Northern Bobwhite in The Bend

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!

Prothonotary Warbler Migration Revealed: The Completed Story of Longshot

I know many of you that have read about Longshot's story have been waiting anxiously to learn what the geolocator that he wore for nine months could tell us about his migration. Believe us...we have been waiting anxiously too!

The delay has mostly had to do with the mechanics of the geolocator itself (if you aren't sure what a geolocator is, read about it here). The device is designed to be read using computer software, but because of some technical issues it had to be mailed back to the U.K. so that the manufacturer could disassemble it.

Longshot, the Prothonotary Warbler that carried a "backpack" geolocator with him from July 2014 to April 2015, photographed at Beidler Forest earlier this year. Photo courtesy of Joan Eckhardt.

Technicalities aside, I am happy to announce that we have now translated the light-levels readings from the device into latitude-longitude data points, and have successfully learned the fall migration pathway and wintering location for Longshot. The map below shows, to our best knowledge, his fall migration south, leaving from Beidler Forest in late August. His trip first took him to the panhandle of Florida and from there across the Gulf of Mexico to Cuba. He then continued south towards Central America, landing around the Nicaraguan/Honduran border on October 1st. From here, he traveled another 1,000 miles south to the Colombian coast, perhaps stopping in Panama along the way. His route took him between 2,000 and 2,500 miles one-way, and the overall trip took almost two months.

A Google Earth map of Longshot's migration route and wintering location. His geolocator died in February 2015, so we won't know his northern migration back to Beidler from Colombia. Map courtesy of Erik Johnson.

This is, to our knowledge, the first time in South Carolina history that the migration route and wintering location of a Prothonotary Warbler breeding in the state has ever been documented! The battery in the geolocator died on February 14th, 2015, and because of this, we unfortunately cannot determine Longshot's northern migration back to Beidler Forest. What we do know, however, is that his northern return at least covered 2,000 miles, AND that he returned to within a few feet of his breeding territory in 2014. Given that this bird weighs half an ounce (imagine the weight of two quarters), migrates at night, and was coming from another continent, this is an astonishing feat.

We've been lucky to receive some publicity on Longshot's journey. The National Audubon Society's website team has written a fascinating story on Prothonotary Warblers, including work done in Louisiana and South Carolina. Our local Post & Courier newspaper published both a print and online article that covers Longshot's story in detail. In addition, Mac Stone (former Seasonal Naturalist at Beidler Forest and current executive director of the Naturaland Trust in upstate South Carolina) wrote a featured article for Birdwatching Magazine on Longshot, and Mac was actually present the day he was recaptured to take some amazing photographs (Mac's website).

We hope that this publicity brings to light the challenges that so many migratory birds face. The conservation of birds like the Prothonotary Warbler is not tied to one state, country, or organization. These birds depend on multiple habitats that often cross hemispheres, and therefore working collectively on the breeding, migratory, and wintering grounds is the only way that we can successfully help these birds.

Want to do your part? Support organizations that work to conserve habitat for birds in North, Central, and South America. Work within your community to make sure that it is bird-friendly. Most importantly - get involved! You can do this by volunteering at a center, participating in a bird count, or joining your local Audubon chapter. We need you!

Author's Note: If it were for the help and knowledge of Norman Brunswig (retired director of Audubon SC) and Julie Hovis (biologist at Shaw Air Force Base who actually put the geolocator on Longshot), this project would never had happened. They deserve to be recognized for their tremendous contribution to this project! Thanks also to all of the volunteers who gave their time to help collect data, take pictures, and assist with the banding project.

Lightening the Load for Longshot

The weather forecast for last Wednesday (April 15th) was for rain and thunderstorms. We had five volunteers signed up to come help with our Prothonotary Warbler banding project (better known as Project PROTHO), and when they all arrived at the visitor center at Francis Beidler Forest, it was pouring rain. We were nearly ready to cancel.

Things have a way of working out, though, and Mother Nature obliged for about six hours that day, giving us enough time to try to catch Longshot. If you haven't heard about the Prothonotary Warbler that retired Audubon South Carolina State Director Norm Brunswig affectionately named "Longshot," see our previous post here. Amazingly enough, this tiny bird (weighing about 14 grams) wore a small device called a geolocator (weighting about 0.4 grams) for the last 10 months, flying to somewhere in Central or South America during that time. It is our hope that the device itself will answer that precise question - where did he go? Geolocators take light level readings to infer a relative position, thus enabling researchers for the first time to track the long-term movements of a small bird.

Staff and volunteers transport banding equipment on the boardwalk. Photo courtesy of Mac Stone.

Before last week, we'd already tried once to catch Longshot without success. Imagine our worry: he travels 2,000-3,000 miles wearing this device, and then we can't catch him to take it off when he's 20 feet away from the boardwalk at Beidler Forest! Last week was our second chance at trying, and our fear was that he might become shy of our net and decoy, thus making him even more difficult to catch.

Sure enough, we arrived at his "spot" on the boardwalk around 9:00 a.m. and tried unsuccessfully to catch him once again. After about 30 minutes of trying, we admitted defeat and left to try to catch a few other Prothonotary Warblers that were unbanded.

We had much more success doing that! The pictures below are a few taken by our talented volunteers of the banding process.

Every bird that we band receives a silver, aluminum band from the United States Geological Survey. This band contains a number that corresponds to a national database, so that if this bird is ever captured again somewhere else, whoever catches it can learn exactly where and when it was originally banded. We also add color bands in a unique, three-color combination so that we can identify birds individually. Photo courtesy of Mac Stone.

These are the color bands that we'll be using in 2015. Each color corresponds with a number, and in addition to the silver USGS band that every bird gets, we can assign a unique alphanumeric combination to each bird. The red-yellow striped band has a slightly different number - this band will be used on every bird we catch this year (the 15 stands for 2015), but will not be used in subsequent years.

The bands don't hurt the birds and are extremely small/lightweight (see picture above for scale). This bird's new name will be A1500, based on the colors used and their arrangement on the bird.

In addition to leg bands, a standardized set of measurements is taken from every bird that we capture. This information will be compared with data from researchers in several other states that are capturing Prothonotaries and performing the same measurements. Photo courtesy of Marcie Daniels.

Once the birds are processed, we try to take a few documentary pictures and then release them as quickly as possible. Here, a volunteer releases a newly banded bird. Photo courtesy of Mac Stone.

We banded three new birds for the day, taking us through lunchtime. Near the end of our field day, we decided to take one more chance at catching the Prothonotary with the geolocator. We set the net up in PRECISELY the same spot that we banded him in July 2014, and.....bingo!!

"Longshot," the Prothonotary Warbler that's been carrying a geolocator since July 2014, is finally captured! Photo courtesy of Mac Stone.

Once he was removed from the net, we were able to get a close up look at the geolocator (pictured in center). This device was attached to the bird as a harness, looping around his upper legs using Stretch Magic. A simple snip with a pair of scissors and it was off! Photo courtesy of Mac Stone.

The recovered geolocator from "Longshot," lightening the load he has to carry by 0.4 grams! The right end of the device is the light sensing stock, the gray portion contains the battery and storage unit, and the brown string is the cut harness. Photo courtesy of Mac Stone.

A914, aka Longshot, before his release last Wednesday. A truly remarkable story! Photo courtesy of Marcie Daniels.

Once we captured and removed the geolocator, we released Longshot and packed up our gear. About 20 minutes after arriving back at the center, the rain set in again. We had a fortunate day of weather that allowed us to catch a very lucky bird!

Now that the geolocator is back in our possession, we're going to send it off to our Audubon colleagues in Louisiana who can hopefully use software to analysis the data. If it all works out, are fingers are crossed that his "backpack" will tell us not only where he spent his winter, but how he got there too.

Stay tuned to this blog for more updates on Longshot and our other banded birds!

Project PROTHO - 2015 update and the return of "Longshot"

In 2008, Audubon South Carolina began what is still known today as Project PROTHO, a citizen science endeavor to learn more about the population of Prothonotary Warblers living in the swamp at Francis Beidler Forest. This project has continued off and on since then - for a comprehensive history of Project PROTHO, see past posts written by former Education Director Mark Musselman here: http://beidlerforest.blogspot.com/2013_04_01_archive.html.

After a gap in 2012 and 2013, this project picked back up in 2014 with our interest in geolocator technology. A geolocator is a light-sensing device that is (currently) the most advanced technology available to track the movements of a small bird like the Prothonotary Warbler. These devices take light level readings each day that are ultimately used to determine the bird's estimated latitude/longitude position. The geolocators are worn as a "backpack," with a harness securing the geolocator to the bird and a small light stock sticking out of the end. The biggest catch with using geolocators is that they don't work in real time - birds must be caught, fitted with a geolocator, then captured again the following year to have the device removed!

So why use these devices at all? There's a big question that Audubon SC hasn't been able to answer: where do our birds go when they leave the swamp? We like to think that we keep the swamp a healthy place for these warblers, but we only host them for less than half of the year. In the winter, Prothonotaries spend their time in Central and South America (see our previous post here about a recent trip to Panama to see these birds). But what area specifically? Is it a healthy ecosystem? Is it threatened by development as so many coastal mangroves are? Is there something that we could be doing in another country that would help these birds?

There are many questions still to answer, so in 2014 we began banding birds again to establish a population of known individuals that we could potentially use as candidates to wear geolocators. The permitting and timing in 2014 left us in a bit of a bind so while we were planning to deploy four geolocators as part of a pilot project, we were only able to deploy one.

A Prothonotary Warbler about to be fitted with the only geolocator we deployed. We captured, attached the geolocator, and released this bird in July 2014.

The odds of ever seeing a banded bird again once it leaves to migrate are very low, less than a 1% chance. Prothonotary Warblers, however, make good candidates for geolocators because they show high site fidelity (fancy term meaning that they like to return to the same wetlands from year to year).

Imagine our surprise when a group of bird-watchers saw this very special bird on April 4th, 2015....in EXACTLY the same spot on the boardwalk where we captured it last July! This bird likely traveled a round-trip flight of approximately 3,000 miles - only to come back again to the same section of Beidler Forest. And for the first time ever, he's carrying technology that will hopefully tell us precisely where he went...and how he got there!

Our returning "geolocated" bird (aka Longshot) seen on April 4th at Francis Beidler Forest. Note the small white blob on his back - that's the light stock of the geolocator!

Like male Prothonotaries are apt to do, here's a picture of our geolocated bird carrying nesting materials to a cavity. Males usually arrive at Beidler before the females and will choose a handful of cavities to line with mosses and other materials...then they let the females choose which one they like best!

Another angle of "Longshot" and his geolocator. Note that he, like many of the birds we're studying, is color banded. Each bird gets a unique 3-band combination so that we can identify each one individually.

So, remember the "catch" that we mentioned? That's right, we still have to catch this little guy again to get the geolocator off before we can learn anything. We'll be trying to do that this week, so stay tuned to this blog for updates!

Great Backyard Bird Count - February 14-17

The Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) is an annual four-day event that engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of where birds are across the continent. Anyone can participate, from beginning bird watchers to experts. It’s free, fun, and easy—and it helps the birds!

Participants count birds for a minimum of 15 minutes (or longer) during the four-day period. Participants can count birds for a single day or during all four days of the GBBC. They tally the highest number of birds of each species seen together at any one time. For example, if three robins are spotted in the yard, the count for robins would be three. Later, if a single robin is spotted in the yard, the count for robins would remain at three (most seen at one time) and not increase to four. Once you finish counting, simply visit the GBBC website (http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/), create your FREE account, and submit your checklist.

As the count progresses, anyone with Internet access can explore what is being reported from their own towns or anywhere in the United States and Canada. They can also see how this year's numbers compare with those from previous years. Participants may also send in photographs of the birds they see. This is a tremendous opportunity for teachers to address science, social studies and math standards while helping scientists learn about birds in our hemisphere!

Pileated Woodpeckers - David Youngblood

By knowing where the birds are, scientists and bird enthusiasts can learn much regarding the current state of birds. Bird populations are dynamic; they are constantly in flux. No single scientist or team of scientists could hope to document the complex distribution and movements of so many species in such a short time.

Barred Owls - David Youngblood

The GBBC is a citizen-science project where everybody’s help, no matter how small, is valuable. Help make sure the birds from our community are well-represented in the count. It does not matter whether a report is for five species on a backyard feeder or for 25 species spotted during a day's outing to the Audubon Center at Francis Beidler Forest.

There are plenty of ways to participate!  You do NOT need to be an expert on birds.

You can find tips here for counting birds, especially large flocks.

There is a poster of some common backyard birds here.

Facebook

Twitter using #GBBC

If you’re looking for a fun way to get involved, consider joining Audubon staff during our FREE public bird-watching walk on the Sawmill Branch Trail in Summerville, SC on Saturday, February 15th. We will meet in the parking lot for the Sawmill Branch Trail at 8 a.m. and count birds for the GBBC for about two hours. This is a free and easy way to learn more about the birds in your area AND contribute important information for the GBBC!

More details about our public bird-watching walks can be found here: http://beidlerforest.audubon.org/saturday-morning-guided-bird-walks.

Longleaf Pine Restoration

On January 14, 2014, staff and volunteers from the the Audubon Center at the Francis Beidler Forest planted longleaf pine seedlings on approximately five acres of land previously growing loblolly pine.  This small planting was a part of a larger project funded by a grant from the Alcoa Foundation and American Forests Global ReLeaf Partnership for Trees, in which approximately 65 acres was converted from loblolly pine to longleaf pine.  Currently, nearly 200 acres of the Francis Beidler Forest is longleaf pine.

In previous blog entries, we have described why we wish to restore the native longleaf pine forest ecosystem and how we manage those longleaf pine stands.

The longleaf pine/wiregrass ecosystem is unique. The longleaf pine is a hardy species resistant to wind, insects, disease and fire, which can subdue its frequently-seen cousins the Loblolly and Slash Pines. The longleaf pine/wiregrass ecosystem developed with fire and it remains healthy as long as it periodically burns. Historically, these fires would have been caused naturally by lightning and allowed to burn slowly through the forest. The result would have been the near elimination of leaf litter and debris and the competition from hardwood tree species. Additionally, longleaf pine seeds fare better on exposed mineral soil, so the next generation of longleaf pines gets its start after a fire clears the forest floor.

The longleaf pine/wiregrass ecosystem is greatly diminished throughout the Southeast and the total acreage continues to decline. Previously, over 90 million acres supported the unique longleaf pine/wiregrass ecosystem, while only two million acres remain today. Some reasons for this decline include the suppression of fires, intense logging, a switch to faster growing pines, and the clearing of land for agriculture and development. Not only is the total longleaf pine/wiregrass acreage declining, over 30 species of plant and animals that are associated with that ecosystem are currently listed as threatened or endangered, including the Red-cockaded Woodpecker!

After the logging of the loblolly pines, the site had some remaining debris and emergent hardwood trees killed with herbicide.

Site before burning - Mark Musselman

The site was burned in December to remove debris and competition prior to planting the longleaf pine seedlings.

Site after burning - Mark Musselman

The longleaf pine seedlings, grown in containers at a nursery, arrived packed in moisture-conserving boxes.

Collis Boyd, longleaf and equipment - Mark Musselman

Buckets were used to carry the longleaf pine seedlings into the site.

Dibbles, orange metal tool, were used to open a wedge-shaped cavity in the soil in which to place the seedling. Once the seedling was in the ground, the dibble was placed in the soil behind the seedling and the soil between the dibble and seedling was compressed to seal the seedling in the soil.

Planting seedling - Mark Musselman

Planting seedling - Mark Musselman

 Occasionally, an extra step on the soil was needed to ensure a complete seal within the soil.

Planting seedling - Mark Musselman

 Only the western portion of the site remained to be planted...

Planting seedlings - Mark Musselman

 ...and the light rain made the day more interesting.

Planting seedlings - Mark Musselman

Planting seedlings - Mark Musselman

Boardwalk Construction Continues

The construction of the new boardwalk at the Audubon Center at Francis Beidler Forest continues with workers reaching the high ground between the nature center and the boardwalk fork. The lack of rain over the last week has allowed the construction bypass trail to dry out, so the boardwalk is open again except for individuals with certain mobility limitations. Once construction reaches the fork, there will be no need for the off-boardwalk bypass trail and access will be regained for all individuals. You can keep track of the construction progress by visiting the boardwalk map here.

Boardwalk Construction - Mark Musselman

Boardwalk Handrails - Mark Musselman

While checking the boardwalk for fallen limbs and damage, we noted some birds in migration and other wildlife on or near the boardwalk. American Redstarts have been seen recently and we spied both a Northern Waterthrush (also calling) and a Louisiana Waterthrush along the edge of the swamp between #174 and #179.

Near the Meeting Tree at #120, we observed a juvenile Yellow-crowned Night Heron on the boardwalk handrail and later spotted it picking at crayfish-filled raccoon scat near the hollow tree at #179.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron - Mark Musselman

It posed nicely for some additional shots, which we can add to our library.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron - Mark Musselman

On the second platform out at Goodson Lake, we found a large, non-venomous, fish-eating Brown Water Snake taking advantage of the sunlight and the low visitor count.

Brown Water Snake - Mark Musselman

How can anyone be frightened by this mug?

Brown Water Snake - Mark Musselman

Slow Spring Getting Active

Weather has made it a slow spring in the swamp at the Audubon Center at Francis Beidler Forest, but things are now more active, including us.  The part-time land manager has retired, the land manager position has become full-time, and the education director is also the land manager until a new education director is hired.  Hence, the dearth of blogs.

Here are some shots from the boardwalk over the last two weeks:

Yellow-crowned Night Heron - Mark Musselman

Cypress Knees - Mark Musselman

Brown Water Snake - Mark Musselman

Female Ebony Jewelwing Eating Mayfly - Mark Musselman

Common Yellowthroat - Mark Musselman

Yellow-billed Cuckoo - Mark Musselman

Greenish Rat Snake - Mark Musselman

Prothonotary Warbler Fledgling - Mark Musselman

Prothonotary Warbler Fledgling - Mark Musselman

Female Prothonotary Warbler With Caterpillar - Mark Musselman

Female Prothonotary Warbler Feeding Fledgling - Mark Musselman

Prothonotary Warbler Eggs - Mark Musselman

Prothonotary Warbler Nest - Mark Musselman

Yellow-crowned Night Heron - Mark Musselman

Northern Parula - Mark Musselman

Male Prothonotary Warbler Starting Nest - Mark Musselman

Male Prothonotary Warbler At Nest Cavity - Mark Musselman