IBWOH's: Brian Carlisle, Chris Carlisle.
Summary: After an absence of over a month, I returned to the field Monday morning, this time with my brother and fellow searcher Brian. Our focus was the area just to the north of Mississippi Highway 26, in the small north end of the Pascagoula WMA. We had explored the area even farther up, near the extreme north end around Davis Eddy, on 19 August. There the mature hardwood forest slowly gives way to much younger growth, with Davis Eddy itself dominated by small cypress domes. Here, however, the forest is older, surrounding the oxbow Dace Lake (named "Dacy Lake" on area signage) and the smaller Dace Eddy. From Google Earth, one can discern a number of old logging roads in the area, which is also bisected by two power lines running northwest to southeast. A wooded slough and creek flows roughly north to south through the forest's middle. The main road runs near the eastern boundary of this tract, providing access to the imaginatively-named Big Lake, another large oxbow, and leading eventually to Davis Eddy. To the west lies the Pascagoula River.
We had boots on the ground a little after dawn (6:30). Low temperatures the previous night were in the 40's (Fahrenheit), with highs predicted in the 60's and no rain. Due to the ongoing deer hunting season, we wore blaze orange vests. Due probably to it being a Monday, hunting activity was light, and we only saw one hunter in our immediate vicinity along the forest road.
There has been little rain in the region over the past month, so many of the sloughs were dry, making the going pretty easy. Trails closed to ATV's and other vehicular traffic are common here, thankfully. We parked Brian's truck at Dace Lake first, then headed west along an old trail that passed through a forest of very large, widely-spaced water oak, willow oak, red oak, and spruce pine, eventually emerging through a grove of black willows onto a sandbar on the east bank of the Pascagoula River. Bird life was abundant, especially woodpeckers. We saw and heard several different pileated woodpeckers, and for the rest of the day heard and saw red-headed, red-bellied, and downy woodpeckers, as well as yellow-bellied sapsuckers and a flicker. We observed two different barred owls, and at least one red-shouldered hawk. Kinglets, gnatcatchers, and yellow-rumped warblers were very active among the cardinals and chickadees. Flocks of robins, cedar waxwings, and blackbirds continually moved through the area.
We backtracked along the trail, then drove along the road a while observing the bird life, eventually parking again and hiking out past the south end of heavily-wooded Big Lake to the large shallow lake at the extreme east of this part of the WMA. I am calling that shallow lake Kestrel Lake, after the kestrel we viewed hunting there. Beyond that, the forest begins to thin out, and the sounds of civilization grows closer; so we backtracked again, making our way back to the truck. We wrapped up the trip with an early lunch (courtesy of my brother) at the convenience store in Benndale. (The fried catfish strips are excellent.)
Conclusions: This area sees fairly heavy use by humans; although litter is not as noticeable here as in other areas within the WMA (such as McRae Dead River), it is still easily spotted. We saw one deer stand. I was not terribly impressed by the size of the trees in this area, although there are numerous oaks of considerable girth. I saw no significant woodpecker scaling, and we heard no kents or double-knocks (DK's). But I was glad to be out in the bottomlands with my brother again, and it was a really lovely day, with no biting insects, no spiders, and no snakes. Visibility in the forest is much improved with the leaf-fall, making it easier to look for tell-tale scaling, and for large woodpeckers lurking in the forest canopy.
Summary: After an absence of over a month, I returned to the field Monday morning, this time with my brother and fellow searcher Brian. Our focus was the area just to the north of Mississippi Highway 26, in the small north end of the Pascagoula WMA. We had explored the area even farther up, near the extreme north end around Davis Eddy, on 19 August. There the mature hardwood forest slowly gives way to much younger growth, with Davis Eddy itself dominated by small cypress domes. Here, however, the forest is older, surrounding the oxbow Dace Lake (named "Dacy Lake" on area signage) and the smaller Dace Eddy. From Google Earth, one can discern a number of old logging roads in the area, which is also bisected by two power lines running northwest to southeast. A wooded slough and creek flows roughly north to south through the forest's middle. The main road runs near the eastern boundary of this tract, providing access to the imaginatively-named Big Lake, another large oxbow, and leading eventually to Davis Eddy. To the west lies the Pascagoula River.
We had boots on the ground a little after dawn (6:30). Low temperatures the previous night were in the 40's (Fahrenheit), with highs predicted in the 60's and no rain. Due to the ongoing deer hunting season, we wore blaze orange vests. Due probably to it being a Monday, hunting activity was light, and we only saw one hunter in our immediate vicinity along the forest road.
There has been little rain in the region over the past month, so many of the sloughs were dry, making the going pretty easy. Trails closed to ATV's and other vehicular traffic are common here, thankfully. We parked Brian's truck at Dace Lake first, then headed west along an old trail that passed through a forest of very large, widely-spaced water oak, willow oak, red oak, and spruce pine, eventually emerging through a grove of black willows onto a sandbar on the east bank of the Pascagoula River. Bird life was abundant, especially woodpeckers. We saw and heard several different pileated woodpeckers, and for the rest of the day heard and saw red-headed, red-bellied, and downy woodpeckers, as well as yellow-bellied sapsuckers and a flicker. We observed two different barred owls, and at least one red-shouldered hawk. Kinglets, gnatcatchers, and yellow-rumped warblers were very active among the cardinals and chickadees. Flocks of robins, cedar waxwings, and blackbirds continually moved through the area.
Typical growth near Dace Lake.
Dace Lake, as seen from Brian's truck.
View to the east of Dace Lake.
Rye grass field.
Dry slough.
Sandbar on the Pascagoula.
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A pair of killdeer were the only ones there to greet us. (Photo: Brian Carlisle)
(Photo: Brian Carlisle)
Large cavity in what I think is a maple.
We backtracked along the trail, then drove along the road a while observing the bird life, eventually parking again and hiking out past the south end of heavily-wooded Big Lake to the large shallow lake at the extreme east of this part of the WMA. I am calling that shallow lake Kestrel Lake, after the kestrel we viewed hunting there. Beyond that, the forest begins to thin out, and the sounds of civilization grows closer; so we backtracked again, making our way back to the truck. We wrapped up the trip with an early lunch (courtesy of my brother) at the convenience store in Benndale. (The fried catfish strips are excellent.)
The trail as it opens up at Kestrel Lake.
Wildflowers on some very boggy ground near water's edge.
Brian has identified them as cowslip, or marsh marigold. According to Wikipedia, "all parts of the plant are poisonous and can be irritant.[sic]"
Conclusions: This area sees fairly heavy use by humans; although litter is not as noticeable here as in other areas within the WMA (such as McRae Dead River), it is still easily spotted. We saw one deer stand. I was not terribly impressed by the size of the trees in this area, although there are numerous oaks of considerable girth. I saw no significant woodpecker scaling, and we heard no kents or double-knocks (DK's). But I was glad to be out in the bottomlands with my brother again, and it was a really lovely day, with no biting insects, no spiders, and no snakes. Visibility in the forest is much improved with the leaf-fall, making it easier to look for tell-tale scaling, and for large woodpeckers lurking in the forest canopy.
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