at the end of next month, so the nest boxes need to be up and ready. The boxes will be placed in areas of Four Holes Swamp that have been logged previously and therefore have few natural cavities in which the birds may nest.

Some of the nest boxes were built by the last year's summer campers, 100 nest boxes were built by the 5th graders of St. James-Gaillard Elementary School in Orangeburg Consolidated School District #3, and Rollings Middle School of the Arts continues to collect hundreds of cartons!

Over 150 of the 300 nest boxes have been built. Today, staff and volunteers worked on completing the balance. We were able to build an additional 60 boxes with the cartons on hand and painted all the nest boxes, including the ones constructed by students. Next week, staff and volunteers will begin placing the nest boxes in degraded areas of the swamp. A completed nest box can be seen on a tree outside beyond the bird silhouettes.

Check this space in April to see if Prothonotary Warblers select any of these fine student-built/collected nest boxes!

Images by Mark Musselman

Nest Box Work

Project PROTHO preparations are in high gear in anticipation of the arrival later this month of the first Prothonotary Warblers (Protonotaria citrea) in 2010. Although Monday's planned installation of nest boxes was canceled due to high (and cold!) water in the swamp, the Audubon at Francis Beidler Forest staff and the seven master naturalist volunteers had plenty to do.

First, some of the boxes constructed by the 5th graders at St. James-Gaillard Elementary School were damaged during the trip from the school to the swamp. Second, the nest boxes built by the summer campers of 2009 had their tops taped on, which would make inspecting the nests difficult. This was quickly rectified in a flash of master naturalist pocket knives. Next, all the nest boxes needed top and bottom ventilation holes. After several more boxes were constructed from newly arrived cartons, the entire lot and crew moved to the maintenance barn for some painting.

Once the painting began, several lessons were quickly learned...1) point the can away from one's face before attempting to apply paint, 2) do not set up downwind from a group of spray painters, and 3) short bursts and a light coat followed by a second coat minutes later is infinitely more effective than a firehose-like application method. Many hands make quick (and humorous) work! Once the paint had dried, the bottoms of the boxes were mark, so that students can be informed when THEIR nest box has been adopted by a pair of Prothonotary Warblers or possibly another bird species.

Yesterday, a few of the boxes were placed on the posts of the interpretive signs around the boardwalk. Last year, several pairs attempted to nest on top of the posts behind the signs. One pair did so successfully behind the sign at #3 and fledged three chicks. However, since some failed to complete the nest building behind the signs, we decided to provide a cavity option. Additionally, the nest boxes near the boardwalk will allow visitors and students to observe some Prothonotary Warbler nesting behavior and allow the education staff the opportunity to discuss Project PROTHO and bird conservation.

Today, it looked as if a Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) was attempting to create its own nesting site. Can you get an ice cream headache from pounding your head against the tree in the near-freezing temperature?

Images by Mark Musselman

Project PROTHO Funded for Second Year!

In 2009, with help from TogetherGreen, Audubon South Carolina successfully initiated Project PROTHO, an innovative citizen-science project which is helping us learn more about the breeding biology of Prothonotary Warblers within old-growth forested wetlands at Francis Beidler Forest while educating visitors and students about their habitat requirements. Last year, we requested funds to build a foundation for Project PROTHO, this year we will restore 103 acres of Prothonotary Warbler breeding habitat within Four Holes Swamp. The innovative nest box design we are to use will be constructed from recycled materials. This year's summer campers created nearly one hundred nest boxes out of recycled ½ gallon milk/juice cartons.

Our target is the Prothonotary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea), a vibrant yellow, cavity-nesting bird that breeds in forested wetlands throughout the eastern United States. Point counts conducted in Beidler Forest during 2008 suggest that we may have as many as 2,000 pairs of Prothonotary Warblers breeding within the sanctuary. Due to its striking plumage and high nesting density along the boardwalk at Beidler Forest, the Prothonotary Warbler has become one of the bird species that most visitor’s associate with our sanctuary.

Prothonotary Warblers are neotropical migrants with wintering grounds from southern Mexico to northern South America. These birds are listed as yellow on the Audubon WatchList and as a high priority species on federal conservation plans for the southeastern United States. Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) data suggest that Prothonotary Warblers have declined in number by nearly 40% since 1966. Prothonotary Warbler population declines are likely a result of habitat loss and degradation. From 1960 to 1990 nearly 7.5 million acres of forested wetlands were lost in the United States, a decline of nearly 13% (Tulloch 1994). There are precious few forested wetlands left in the U.S. that support old-growth forest, the ideal nesting habitat of the Prothonotary Warbler because of its abundance of nesting cavities.

On their breeding grounds, the highest densities of Prothonotary Warblers are often found in mature forests, where there are abundant tree cavities. However, it is well-documented that Prothonotary Warblers will use nest boxes, particularly in areas that lack natural cavities.

Two hundred nest boxes will be placed on 69 acres of disturbed wetlands within the Francis Beidler Forest, while one hundred nest boxes will be placed on 34 acres of disturbed wetlands on private lands within the Four Holes Swamp watershed. While Beidler Forest contains 1,700 acres of old-growth, bald cypress-tupelo swamp, most of the remaining forest has been logged during the last 100 years. In these young forested wetlands, the natural nest cavities that Prothonotary Warblers require for nesting are less abundant than in the old-growth portions of the swamp. Studies have shown that installing nest boxes in these areas will increase nesting density and reproductive success.

Twenty five to fifty volunteers from the South Carolina Master Naturalist program will help us install the nest boxes at the five sites within the Four Holes Swamp watershed. A Project PROTHO intern will be hired to monitor the boxes throughout the nesting season. Upon conclusion of the 2010 breeding season, we will hold a meeting for private landowners in the Four Holes Swamp watershed to recruit additional landowners to participate in the nest box program and restore Prothonotary Warbler breeding habitat in 2011.

Images by Mark Musselman

Nest Box Installation

With the imminent arrival of the Prothonotary Warblers (Protonotaria citrea), we have been eagerly completing preparations for Project PROTHO (Year II) at the Audubon Center at Francis Beidler Forest!
As previously written here, with a great deal of help from our volunteers, South Carolina Master Naturalists and 5th grade students at Orangeburg County's St. James Gaillard Elementary School, we have been able to assemble 250 nest boxes for the Prothonotary Warblers and Project PROTHO! Over several days earlier this month, Audubon staff and volunteers trekked out into the swamp laden with these same bird houses. We picked tracts of swamp that were previously logged of Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum) trees.  Prothonotary Warblers love to nest cavities. Unfortunately, trees tend to only develop cavities as they become older.  Therefore, where the swamp has been logged and trees are absent or too young to have cavities, Prothonotary Warblers cannot find adequate nesting sites to raise their young. Project PROTHO is attempting to increase Prothonotary Warbler numbers in these degraded areas by putting in substitute nesting cavities.  Cue the fabulously refurbished milk/juice carton nesting boxes! 
Volunteers and staff have gone out on four occasions to place nest boxes.  Last week, we went to a site south of Hwy 453 and waded out into the thigh-deep and cold water. Jeff Mollenhauer, Audubon South Carolina's Director of Bird Conservation, directed the placement of the nest boxes. Boxes were placed every 25 meters along the creek channel and secured with strapping tape to the trunks of trees that appeared likely to have water at their bases once the water level inevitably drops in the warmer weather. Distance is necessary between boxes so pairs of nesting Prothonotary Warblers won’t be competing over the same space.

Volunteers were able to get into the ‘heart of the swamp’ and see places not seen when visiting our boardwalk or paddling on our canoe trips.  However, it was not all fun and games.  A few were unlucky enough to find out how cold the water is during the month of March. Beware folks!  When wading through thigh-deep water, cypress knees and underwater obstacles add to the challenge of staying on your feet!

With our nest boxes up and ready throughout the swamp, we eagerly await, with binoculars and camera in hand, for the return of the first Prothonotary Warbler. Let spring migration and the breeding season begin!

Images by Mark Musselman and John Fisk (he's been on every installation trip!)

The Elusive Wood Duck

If you have never seen a male Wood Duck (Aix sponsa), then you are missing one of nature's works of art!  In fact, hunting this bird for its plumage and as food brought the species to the brink of extinction by the early 1900s.

male

Wood Ducks nest in cavities, natural or made by other animals, so they are often found in swamps and bottomland forests.  Loss of habitat and some forestry practices eliminated the nesting cavities sought by this species, which is the reason Wood Duck nest boxes became ubiquitous in some areas.  While the practice of placing nest boxes helped the species recover, more is not necessarily better as female Wood Ducks increase their habit of dumping eggs into other birds' nests as the density of cavities or nest boxes increases.  Clutches of 15-50 eggs can result from 2-10 hens contributing eggs to the nest.  Cavities may be quite high in a tree, but 24 hours after hatching, the ducklings will exit the cavity and free fall.  Their light weight and landing zones of soft leaves or water results in few injuries.

 female behind male

Over the last two weeks, Wood Ducks have gotten our attention at the Audubon Center at Francis Beidler Forest as their noisy courtship has begun. The female's vocalization, heard at the end of this audio, is what can be heard most often from the boardwalk and our offices. Displays will continue into the spring as groups of a dozen birds, more males than females, gather to court and eventually split into monogamous pairs. These displays occur mainly on the water.  The heavy weight of ducks relative to their wing area requires continuous flapping and makes aerial maneuvers and displays difficult to impossible.

 male

The wet area behind a portion of the beaver dam (small portion shown in blue) near #1 along the boardwalk is where the Wood Ducks have been located.  As our Wood Duck images consist of distant blurs or the ones above taken inside at the South Carolina Aquarium, we wanted to try and capture some clear images in the swamp.  Down the hill from the outdoor classroom, there was a screen of large trees between us and the ducks.  We moved slowly and quietly while frequently checking with binoculars the location of our quarry.  Occasionally, a duck would swim out from behind the screen of trees and we would freeze until the duck returned to a position out of our view.  Quite pleased with our stealth, we arrived at a position close enough for our long lens to provide a quality image.  Alas, there were no ducks!  Scanning with the binoculars, we located a male watching us from a position 50 meter to the south.  Upon further inspection, we saw additional ducks silently swimming south down the channel.  As the trees screened us from the ducks, or so we thought, so too was the ducks' exit screened from us.  Visitors passing along the boardwalk caused the ducks to flush to flight, which revealed the presence of at least a dozen ducks when we had seen no more than five.  Obviously, we were not as stealthy as we thought and had been under careful observation the entire time, which allowed for the ducks' silent withdrawal.

The elusive ducks won again.  However, trips into the swamp would be less exciting if we did not have plenty of targets still on our image wish list!

Images by Mark Musselman

Bird Migration

At the Audubon Center at Francis Beidler Forest, we are set to begin the second year of Project PROTHO. With the help of schools like R. H. Rollings Middle School of the Arts, we are collecting 1/2-gallon milk/juice cartons that will be transformed into nest boxes by students, including 5th graders from St. James Gaillard Elementary School in Orangeburg Consolidated School District Three. Master Naturalists, including graduates from the Lowcountry Institute on Spring Island and Coastal Master Naturalists from the Caw Caw program, will be volunteering to place the nest boxes in degraded areas of the swamp where Prothonotary Warblers cavity sites for nesting. Project PROTHO is truly a CITIZEN-science project!

The only component that we are missing is the Prothonotary Warblers (Protonotaria citrea)! Of course, like other species, these birds have migrated south for the winter and will not return until the last week of March. We'll be ready! In the meantime, we would be keenly interested in where the Francis Beidler Forest birds winter in Central America or the northern coast of South America. It is possible that a banded bird could be captured or a dead bird found and that information relayed to the Bird Banding Laboratory (North America), but it is unlikely due to the limited number of birds we have banded and the lack of studies on their wintering grounds. It would be nice to outfit the Beidler Forest birds with tracking devices similar to the ones used to map the migration patterns of the Arctic Terns.

While we wait, students will continue to construct nest boxes and we'll debate which one of us will see the first flash of yellow or hear the first "tsweet tsweet tsweet tsweet!"

Image by Mark Musselman

Death and Life

Life and death are natural parts of every day all over our planet, including here at the Audubon Center at Francis Beidler Forest. However, people do not treat all life and death equally. The death of an annoying mosquito flattened by the palm of our hand against our shin does not elicit the same response as the death of a fawn gasping its last breath. Nonetheless, life and death are normal functions of nature.

Vultures are not the harbingers of death, but more like vital hazmat response teams. Death occurs and vultures detect that odor, much sooner than our poor sense of smell will allow, or they spot something that simply looks dead. Yesterday, visitors noticed vultures picking at a dead animal in the water. Reports of the prospective meal's identity ranged from a River Otter (Lutra canadensis) to a Raccoon (Procyon lotor) to a White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus). Those who said "deer" may move to the front of the class and put a gold star by their name on the board of positive self-esteem.

In fairness to the other observers, the deer is missing most of its hair, which gave it a whitish appearance and we do not know how much of the animal was visible prior to the pictures being taken by us after work. The image shows the back of the deer, which is facing away with its head turned to the right and a pinkish ear pointing skyward.

Vultures have bills designed to tear flesh from a carcass, but they often have trouble getting through a dead animal's hide. If there is not an opening in the carcass caused by injury or feeding by a carnivore, vultures will go after soft tissue like the eyes and anus and attempt to create a greater opening. In the case of the water-logged deer, no carnivores were available or willing to brave the cool water, so the vultures moved on to other opportunities. They will likely return once the water has had time to soften the carcass, which should coincide with humans detecting the odor. Vultures are able to eat decaying flesh due to enzymes and bacteria in their digestive systems, which helps limit diseases that might incubate in uneated carcasses. Yum.

That was death, so now we will move on to life. Project PROTHO is beginning its second year and will aid in life by providing nesting cavities for Prothonotary Warblers (Protonotaria citrea) in areas of the swamp that have been degrading by past logging. Younger trees and forests have fewer natural cavities in which birds can nest, so the nest boxes will fill an unmet need. Students in Orangeburg Consolidated School District Three are helping to build the nest boxes out of used 1/2-gallon milk/juice cartons and master naturalists in the state are volunteering to set out and monitor the nest boxes. Below is the how-to video:





Images by Mark Musselman

Action in the Swamp

The swamp at the Audubon Center at Francis Beidler Forest is alive with our spring residents – almost everyone has returned at this point. The morning bird chorus around the boardwalk now includes Northern Parulas, Black-and-White Warblers, Hooded Warblers, Yellow-throated Warblers, Summer Tanagers, Blue-Gray Gnatcatchers, Great-crested Flycatchers, Acadian Flycatchers, Red-eyed Vireos, White-eyed Vireos and of course Prothonotary Warblers! In the upland, Ovenbirds, Kentucky Warblers, Pine Warblers & Swainson’s Warblers can also be heard merrily singing along. We’ve also had some great migrant sightings – a Black-throated Blue Warbler singing over the building this morning and a Scarlet Tanager sighted around the boardwalk last week by the staff.

Project PROTHO is fully underway. We have 23 banded Prothonotary Warblers that have returned to Beidler Forest so far this year. Of those 23 Prothonotary Warblers, 12 are visible from the boardwalk. We are sure there are still more banded birds that have returned and are waiting to be rediscovered during an off-boardwalk trek. There are several tracts of land, where we've put up nest boxes, left to investigate for more banded returns. On an interesting note, every banded bird that has returned has been male. It is curious that no banded females have yet been observed. The females are more subdued in color, sound and behavior, so we'll keep our hopes high for seeing one when we check nest boxes later in the season.

We have been very fortunate to secure the assistance of Dr. Chris Snook, a licensed bird bander from the Charleston area. He is doing the Prothonotary Warbler banding this season and working on training Denise Ecker to be an independent bander as well. We have banded six new Prothonotary Warblers this season, all of which are visible from the boardwalk.

We have been receiving a tremendous amount of data sheets from visitors participating in this citizen-science project. Combining those data sheets with staff observations, we have had early success on identifying Prothonotary Warbler nest sites around the boardwalk. As of last night, we have three active nests, each with five eggs. There are also three other nest sites that will most likely have eggs in them within the week. All nests have (at least) the male Prothonotary Warbler banded, so it is easier to keep an eye on the action.

On a very interesting note, we (along with the Master Naturalist group from the Lowcountry Institute on Spring Island)  watched a Greenish Rat Snake check out a possible Prothonotary Warbler cavity on the way to the lake. Later in the afternoon – we saw a pair of Prothonotary Warblers continuing to build in that same nest site! Apparently, the fact that a snake had stopped by was not enough to deter their nest construction.

Coming up, we will begin checking some of the sites away from the center for nest box activity. Stay tuned for more great Prothonotary Warbler action!

Images by Mark Musselman

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