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!

Day in the Swamp

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!"

 

New Mammal Sighting at Francis Beidler Forest

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.

The Educator's Week at Hog Island (by Matt Johnson)

What happens when you mix together the Maine coast, a 300-acre island owned by Audubon, a dozen expert staff, several dedicated volunteers, and 57 science teachers and informal educators? The answer: one of the most exciting and educational camps for adults held anywhere in the country!

This is the best way that I can think of to describe the Educator’s Week camp at Hog Island. Organized and directed by Pete Salmonsahn, the Education Coordinator for Audubon’s Project Puffin (http://projectpuffin.audubon.org/), this five-day camp focuses on reaching educators from around the country who teach kids and young adults about science and the outdoors. Attendees this year ranged from elementary and middle school teachers, to Girl Scout instructors, nature center educators, and Audubon naturalists.

I was fortunate enough to be one of the attendees this summer, and I loved every minute of it. I've been working as the Education Manager at Francis Beidler Forest for about 14 months, and I am so thankful that my Audubon colleagues agreed to send me to this camp.

Below are some of the photos that I took during my stay at Hog Island. I will caption each with a brief description and some details about my favorite parts of the week.

The reason for this post is not only to showcase one of Audubon's most prized assets, but also to let YOU know that there are scholarships available for ANY science educator to attend this camp. Several of the attendees received scholarships that covered half or all of the tuition costs for the week. IF YOU ARE A TEACHER OR INFORMAL EDUCATOR, CONSIDER REGISTERING FOR THIS CAMP IN 2015 - you will not regret it! See more information here: http://hogisland.audubon.org/ 

 

            Our view from the dock at the Todd Audubon Sanctuary, looking across the water at Hog Island. Access to Hog Island requires a short ferry ride from the mainland.

 Arriving on the dock at Hog Island. The camps made available each summer are among the oldest and longest-running environmental education camps in the country. The island can accommodate about 80 people at a given time.

 Plaque displayed in the "Fish House" auditorium on Hog Island. The Todd family played the most important role in the designation of the island as an Audubon sanctuary.

Our boat for the week: the Snowgoose III. This vessel took us on two harbor tours, one of which featured the bird that everyone was hoping to glimpse: the Atlantic Puffin. In the background of this photo is the mainland.

On board the Snowgoose IIII for our first voyage off of the island and around Muscongus Bay. Wildlife seen on this trip included Harbor Seals, Osprey, Black Guillemots (neat little relatives of puffins), Common Eiders, and Harbor Porpoises. Binoculars and a camera are helpful, so bring em if you've got em, and sunscreen is a must!

The first afternoon on Hog Island we spent in the intertidal area. We seined for marine critters and found quite a bit of neat organisms. The staff that led our little excursions were amazing - all lifelong educators with incredible knowledge and patience!

 Campers checking the seine for intertidal life.

Our haul from the seine net. Critters included Green and Hermit Crabs, shrimp, sculpin (fish), limpets, and much more!

A hiking trail through the spruce-fir forest on Hog Island. There were several miles of hiking trails, and plenty of time in between programs to explore. I thought that the flexibility of our schedule was great - plenty of programming with built-in breaks.

Sunset at Hog Island. Coming from a South Carolina summer, the weather we had at Hog Island was incredible! Highs in the mid-70s and lows in the low-60s with lots of sunshine.

Our second excursion into Muscongus Bay off the Maine coast. This was an all-day trip to Eastern Egg Rock (the island in this photo), one of the few breeding locations for Atlantic Puffins in the United States! This island is a featured location for Project Puffin, a multi-decade effort to reintroduce this species into its historic breeding range. Not only did we get a very interesting history of this project while on this boat tour, we also got to see puffins!!

Puffins in view! I neglected to bring my nice camera (bad mistake), so all of my images are with my smartphone. So...the small dots on the left-middle of this photo are indeed Atlantic Puffins, with the edge of Eastern Egg Rock in the background. We were lucky enough to see at least 50 puffins that day, plus several other rare/unusual seabirds!

While we did spent a significant chunk of time exploring the island and surrounding area, much of our programming on Hog Island was designed to help us better engage our target audience (aka students, visitors, etc.) regarding environmental issues. Pictured here is Trudy, one of the AMAZING educators that led us through several different mini-workshops during the week. These mini-workshops featured such things as: birds and bird-watching, water/watersheds, geology, photography, wetlands, sensory exploration, arts/crafts, and a whole bunch more.

 A simple, fun craft idea that we learned while on a nature hike one afternoon. This is just reversed tape with natural "items" that were collected while on the hike (leaves, sticks, etc.).

On our last night, we were treated to a lobster cookout, and we had Cream Puff-ins for dessert! The food on Hog Island was incredible. Let me repeat that - the FOOD WAS INCREDIBLE! Not only was every meal delicious, but every meal also featured a vegetarian and gluten-free option. I was so impressed by this, and by all of the volunteers who gave up their time to prepare and clean up from meals.

Leaving Hog Island. It was an incredible five days - a trip that leaves you feeling refreshed and ready to take the environmental message back wherever you're going. Like I mentioned earlier, please consider applying when scholarships become available for camp in 2015!

Potpourri

Shifts in job responsibilities and the ongoing boardwalk construction have kept us from blogging. Here are some of the things we have been doing.

Hog management continues to be a full-time job. As noted in previous blogs, hogs are not native to any North American habitats and they cannot exist without adversely affecting the places they inhabit.

Wild hogs inspecting a trap

We have had limited success in eliminating hogs from the property as they can move off of our property and they breed throughout the year. Here two adults and four young hogs inspect the trap, but avoid entering it.  Below, hogs have inflicted serious damage to a neighbors soybean field. Wild hogs cause an estimated $1.5 billion (that's with a "b") in agricultural damage each year in the United States alone. Those costs do not include damage to water quality or to native ecosystems.

Wild hog damage to nearby soybean field - Mark Musselman

Although the wild hogs near the center have learned to avoid the trap, deer, raccoons, and this bobcat cannot avoid the game camera's motion sensor.

Bobcat on patrol

Boundary painting is an important and never ending task. To avoid confusion at the property lines, the lines must be clearly marked. Signs are posted denoting the various state and federal restrictions on the property and survey blazes are painted to further highlight the property line location.

Boundary line paint - Mark Musselman

Currently, the Francis Beidler Forest (FBF) has 102 miles of exterior boundary lines plus an additional 30+ miles of interior boundary lines. Geographic Information System (GIS) technology is being used to manage the FBF property, but all the data must first be collected and verified. The map below shows all of the lines that are overdue for painting, have an unknown status, or are due for painting in 2013.

Boundary lines remaining to be checked and/or painted in 2013

If you thought, "That looks like everything," you are close. However, in addition to painting when visiting the lines, location data on the survey corners, access points, and signs are gathered to be entered into the GIS database. The on-the-ground data collecting has helped us detect errors in Berkeley County's GIS database, thereby allowing them to revisit survey plats and update their files to accurately reflect our property lines. There is still work to be done with all three counties (Berkeley, Dorchester, Orangeburg) in which FBF holds parcels.

The new boardwalk continues its march and has moved beyond the fork. You can follow the progress on this map.

Boardwalk construction at the fork - Mark Musselman

Boardwalk construction at the fork - Mark Musselman

As construction has now moved beyond the fork, access has been restored for all individuals. Visitors will now walk out on the newly constructed boardwalk (see below) to the fork and then walk on the old boardwalk along the edge of the swamp, which is the reverse of the normal direction on the boardwalk. Once visitors encounter the construction zone on the front side of the boardwalk, they will need to retrace their path back to the nature center. Construction is scheduled to be completed by April 2014.

New boardwalk completed up to the fork - Mark Musselman

One does not need to go deep into the swamp to encounter wildlife. Plenty of birds are in the parking area, especially now during migration, but an occasional water snake ventures up to the high ground in search of a meal. Below a Banded Water Snake (Nerodia fasciata fasciata) found a sunny spot on a log and allowed for a few pictures to be taken.

Banded Water Snake - Mark Musselman

Banded Water Snake - Mark Musselman

Longleaf Pine restoration work in March removed some of the competing oaks.

View in March 2013 - Mark Musselman

The view of the same site was quite different this week. Wiregrass grows in bunches, but the grass grows long and lies down over a wider area. Small animals can easily move beneath the drooping grass while benefiting from the cover it offers from predators. When it is time to burn, the wiregrass will allow the fire to carry across the plot.

View in September 2013 - Mark Musselman

In addition to the wiregrass, a multitude of native plants are flowering. We will post images in a separate blog once we have identified all of the plants.