Tremendous beauty can be found in the tiniest of things… for who has ever thought to rival that of a butterfly’s wing.
~Kristen D’Angelo
Close up of hind wings of an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (click on photos to enlarge)
Every few years, we have a population high of swallowtails here in our woods. This year has been exceptional with the greatest numbers of these large butterflies that I have witnessed. This is especially true of our largest (and one of the most recognizable butterfly species) the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus). One reason they are so common for us is that our woods are dominated by one of their primary host plants, Tulip Poplar.
We have a relatively small area that receives enough sunlight to grow wildflowers, and this time of year the primary nectar sources are Joe-Pye-Weed, Ironweed, and Garden Phlox. When I walked up to the house one afternoon a week ago, it reminded me of being inside a butterfly house, with large butterflies drifting all around me and seemingly covering every available flower head. I decided to estimate their abundance, so I went inside and started counting swallowtails visible from the front window and the kitchen window. I was stunned when I finished with a total of 90 swallowtail butterflies! Most were Eastern Tiger Swallowtails, but there were about 6 Spicebush Swallowtails as well.
Joe-Pye-Weed has been the favorite nectar source in our yard – this one flower stem has 6 swallowtails on it (one is hidden on the back side)
I did a quick Google search looking for explanations of these population highs and lows in tiger swallowtails. I discovered that what I am witnessing both here and at work is also being seen this summer up and down the East Coast – an explosive population year for Eastern Tiger Swallowtails. But, my searching yielded no real clues as to why. It seems there are just too many variables to explain these population swings, although most scientists agree that it probably relates to weather conditions that negatively influence populations of the abundant predators, parasitoids, and fungi that prey upon the pre-adult life stages of these butterflies.
The Garden Phlox has been the big draw for butterflies at work (NC Botanical Garden), especially this one patch (there are 7 swallowtails scattered in this photo, but I have seen many more at times)
Whatever the reason, it has been an incredible summer for swallowtails. They are believed to live an average of 3 to 4 weeks as adults, so they are starting to decline a little after a peak a couple of weeks ago.
Below is an introduction to the swallowtails (and one look-alike) that frequent our woodland garden. The next time you venture out, look closely at your butterflies and see which ones are most common in your landscape.
Female Eastern Tiger Swallowtails have more blue on their hind wings than males.Males may have a little blue in the hind wings, but not nearly as much as females.And, just to make it more confusing, female eastern Tiger Swallowtails can also be blackish in their wing background coloration. You can often see faint traces of yellow in the wings, especially from the underside. Like our other black-colored swallowtails, this is believed to mimic the unpalatable Pipevine Swallowtails. The black color morphs are generally more abundant in the mountains, where Pipevine Swallowtails are also more common.Spicebush Swallowtails (Papilio troilus) are recognized by the wash of color on the hind wings. Females have bluish color and male a bluish-green color. Their host plants are Sassafras and Spicebush. They are generally more active as feeders, flapping their wings much more than Eastern Tiger Swallowtails.I don’t see many Black Swallowtails in our yard as they are more of an edge species. There are plenty at work, especially late in the summer, due to the abundance of one of the host plants, Golden Alexander. They are smaller than Eastern Tiger Swallowtails and tend to have a bold yellow stripe (males). Females look similar to black morph Eastern Tiger females, but they are smaller and the orange spot at the base of the hind wings has a dark spot in the center.One day I looked out and saw a very active swallowtail with yellow under its wings feeding on the Joe-Pye-Weed. I recognized it as a Giant Swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes).Ironically, it was almost exactly a year ago that I saw my first Giant Swallowtail in Chatham County. They are large (North America’s largest butterfly) and very active butterflies, making a spread wing shot somewhat difficult.Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor). Males (photo above) have a brilliant iridescent blue-green color on the hind wings. Females are duller. This species is an irregular visitor to our yard but is easily recognized by its fluttering feeding styles compared to most other swallowtails. Spicebush swallowtails are also active feeders, but appear much larger than Pipevines. As caterpillars, this species sequesters toxins from their host plants (pipevine and Virginia Snakeroot) which are transferred to the adult, giving them some protection from hungry birds and other predators.My favorite butterfly, the Zebra Swallowtail (Eurytides marcellus). These beauties are found in areas near their host plant, pawpaw. Freshly emerged specimens often have hints of blue on their wings.Often mistaken for one of our four dark-colored swallowtails, the beautiful Red-spotted Purple (Limenitis arthemis astyanax) is believed to be another mimic of the unpalatable Pipevine Swallowtail. It has iridescent blue hind wings, lacks the wing tails, and has blue dashes or spots along the wing margins. This species is very common in our woods where its host plant, Black Cherry, is abundant.Many butterflies are now showing signs of aging and the hazards of life in the wild. This male Eastern Tiger Swallowtail is missing part of one hind wing, perhaps a victim of a missed attack by a bird or mantis.Birds are major predators of the larval stages of butterflies, but I have not seen much depredation on adult butterflies, especially of our larger swallowtail species. On two occasions, we have seen flycatchers like Eastern Wood-peewees and this Great Crested Flycatcher snag a butterfly in flight.Large Robberflies are reaching their peak population about now and I have seen them hit some of the swallowtails that were nectaring at flowers, but have only seen one actually carry a large butterfly off to feed on it. This one has a large Carpenter Bee as its meal.Large spiders (large orb weavers) are major predators of swallowtails in our yard. I do see the butterflies occasionally escape once they hit a web, but we also see many wrapped in silk in the many webs that dot or yard.Another important predator of large butterflies are the praying mantids, especially the introduced Chinese Mantis. They wait near flower heads and lunge and grab the butterflies. They must be difficult to see as I have watched butterflies forage on the same flower that has a mantis feeding on one of their cousins.
I’ve always preferred moths to butterflies. They aren’t flashy or cocky; they mind their own business and just try to blend in with their surroundings and live their lives.
~Kayla Krantz
National Moth Week ended yesterday and I managed to miss most of it for a variety of lame reasons. But, even though I failed to put out my moth light (which is at work for summer camp use), I did manage to find some cool moths hanging out at lights or ones I flushed from their hiding place as I went about my work. With your permission, I’m going to cheat a little and present a few that I photographed outside the official moth week window. The group includes several that are new to me and several that meant more because I have photographed their larval forms in the past. So, get outside and look around, the beauty and variety of moths is astounding!
I found several large sphinx moths (most sphinx larvae are known as hornworms due to a prominent tail spike). They are the fighter jets in the moth world, typically with a sleek shape and rapid flight.
Plebian sphinx, Paratrea plebeja(also known as the trumpet vine sphinx) (click photos to enlarge)Pawpaw sphinx, Dolba hyloeusRustic sphinx, Manduca rustica
It was also a good week for the underwings, so named because they tend to have bright colors on their hind wings that are only revealed when they open their forewings (this may serve as a predator avoidance aid when flashed).
Clouded underwing, Catocala nebulosaIlia underwing, Catocala ilia (also known as Beloved underwing or Wife underwing – photographed on tree trunk to show their wonderful camouflage)Penitent underwing, Catocala piatrixSaddled prominent moth, Heterocampa guttivitta
It was a good week for little green moths…
Red-fringed emerald, Nemoria bistriariaRed-bordered emerald, Nemoria lixariaBad-wing moth, Dyspteris abortivaria (love this name) Spun glass slug moth, Isochaetes beutenmuelleri (I really want to find this one’s caterpillar – look it up and you’ll see why) Ailanthus webworm moth, Atteva aurea, a colorful day-flying moth, often seen pollinating various wildflowersRosy maple moth, Dryocampa rubicunda, one of our most beautiful, and common, mothsGray-banded OR Oblique zale, Zale sp.Brown-shaded gray, Iridopsis defectariaMaple zale moth, Zale galbanataPlain Plume Moth, Hellinsia homodactylus (the plume moths are among the strangest looking moths!)
The biggest surprise was a rather innocuous-looking little moth found outside one of the entryways to the office. As is often the case, a close-up image showed some beautiful patterns and subtle colors that I might have otherwise missed. But the shocker came when I identified it and saw its name – Wasp Parasitizer. That’s right, this little moth lays its eggs on paper wasp nests and its larvae consume the larvae and pupae of the wasps! The natural world, literally just outside our doors, is truly amazing.
Ants are everywhere, but only occasionally noticed. They run much of the terrestrial world as the premier soil turners, channelers of energy, dominatrices of the insect fauna…
~Bert Holldobler
The more I learn about them, the more I appreciate plants. Working at the NC Botanical Garden allows me to see the passage of time through the eyes of a variety of native plant species. I have witnessed slow, long-term seasonal changes, as well as brief glimpses of wonder. And so it was that last Friday when a coworker came in right before closing and showed me her phone video of ants dispersing the seeds of a trillium in the Herb Garden. It was amazing to see them carrying such a huge load across the rocks. I grabbed my camera and headed over, hoping I wasn’t too late.
An ant carrying a Trillium seed back to its nest (click photos to enlarge)
I have seen this phenomenon, called myrmecochory (seed dispersal by ants), a few times before and reported on it in an earlier post. Estimates are that 30%-40% of our spring-blooming woodland flowers rely on ants for seed dispersal. Another source stated that elaiosomes occur in over 11,000 plant species! There are various theories as to why ants do this and how it benefits the seeds:
the lipid-rich appendage is a food reward that is fed to the ant larvae when it is taken back to the nest
the seed is dispersed away from the parent plant, which may provide a better growth environment by reducing parent-offspring or sibling competition
by quickly transporting the seed to its nest, the ants’ behavior reduces the time the seed may be exposed to various seed predators (the seed might get eaten by a bird or mouse, for example)
when the seed is discarded into the ant “trash pile”, it is in a nutrient-rich environment ideal for germination
In addition, one author speculates there may be some benefit from the anti-microbial properties within ant nests that will reduce the susceptibility of the seed to various pathogens.
Studies where a researcher has removed some of the elaiosomes and compared removal rates have shown that ants remove seeds with elaiosomes more quickly, often using the appendage as a handle.
But the most intriguing research I have seen focuses on the reason the ants pick up the seed in the first place. It seems that elaiosomes rich in oleic acid trigger a stereotyped carrying behavior in a variety of ants. E.O. Wilson, the dean of ant researchers, showed that a dead ant starts emitting oleic acid about 48 hours after its death. This is a signal to other ants to pick it up and carry it back to the nest and discard it. He even added a drop of the “dead ant” acid to a live ant, which was quickly picked up and carried to the trash pile, in spite of its thrashing and obviously living qualities. To quote an NPR story on this experiment, Dead is what you smell — not what you see — if you are an ant. So, do plants mimic an insect chemical in order to get ants to carry out their seed dispersal tasks? It appears there may also be some benefit to the ants in this relationship, but the origins of this behavior are fascinating to ponder.
Below is a series of images depicting about 45 minutes in the long life story of one wildflower – a plant that may take 2 years for its seed to germinate, and then another 5 or 6 years to flower and produce its first seed. And, it seems to have figured out a way to con a bunch of insects (yellow jackets are also known to disperse seed with elaiosomes) to carry its seeds back to their trash pile. There appears to be a lot going on out there in the woods that we are just beginning to understand. All the more reason to plant some native plants and get outside and observe your wild neighbors.
The source of the seeds – Little Sweet Betsy, Trillium cuneatum (this photo was taken in another location in the garden back on March)This is how the Trillium that provided the seeds looks now (this photo was taken a couple of days after the ant dispersal images and the seed pod has now disappeared)The seed pod was lying on a leaf and was laden with antsA peek inside at the seeds with elaiosomes and antsAn ant lugs a seed up and out of the podThen it is easy-going downhill on a leafThen on to a lichen- and moss-covered rockThe first hazard on the journey – the steep drop-off of the front edge of the rock (as I watched, a fewants fell off this ledge with their heavy loads)A feast when a few seeds fell out onto the rockThe elaiosome provides a good grip for an ant’s jawsThe path taken by the ants – about 6 feet across an open walkway to the rock in the backgroundAn ant with its prize just before disappearing into the nest beneath the leaf litter
If a child is to keep his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement, and mystery of the world we live in.
~Rachel Carson
It is summer camp time at work and it has been busy these past few weeks. We have a tremendous crew of staff and volunteers, so I have mainly been around to help out with the nature hikes each day. Though I have worked mainly with adults for most of my career, there is something very satisfying about helping a child discover more about the world around them. The theme these past two weeks has been Things with Wings – the world of flying things from seeds to birds to insects. I always take my camera and macro lens on our walks, taking pictures of things that I, or the campers, find, and then print a few off during lunch for them to enjoy. The diversity of native plants and habitats at the Garden leads to an amazing diversity of critters. Here are a few from the past two weeks…
Newly hatched leaf-footed bug nymphs and eggs (click photos to enlarge)Wheel bug (aka Assassin bug)Silver-spotted skipper – these are incredibly abundant at the Garden right nowChinese mantid nymph eating a butterflyA really large Six-spotted fishing spider that has pulled its prey up onto a lily pad to dineA closer look shows it captured a dragonfly nymph. Also note what appears to be a freeloader fly dining on the spillage (look just above the spiders eyes for the fly)Great blue skimmer at the Turtle PondOur hike to Morgan Creek is always a highlight. We caught several dobsonfly larvae (hellgrammites) in the swifter waterThe campers spotted this water snake dining on a catfish. We watched it for about 15 minutes as it slowly worked the fish into its mouthA jumping spider (Phidippus sp.) was one of many things caught while sweep nettingOne of my favorite critters to catch while sweep netting is this tiny plant hopper, Rhynchomitra microrhina. It really needs a common name, so we usually call it the pointy nose thingieLacewing larva – the huge jaws are used to capture prey such as aphids. The larvae have bristles on the dorsal surface to which they attach debris and the bodies of their victims. Secretions from the corpses may help the larvae move through a group of prey without being detectedOne of the campers described a butterfly he saw as looking like a buckeye underneath and a monarch when it opened its wings. We finally saw this American lady and solved the riddleA child’s eyes can often find the most beautiful object lying on the trail. This is one half of the elytra (hardened forewings) of a beetle, probably a Fiery Searcher Caterpillar Hunter (now that’s a name!)
Melissa and I have been with Mom this week helping take care of the many things that require attention when a family member passes. It has been a busy few days, though I managed to take Mom to Damascus last night for a little relaxation at their annual fireworks display (Melissa left last night to join a friend in the mountains of NC for some much-deserved down time). But, I’m sorry she missed this morning’s surprise.
A little before 6 a.m., I heard a loud thud. I was lying there, listening, worried that Mom had gotten out of bed and had dropped something, or worse. I soon heard another, louder noise, but it reassuringly sounded like it was coming from the deck. I assumed it was the raccoon that occasionally raids the bird feeders, so I got up and looked out the window…it was not a raccoon! There was about a 200-pound black bear walking around on the deck. I grabbed my phone and went into the living room, hoping to document this event, when he decided to stroll down the steps. I ran back into where we sleep and took this fuzzy, out of focus iPhone picture out the window.
Bear strolling away from the deck steps into the back yard (click photos to enlarge)
What impressed me was how natural the bear looked going down the steps and eventually crawling over the fence. He has certainly done this sort of thing before. It seemed to disappear down toward the river, a nice travel corridor if you are trying to avoid humans this time of day.
A “gentle” touch left only minor damage to the feeders
We have been filling feeders only in the morning, which means they are always empty by the time evening rolls around, figuring that is less enticement for the roving raccoons. But, the bear had not gotten the memo. Still, he checked out all the possibilities, but leaving relatively minor carnage at the feeding stations. A suet feeder had been ripped off one side, but the hot pepper suet remained untouched. After lifting the hinged lid to one feeder, the bear snapped out the plex panel. I think I got to the living room window about the time he realized this restaurant must be closed, and so he wandered off the deck, climbed the fence, and headed down to the river.
Hot suet, not to the bear’s liking
Had he only wandered around front, he might have been able to join the other critters feasting on the spoils of several fruit trees that line the driveway.
Meanwhile, out front…the usual 4-point buck and a bunnyA future meal perhaps?
Every morning, while sipping my coffee, I see several deer, rabbits, birds, the occasional fox squirrel, and some ground hogs out along the field edges, especially under the many fruit trees that are starting to drop some of their heavy load of apples, pears, or peaches…a bear banquet in the making.
I think I chose the right logo
When I went back inside, I noticed I had thrown on an appropriate t-shirt for the occasion. Happy Fourth of July everyone!
The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their proper name.
~Confuscius
This past month, I have tried to find 5 or 10 minutes each day at work to walk around the building breezeways to photograph any moths that were attracted to the lights the previous night. I hope to create a library of images of some of the common species. As I have reported before, I am relatively new to “mothing” and am still struggling to learn some of the more than 2600 reported species in NC. The release of the Peterson Field Guide to the Moths of Southeastern North America last year has made a huge difference in my ability to identify what I find. My copy is already showing signs of wear from the frequent page-flipping. I also refer to the Moths of North Carolina or Bug Guide web sites to confirm an identification.
Now I have another ally in my quest to learn more. It may be a game-changer, in fact. It is the Seek app by iNaturalist. Using the millions of observations on iNaturalist, Seek shows you lists of commonly recorded insects, birds, plants, amphibians, and more in your area. You don’t even need to take a photo, just open the camera and scan whatever you want to know more about. It instantly gives you information, and if it can’t ID it, it may suggest looking at the subject from a different angle. It is usually at least gets you to the family level or beyond even if it doesn’t ID to species. This free app is available for both iOS and Android. I have found it to be particularly useful for moth identification, most likely due to the countless recorded observations of several local moth enthusiasts. In order to get the best possible image, I usually take the photo with my normal camera set-up (100mm macro and twin flash), download the image onto my laptop, and then scan it with my phone and the Seek app for ID help.
I have double-checked many of the early identifications using the other references mentioned and found them to be accurate. A few times, Seek has not been able to provide anything but a family recommendation. But, overall, I have been very impressed with the results thus far.
Here are a few of the highlights from this past month. Note the variety of shapes, colors, and patterns. One thing you can’t tell from these images is the huge range in size – the Common Tan Wave has a wing span of about 20mm while that of the Io moth is about 80mm.
Canadian Melanolophia moth, Melanolophia canadaria (click photos to enlarge)Confused Eusarca, Eusarca confusariaBlack-dotted ruddy moth, Ilexia intractataCommon tan wave, Pleuropucha insulsariaBaltimore snout, Hypena baltimoralis – one of the more striking species this monthDelicate Cycnia moth, Cycnia teneraDark-spotted Palthis moth, Palthis angulalisAmbiguous moth, Lascoria ambigualisCurved-line angle, Digrammia continuataIronweed root moth, Polygammodes flavidalis – a delicate beauty with hints of iridescenceOne-spotted variant moth, Hypagyrtis unipunctata – quite variable indeedTulip-tree beauty, Epimecis hortaria – a common bark mimicWhite-marked tussock moth, Orgyia leucostigmaEastern grass tubeworm moth, Acrolophus plumifrontella – a very common species right nowVariable oakleaf caterpillar moth, Lochmaeus manteoOblique-banded leafroller moth, Choristoneura rosaceanaSouthern flannel moth, Megalopyge opercularis – this is the adult form of the puss moth caterpillarJuniper geometer moth, Patalene olyzonariaLarge maple spanworm moth, Prochoroedes lineataIo moth, Automeris io – a large femaleIo moth, Automeris io, with wings spread to reveal the false eye spots
Pursue some path, however narrow and crooked, in which you can walk with love and reverence.
~Henry David Thoreau
Last month we escaped for a few days for our anniversary. Escaped may seem like a strange word for people that are lucky enough live in the woods, but, as Melissa has pointed out, when we stay at home, I often manage to find a few chores that just have to be done. So, for our anniversary, we escaped to a cabin in the woods in the mountains of Virginia along the New River. No plans, just a few days to do as we chose. It is always a good reminder that when you slow down, you can experience more of the wonders that surround you. Here are a few of the highlights.
Pink lady’s slipper orchid, Cypripedium acaule (click photos to enlarge)Wood anemone, Anemone quinquefoliaBluets, Houstonia caeruleaSalt marsh caterpillar (not the best common name – so far from a salt marsh)Painted trillium, Trillium undulatumRosy maple moth just after emerging from pupaClose up view of a fuzzy mothPupal case found on ground next to emerging rosy maple mothMayfly adult (imago)
Mayflies are unique among modern insect groups in that they have two flying stages after the larval (or nymph) stage. The first is called the subimago, sort of a pre-adult flying stage. This is a unique feature of mayflies. The subimago often looks different from the final adult stage (imago), but in other species, can be difficult to separate. I found a couple of pale mayflies on the cabin windows and am assuming they are subimagos. This stage lasts for only a day or so, and then the mayfly molts again into the fully mature adult.
Mayfly subimago (?)Unidentified parasitoid wasp
The cabin was quite welcoming for a couple of naturalists. In addition to all the cool insects and plants, there was a phoebe nest above the back door and a red-eyed vireo building her nest not far off the deck.
To think that plants ate insects would go against the order of nature…
~Carl Linnaeus
After a crazy busy spring field trip season at work, I am finally getting around to catching up on a couple of posts. Like last year, toward the end of April I collaborated with Melissa and the NC Museum of Natural Sciences to offer an educator workshop on carnivorous plants. We traveled to the Green Swamp and Holly Shelter, two of the hot spots for insect-eating plants in our state. Check out these earlier posts on these habitats, the variety of carnivorous plants they contain, and the marvelous Venus Flytrap. Since I covered a lot of information in those earlier posts, I’ll just share a few of the highlights from this year’s workshop.
A trio of carnivores in the Green Swamp (click photos to enlarge)
Our first stop was one of the savannas in the Green Swamp. As we took off on the trail, someone found a snake shed and we stopped to admire the beauty of its patterns.
Snake shedThe beautiful patterns of a snake shed
We spent the afternoon in a longleaf pine savanna, enjoying the distinctive sound of wind through the pines and the filtered sunlight on the grasses and other beautiful plants found beneath our feet.
Pink sundew, Drosera capillaris
We stayed overnight in Wilmington, and, as we usually do on these workshops, offered an optional trip to the beach for sunrise before eating breakfast and heading over to Holly Shelter.
Sunrise did not disappointA willet feeding along the surf line at sunriseA sanderling rushing on the beach between waves at sunrise
Driving into the game lands, we stopped on a dry sand ridge to photograph a lupine alongside the road. But a bright green larva caught the eye of one participant and we were all distracted for a few moments, admiring this stout beauty.
My best guess is a Roalnd’s sallow caterpillarBlue sandhill lupine, Lupinus diffususBullfrog
The canals alongside the road proved to be a distraction as well with lots of turtles, frogs, and an American alligator.
Southern cricket frogAmerican alligator
Finally, we piled out of the vans and found a treasure trove of insect-eating plants, orchids, and other savanna species that have responded spectacularly to the regular prescribed burns.
Workshop participants observing Venus flytraps
Venus flytraps and sundews covered the ground in placesFlowers of blue butterwort, Pinguicula caeruleaBearded grass-pink orchid, Calopogon barbatusRose pogonia orchid, Pogonia ophioglossoidesOrange milkwort, Polygala luteaCaterpillar living inside yellow pitcher plantDistinctive bulls-eye in the web of a lined orbweaver
As we left the game lands, we stopped occasionally to look for red-cockaded woodpeckers (we saw plenty of nest cavities, but no birds on this day). One nice discovery was a ditch with another species of carnivorous plant – the bizarre little floating bladderwort.
Little floating bladderwort, Utricularia radiataClose up of inflated flotation structures
Our workshop concluded with a group of educators excited about the strange world of our state’s carnivorous plants and the incredibly diverse longleaf pine and pocosin habitats where they are found. Hopefully, their enthusiasm and new knowledge will help their students and colleagues better appreciate these unique features of our coastal plain.
It’s always good to get back to the places you love…
Life has been way too busy these past many weeks and my blog entries have suffered, but I finally have a break this morning while I wait on some overdue car maintenance. With the busyness has been less time exploring outside, but this weekend saw a return to one of my favorite places, Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge. The occasion was the 5th annual Black Bear Festival in Plymouth, NC.
The entryway to the Black Bear Festival in Plymouth (click photos to enlarge)
The NC Museum of Natural Sciences was again assisting with the popular “bear tours” on the Pungo Unit of the refuge and I volunteered to help out. We did six 3-hour tours from Friday evening through Sunday afternoon, so it was busy schedule, but a good time nonetheless. It included severe weather before and during Friday’s tour that saw hail, lightning, strong winds, and heavy rains. In spite of all that, we managed two bears on that first tour.
Fresh bear and deer tracks
The next morning, we headed out at 6 a.m. with a dense layer of fog limiting our viewing across the fields, but we managed a few bears once the fog started to lift. The plus side of the heavy rain was that we knew any tracks we saw were fresh!
Black-bellied whistling duck
A rare find was a black-bellied whistling duck perched along one of the canals in the refuge. I have seen this species a few times in NC and FL, but never on the Pungo Unit. I was told by a friend that this one has been hanging around this area for a couple of weeks. They are a beautiful duck, more typically found in marshes from Texas to Florida, but seem to be slowly expanding their range northward.
Dugout canoe in the Roanoke River Maritime Museum in Plymouth
Between tours on Saturday, we visited the festival in downtown Plymouth. Lots of local food vendors, exhibits and talks about bears, and the usual crowd of knick-knack vendors and local organization booths that show up at such events. We visited the Roanoke River Maritime Museum to see some displays of wildlife photography and local boating history. Imagine my surprise when I came across something from my past – the section of dugout canoe I found years ago in Lake Phelps when I was working as the East District Naturalist for NC State Parks. I had no idea it was on display and was even more surprised to see what is probably the original exhibit text label made when this section of canoe sat on display in a make-shift exhibit shed at Pettigrew State Park. When I started working at the NC Botanical Garden and was designing a program on uses of native pants (for example, bald cypress for dugout canoes), I tracked down the NY Times article from my 15 minutes of fame for being the guy that first stumbled upon this treasure trove of ancient canoes. The large canoe mentioned in the text is now on display at the NC Museum of History in Raleigh.
A blast from the past
Each tour yielded some wildlife surprises (king rails running down the road ahead of the bus, turtles being helped across the road, nutria in the canals, etc.), improving muddy roads, and visitors delighted to see their first bears in the wild. In between tours, we had a few moments to take in the sights and sounds of the town – grab a bite to eat, check out the noisy southern toads and squirrel treefrogs in the retention pond at the hotel, and get ready for the next busload of people. With two buses running each tour, we shared the wonders of Pungo with over 180 visitors from all around NC (and a few other states).
Southern toad calling
While every tour had its moments of adventure, one tour stood out for all of us, the Sunday morning 6 a.m. trip. We had just turned onto the refuge road when a bear went across the road, immediately starting us off with a bear encounter. Just down the road was standing bear…a medium-sized back bear with a propensity for standing up in the corn field to check us out.
Black bear – “outstanding” in his field
Once we hit the dirt of D-Canal Road, we spotted another bear feeding in a wheat field on private lands adjacent to the refuge. Bears love wheat and we saw them in this field on several of the tours. The golden color of the wheat provided a beautiful backdrop for the jet black fur of the bears.
Bear surrounded by delicious wheat, the breakfast of champions
While we were all watching that bear, a young bear came out into another field on the refuge next to us and walked right in front of the bus and group of excited onlookers.
Young bear walking near our group
Then, another young bear (these are probably last year’s cubs) strolled out behind the buses and disappeared into the woods.
Another young bear on the other side of our group
Most of the people continued to watch the first young bear that was still wandering around in front of the buses, while a few of us were standing at the edge of the canal watching the bear in the wheat. Suddenly, I see a bear head pop up from the bank of the canal just a few feet from us. I whispered to the few people between me and the bear to move back and give it some room. It looked like the young bear that had crossed behind us and gone into the woods just a few minutes before. Apparently, it had gone to the canal and walked down the bank, climbing up in front of us.
This one popped up right next to us
The confused bear walked up, moved across in front of us, and passed in front of the buses and the rest of the group. Minutes later, another head popped up and followed the same path. It seemed like bears were everywhere around us. These young bears probably aren’t sure what they should do in these situations so you need to give them space to move freely. The second one started to climb a tree when it saw the large group gathered in front of the bus, but when they stepped back and remained quiet, it came down and hustled across the road.
The wheat field bear entering the canal
Meanwhile, the wheat field bear finished breakfast and angled toward us to cross the steep-banked canal. I positioned myself to get a good view, and as she slowly entered the water, I expected to get a nice shot of her swimming across.
Why swim when you can walk across?
Instead, she surprised me and slowly stood up, holding her front paws above the water, In all my years of watching bears, I have never seen one cross a canal like this.
Keeping those front paws dry
Just one more reason I love the Pungo Unit and love observing bears. They are a constant source of amazement, curiosity, and wonder.
Each mile on a river will take you further from home than a hundred miles on a road.
~Bob Marshall
It has been a hectic spring at work so we decided to take a break last week and do something we both love to do – paddle in a swamp. We both blocked off 3 days some months ago to allow for a couple of nights camping on platforms on the Roanoke River, one of our favorite get-away spots. Turns out the weather had other plans, and, with the forecast for our second day calling for cold rain and wind, we almost canceled the whole trip. But my swamp queen convinced me that one night in the swamp is better than nothing, so off we went Monday morning to paddle Gardner Creek and camp on the Barred Owl Roost platform. As I have mentioned before, the platforms are part of an amazing (and underutilized) resource for outdoor enthusiasts along the Roanoke River. Information and reservations are available through the Roanoke River Partners web site.
Melissa in her element – a canoe in a swamp (click photos to enlarge)
We put in where Gardner Creek crosses under Hwy 64. Melissa arranged with a local teacher she had met on workshops for a quick shuttle (during the teachers’ lunch break). Melissa drove our car to to the take-out point at the boat ramp in Jamesville, and the teacher brought her back to our starting point (a 5-minute drive instead of a 5-hour paddle).
Spring is just beginning to show in the swamp
Gardner Creek is one of our favorite paddles, a narrow, winding blackwater stream. One side was clear cut several years ago, but there is a slight buffer. The other side is a beautiful huge cypress-tupelo gum swamp. April is a great time to paddle as things are just starting to green up, and the wildlife is more active.
Bald cypress needles starting to emerge gave the swamp just a hint of greenSplashes of color from red maplesRed maple seeds are firetruck red
Scattered along our route were bright splashes of red from the strikingly colored red maple seeds. By the time I am writing this, there will be white patches from hawthorns and shadbush blooms, yellow streaks from the newly arrived prothonotary warblers, and the greens from leaf out will start to fill in the gaps. But we were there on the cusp of color in the swamp.
Barred owls were numerous along our paddle
Our main companions along the way were the birds, both year round residents and new arrivals. At the launch site, we heard our first barred owls, a sound that would escort us along out route the next 24 hours. I had left my usual camera and lenses behind and just had my waterproof point-and-shoot for this trip, a decision I soon regretted with the great close-up views of some owls within the first few miles of our paddle. Several anhinga, osprey, red-shouldered hawks, a yellow-crowned night heron, and a plethora of pileateds made for pleasant birding both days (see bird list at end of post).
Fragile forktail damselflyA huge beaver lodge along Devil’s Gut
Other wildlife included some basking turtles, a gorgeous damselfly, and a muskrat.
Our highlight was what was under the water’s surface
But our highlight for the trip was what was just beneath the surface of the water…the fish, thousands of them. With the water level’s dropping, fish were coming out of the flooded swamps and feeding along the edges, often right at the surface. We talked to a few fishermen who were catching white perch and “bream”. We also saw a few huge fish jump clear of the black water, probably some carp and maybe bass. But the dominant fish, by far, were the river herring. It is spawning time on the Roanoke, and schools of herring were concentrated in the creeks, one of which was where our platform was located. They were breaking the surface as we paddled, becoming more common the farther up the creek we went. Finally, at our platform, we could see into the shallow water and watched in awe as hundreds of fish swam by in small swirling schools of silver-gray. With the onset of darkness, the activity intensified (do they spawn mainly at night, or was it feeding activity?) and the splashing was noticeable all around us.
A gnarled cypress trunk greets us as we near the platformHome sweet home, Barred Owl Roost camping platformView from the platform
We slept without the usual rain fly to see the stars twinkling through the treetops. Occasional barred owl choruses echoed through the swamp throughout the night. The temperatures dropped, and, by morning, cloud cover came in with the approaching storm. It was time to pack up and head for Jamesville.
The tragedy of discarded fishing line
The day before, we came across a particularly poignant tragedy. After enjoying close views of a couple of barred owls on the way in, we were heartbroken to find a dead owl that had somehow become entangled in some discarded fishing line. It looked as though a lure was tossed and wrapped around a tree branch. I imagine the fisherman yanked and broke the line, but left it dangling from the branch. The barred owl had it tightly wound around the tip of its wing, perhaps flying into the line or maybe the lure that swayed in the wind. We cut the owl loose, gathered the remaining line, and found ourselves trying to collect any discarded line we found along the rest of our route (and there was way too much of it tangled in tree branches). It is certainly one of those things that takes a toll on wildlife and just doesn’t disappear from the landscape if left behind.
Swamp sentinel
We beat the approaching rain and got loaded up and headed home, sorry to be leaving but happy for our time in this great watery woodland. One slight disappointment was that our platform showed some signs of age, effects of high water this winter, and some abuse/negligence by previous campers (luckily, not a typical thing we see out here). Melissa mused that in a future life she would love to take on the job of maintaining the platforms and leading interpretive trips in the swamp. Who knows, there may be many more swamp trips in our future (and that will be okay by me).
Bird list:
Wood duck, Anhinga, Great blue heron, Yellow-crowned night heron, Barred owl, Osprey, Bald eagle, Red-shouldered hawk, Red-tailed hawk, Turkey vulture, Black vulture, Wild turkey, Belted kingfisher, Fish crow, Pileated woodpecker, Red-bellied woodpecker, Downy woodpecker, White-breasted nuthatch, Carolina chickadee, Tufted titmouse, Northern cardinal, Blue-gray gnatcatcher, Northern parula, Yellow-throated warbler, Common grackle, Red-winged blackbird, Eastern wood-peewee, Tree swallow
Roads End Naturalist 