ABC News4 in Charleston, SC recently ran a story on the US Air Force jet wreckage at the Francis Beidler Forest.
RF-84F wreckage - Image by Mark Musselman
The story can be seen at ABC News4. Corrections:
1) Audubon's Francis Beidler Forest is not part of a national forest.
2) Land manager is responsible for 18,000 acres of Francis Beidler
Forest not Four Hole Swamp. Francis Beidler Forest is a portion of Four
Hole Swamp. 3) The aircraft in the image is the same model, but not the
aircraft that crashed.
Dr. Jacqueline Litzgus, Ph.D. returned to the Lowcountry this week for the Turtle Survival Alliance's 2017 Symposium on the Conservation and Biology of Tortoises and Freshwater Turtles. She brought along some current and former Laurentian University students when she visited the old-growth swamp at the Francis Beidler Forest. Not only did Jackie want to revisit the site of her spotted turtle research (and marriage ceremony), she was hoping to locate one of her former subjects...and she did!
In her words: That
female spotted turtle we found is quite a special one! I have my PhD data on my laptop, so I looked her up when I got to my hotel room. She is notch code 1R2L = 6F, and she is the same size and mass as she was 17 years ago. She was part of the mark-recapture study for 5 years, 2000-2004, I radio-tracked her for 3 years, 2000-2002, and she is the first turtle I found nesting during my PhD research - see attached pics - she is the one that taught me to look on the tops of rotten logs for nesting turtles. In 2001, she produced 3 clutches of eggs, which had never before been reported for wild spotted turtles, so that prompted me to publish the attached paper about multiple clutching in the species. Unfortunately, all 3 clutches were eaten by predators that year. But in 2002, I had the privilege to meet her 3 babies that hatched from her 1st nest that year (she produced 2 nests, 2 weeks apart).
(More from Jackie's perspective at Audubon South Carolina website)
6F's measurements - Image by Mark Musselman
6F's nest in 2001 - Image by Jacqueline Litzgus
6F's nest in 2001 - Image by Jacqueline Litzgus
Jackie Litzgus holding 6F on 8/5/2017 - Image by Mark Musselman
While on patrol for destructive wild pigs on the east side of the swamp nearly opposite the Francis Beidler Forest nature center, I walked up on a female bobcat and her three kittens tucked inside a standing hollow tree.
Wild pigs numbers were greatly diminished after the extreme high water resulting from the 1000-year rain event in October 2015 and Hurricane Matthew in October 2016. However, since the water level in the swamp has dropped, wild pigs have been rooting up every foot of exposed moist soil and reproducing and reproducing. Therefore, I was patrolling to survey the damage and was prepared to shoot any pigs that showed themselves in the open. Unfortunately, the damage was extensive and no pigs were spotted.
I was making a less-than-stealthy march through the dwarf palmettos on the way back to the truck, when a reddish-haired mammal began slinking away in front of me. It was obviously a mammal, but looked initially like a woodchuck low to the ground and somewhat flattened around the edges. It was not a woodchuck, as they are not in this area and the body proportions were wrong. The animal in question was longer. I thought maybe a red fox due to the hair color, but there was no tail. Even when the animal stopped, turned broadside to me and stared, I remained unconvinced it was a bobcat. Cat, definitely, but the hair was so reddish. It was too big to be a domestic cat, but a bobcat would not stand 20 meters from me and stare...unless there was something she really wanted to protect. Just as I began to scan the area for a possible den site, the sounds of young kittens began emanating from the base of the tree to my right. Bending forward and peering around the side of the tree, I could see it was hollow and occupied by three kittens.
Before mom decided to return and possibly fight for her offspring, I captured the short video linked below. I made an even noisier retreat to ensure the female bobcat knew that I was gone and it was safe to return to her kittens.
We do not conduct any surveys of the alligator population within Audubon's Francis Beidler Forest. However, anecdotal observations point to a bumper crop of young alligators this year. No guarantee that those youngsters will grow to adults, but insects, frogs, and small fish should remain alert!
In the image below, four or five of the thirteen young alligators can be seen floating at the surface of the water along an old logging road that was built into the swamp. All were basking on the sunny road prior to our arrival.
Young alligators - Image by Mark Musselman
On another day along our canoe trail, a young alligator attempted to hide below the water's surface directly below our canoe. We were touring the property with Carolyn Davis, who was down on an inspection visit from the National Natural Landmark's Gettysburg, Pennsylvania office. As Carolyn was not getting a quality image for her report, we literally offered a helping hand.
Young alligator - Image by Carolyn Davis
In the 1960s, logging roads built in the swamp were created by "borrowing" soils and piling those soils onto non-target timber logs laid out like railroad ties. In most areas, the disconnected borrow pits remain alongside the roads, appearing to be ditches, and hold water throughout the year. The deeper water offers security for larger alligators, which go to the bottom to wait out any threat, as well as younger alligators, by offering a relatively predator-free environment with a protective mom always lurking within the pool.
The image below shows a pit forming a portion of a "ditch" along an old logging road. Note the clarity of the water within the pit. There was likely no large alligator activity within that pit.
Borrow pit - Image by Mark Musselman
The image below shows the same pit (right) from the above image and the adjacent pit to the north. Note the lack of clarity in the water in the pit on the left. Prior to the dozen or so young alligators entering the water from their basking areas on the road, a large alligator was heard launching into the murky water.
Borrow pits - Image by Mark Musselman
The image below shows the pit containing the adult alligator (somewhere below the water) along with the dozen or so young alligators, some of which can be made out floating near the surface below the cane at the bottom left of the pit. At the far end of the pit, a hole, sometimes called a den, dug into the bank has been exposed by the dropping level of the water.
Borrow pit - Image by Mark Musselman
The image below shows a closer look at a den dug into the bank similar to the image above.
Alligator den - Image by Mark Musselman
During the winter, alligators are usually safely below the water. They rise to the surface periodically to breath, but are generally inactive at our latitude. If the temperatures drop below freezing, alligators may retreat into the depths of a den they have dug. Earlier in the summer, some of the young alligators were observed retreating into the den for safety as we approached.
Although alligators in our area are generally inactive in the winter, that does not mean they are never active. On December 16, 2014, an alligator was encountered basking on an old logging road and blocking our path back to the truck.
That alligator probably got its start in a nearby borrow pit...maybe even the one it now calls home.
Northern bobwhite quail have been steadily declining in numbers due to habitat loss brought on by changes in how humans manage the land.
From Northern Bobwhite Conservation Initiative (NBCI): [which] is the unified strategic effort of 25 state
fish and wildlife agencies and various conservation organizations — all
under the umbrella of the National Bobwhite Technical Committee — to
restore wild populations of bobwhite quail in this country to levels
comparable to 1980. Bobwhites signify the decline of an entire suite of species adapted to
grassland ecosystems in the United States. The root causes of the
declines are the same, habitat loss at the continental scale: the near
demise of the pine-barrens of the northeast; longleaf pine-wiregrass
ecosystem of the south; the oak savannas of the central hardwoods; the
shortleaf pine-bluestem ecosystem of the midwest; or the prairies of the
southwest. These ecosystems were once maintained through fire and
grazing which sustained a ground cover of vegetation with the
appropriate structure and composition for bobwhites. The habitats
bobwhites rely on have structural and plant composition characteristics
that are shared by a myriad of species which, unfortunately, are also
sharing a similar fate as bobwhites.
Bobwhites and grassland birds can be increased and sustained on working
public and private lands across their range by improving and managing
native grassland and early successional habitats, accomplished through
modest, voluntary adjustments in how humans manage rural land.
In order to understand habitat from the perspective of a bobwhite, you
need to lie down and put one cheek of your face on the ground. This is a
quail’s eye view of the world. For a bobwhite to survive, everything
they need must be found within 6-10 inches of the ground, whether it is a
clump of bunchgrass to nest in, a patch of ragweed or Croton to forage
for insects and seeds with broods in, or a patch of brush for escape or
loafing cover.
At the Francis Beidler Forest, we are focusing our northern bobwhite restoration efforts in The Bend, which is generally the land contained between I-26 and Four Holes Swamp where the swamp "bends" to the south on its run to the Edisto River. This area falls within South Carolina Department of Natural Resources Central Focal Region. We have begun identifying the types of land use within The Bend (yellow=residential; pink=agriculture; purple=loblolly pine stand; etc.) in order to see where restoration efforts should logically begin. The long-range plan is to create suitable habitat within The Bend or create corridors between suitable habitat which may already exists.
Land use map for The Bend - Map by Mark Musselman
In previous blog posts, we have described how we are restoring longleaf pine habitat, which will benefit northern bobwhites and other species. However, much of this habitat restoration occurs in areas inaccessible to the general public. Therefore, we have created several grassland and longleaf pine demonstration sites from old agricultural fields located along the road near the entrance to the Francis Beidler Forest. Here are blog posts detailing the grassland restoration and burning.
In April, various coreopsis species began flowering...
Longleaf pine/grassland at Cantley Rd. - Image by Mark Musselman
Coreopsis flowering - Image by Mark Musselman
...and by May the fields were full of flowers and the associated insect activity.
Grassland at end of driveway - Image by Mark Musselman
For the patient visitor, Painted Buntings, Blue Grosbeaks, Indigo Buntings and other bird species can be seen and heard in and around the grassland parcels. Two weeks ago, a visiting master naturalist group watched a Swallow-tailed Kite forage for, catch, and eat at least three large insects over the grassland parcel at the end of the driveway.
Last week, while checking on the longleaf pine planted in the field along Cantley Rd., a small group of flushed birds rose and dropped in short flight and ran about the fire break foraging like bobwhites. Could it be already?! Upon a closer look through squinted eyes, the "quail" turned out to be wild turkey chicks old enough for short flights. Scanning the higher vegetation in the grassland, the fleshy head of a hen strained tall to watch us. Eventually, the hen and 12 chicks moved across Cantley Rd. to one of the grassland parcels along Mims Rd.
Turkey hen and chicks - Image by Mark Musselman
Turkey chicks in flight - Image by Mark Musselman
In the following days, visitors and staff alike saw three hens with 20 chicks moving together between the various grassland parcels. As wild turkeys and northern bobwhite quails have similar habitat requirements, hopefully the quail are not far behind!
As the land manager at Audubon's Francis Beidler Forest, no two days are the same. This is an account for a recent day of boundary line painting.
With over 110 miles of exterior boundary and another 31 miles of interior boundary, there is always plenty of boundary to paint in any year. Some lines are easy to paint as they run parallel to a road or fire break, but some lines run through the swamp. The majority of the in-swamp lines are painted most easily when the water level is lower. Therefore, before the last bout of rain, a long-neglected in-swamp line was attacked with bright orange paint.
Work in the swamp is a tough
sell for most individuals. There are mosquitoes, snakes, alligators, ticks, chiggers, poison ivy, thorny vines, mud, it is hot and humid,
one is required to carry all food and water (never enough), restroom options are limited, and there are only lat/long coordinates to give the 911 operator (if
there is cell service) should the need arise. Oh, and then EMS needs to find
their way to the spot in the swamp (see obstacles and hazards above), which is seldom near an address their system will recognize. For example, the address for lunch in the image below was N33.29782, W80.49187.
Lunch in the swamp - Image by Mark Musselman
Just prior to lunch, one of the swamp's residents moved away from the paint bucket. Wearing safety orange paint would run counter to its attempts to remain camouflaged.
Eastern Cottonmouth - Image by Mark Musselman
Farther east down the boundary line, a large,
unseen gator dramatically thrashed the water in annoyance less than fifteen feet from the tree being painted. The alligator, in aptly named Alligator Lake, had obviously heard the less-than-stealthy painting patrol and had slipped quietly into the deeper water to watch. As it became clear that the man with the orange paint was preparing to cross directly atop it, the alligator made its move to the depths (less than three feet) and swam upstream. Approaching the deeper water, the question, "Do
I try to wade across deep water to continue painting the line?" was asked aloud. The beast beneath the surface helped make the decision to find a detour crossing downstream
While walking the water's edge to find the downstream crossing, the basking site of the big alligator was encountered.
Alligator tail impression in mud - Image by Mark Musselman
Alligator skin impression in mud - Image by Mark Musselman
Alligator skin impression in mud - Image by Mark Musselman
Alligator foot impression in mud - Image by Mark Musselman
Downstream detour, good choice...not a bad band name either.
Not all encounters in the swamp have the potential to be painful or dangerous to painters, but they can be equally upsetting and do pose a threat to wildlife. Balloons, like the one found below, are an all-to-common discovery in the swamp. As @BalloonsBlow states, "Balloons blow, don't let them go!"
It is not often that the staff at Audubon's Francis Beidler Forest gets to say, "We've never seen that before." Granted, we recently wrote a blog describing the discovery of a crashed USAF RF-84F jet, but in this case we are referring to the plants and animals of the sanctuary.
On Sunday, visitor Jennifer LeGrand-O'Brien showed some images of a small mammal scampering on the boardwalk near #15. It looked like a weasel, but we had never seen one on our property. Initially, we thought it might be an escaped pet, but the Long-tailed Weasel (Mustela frenata) ranges throughout North America and on into South America. They simply do not present themselves often for easy viewing.
Long-tailed Weasel - Image by Jennifer LeGrand-O'Brien
Long-tailed Weasel - Image by Jennifer LeGrand-O'Brien
Long-tailed Weasel - Image by Jennifer LeGrand-O'Brien
After viewing the short video below, there is no doubt that a Long-tailed Weasel is living near the boardwalk at #15.
Long-tailed Weasel - Video by Jennifer LeGrand-O'Brien
For those keeping tabs on the Francis Beidler Forest Facebook page, #15 is also the location of the Barred Owl nest where both owlets died within days of each other. There are a number of possible reasons for the deaths, including disease, but the close proximity of an aggressive predator willing to attack prey larger than itself, adds intrigue to the situation. Additionally, Long-tailed Weasel young are born in the April-May timeframe and they too need to eat.
