Boardwalk App v1.1

Version 1.1 of the Francis Beidler Forest boardwalk-specific app is now available for free at iTunes.  A tab bar has been added to make navigation easier between the information, guidebook, and species menus.

The homepage contains links to information related to the Audubon Center at Francis Beidler Forest.

The guidebook menu contains links to all the information in our printed guidebook plus additional images and information for the areas between the marked guidebook stops.

The species menu contains links to images and information for the species that one is likely to see from the boardwalk.


We are building a set of iPod Touches for use by school groups when they visit the swamp.  Currently, we have 8 units with each unit containing the boardwalk app and the Audubon bird guide app.  We need to 25 devices in order to host school groups of up to 100 students (4 students per device).

If you are interested in supporting this program, a $250 donation will allow us to purchase one complete set (8MB iPod Touch, sturdy/water-resistant carrier, and microphone).

Crayfish Video

You may or may not see a crayfish when visiting the Audubon Center at the Francis Beidler Forest.  However, you can watch one in the video below as well as in the next version of our boardwalk-specific iPhone/iPod Touch app that we released last week.  On the app note, today marked the first time visitors arrived with the app already loaded to their iPhone.



Video by Mark Musselman

Beidler Forest Boardwalk App is Live

The Audubon at Francis Beidler Forest boardwalk-specific app is now live and available for FREE on iTunes!

Busy Beavers

There have been busy beavers at the Audubon Center at Francis Beidler Forest...figuratively and literally!

First, after much gnashing of teeth and secret Apple computer handshakes, the Beidler Forest boardwalk-specific app has finally made it through the approval uploading process. If Apple doesn't have any issues with the "tight" coding, the app should be approved by next week for free downloading at the iTunes App Store.



Second, the actual beavers have been busy. We have previously reported on the return of beavers to the swamp, the dangers they faced in the open water, the dam and lodge they built to avoid the open water, how other animals benefited from the beavers' environmental changes, and how they had begun gnawing on trees near the swamp's edge. We now know why the beavers have been so busy near #114 along the boardwalk.

While scouting sites to place cover boards for our herp-themed summer camp, we discovered additional beaver damming. Beavers have gnawed on numerous cypress knees, gnawed on a variety of other trees, and girdled a spruce pine tree. Once again, the dam is less than two feet tall, but it is pooling water behind it. Although the dam is far enough from the boardwalk to make it difficult to see even with binoculars, we'll continue to monitoring the beaver activity to see how the swamp will be affected in that area.

Images by Mark Musselman

15-minute Bird Blitz

Sometimes, we have to work indoors at the Audubon Center at Francis Beidler Forest, but at least we have windows! Between 11:15-11:30 a.m., we were treated to a bird blitz just outside the office window. (Note to staff: We need to clean the outside of the windows!)

All the birds, except for the Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus), were foraging for food. The Dark-eyed Juncos (Junco hyemalis) were looking under leaves on the forest floor. The Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus) and the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius) were searching for their food opportunities on the trunks of trees. The Blue-headed Vireo (Vireo solitarius) was inspecting every dried, curled leaf in hopes of finding a delicious cocoon resident. The Pine Warbler (Dendroica pinus) was sticking its bill in crevices between the vine and the tree trunk. Finally, the Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) pair appeared to be in search of berries, but they'll need to be quicker than the American Robins.

The Carolina Wren was carefully selecting bits of dead leaves from the forest floor. We're not sure what qualifies as suitable nesting material, but several bits of leaves were picked up and then discarded. The leaf bits that made the cut did not appear any different than those that were deemed inferior.

Here are the bird images in not particular order:

Later, we saw the Eastern Cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus piscivorus) at the swamp's edge. As it was not sunny or particularly warm, it is odd for the snake to be out and exposed. It is possible that this snake selected a winter den that has gone under the water with recent rain. Note the caterpillar under the snake's eye. We think these are all signs that the Pennsylvania groundhog got it wrong and winter will end sooner than predicted!

Finally, we spotted this Bobcat (Lynx rufus) resting under a leaning tree. Not really...it's the cat that was taken to the taxidermist years ago after being hit by a car. However, we needed a bobcat image for the Francis Beidler Forest boardwalk-specific iPhone/iPod Touch app that we will be sending to Apple for approval next week. Once approved, the app will be available for free at iTunes.

Images by Mark Musselman