Kints: 2018

Tuesday, October 30, 2018

Boneyard Lake: 5 October 2018

Brian and I drove down to the Pascagoula River Swamp to explore Boneyard Lake and its environs, a little-known-to-us corner of the WMA. We'd heard of the lake before, as it has been a favored subject of local photographers, and is known as the site of a heron rookery. We arrived a little after dawn, and quickly put our kayaks into the dark, still water, making a rough counter-clockwise arc through the baldcypress and tupelo along the lake's eastern half.

Photo: Brian Carlisle.

I noticed here and there "trails" through the still layer of algae on the lake's surface.

A scattering of white feathers on the surfcae suggested to me an egret met its end here.

Photo: Brian Carlisle.

Here I believe I was probably stuck on a submerged log. This happened to me several times and never failed to unnerve. Photo: Brian Carlisle.

We observed cormorants, wood ducks, red-bellied and pileated woodpeckers, crows, some kind of small hawk, several egrets, a lone tricolored heron, and a great blue heron. The trees thin out towards the west side of the lake, though evidently that's where the rookery lies.

I was glad to be done with the kayaking, for although it was easy enough (submerged logs aside), I could not help but think the lake might be a haven for alligators. "Boneyard Lake" sounds forbidding enough.

We drove on down the WMA road, following the line of the River to our west, twice stopping to explore on foot. At the second trailhead we set off on a trail through some modest second-growth bottomland forest, which for a while took us through a long, narrow field. Eventually the trail reached the River, and we followed it on southward to a nice sandbar, where we rested before turning back. It was well before noon, and very warm and muggy, with little wind.

Sycamore and water oak, growing together. Photo: Brian Carlisle.

Brian nearly stepped on this piglet, which lay still among the leaf-litter beneath a tree at the end of the field. It ambled off, and we later viewed a large family of hogs on more than one occasion.

Always a welcome sight: our friend, the Pascagoula River.

Freshwater mussel track.

Though I was well pleased we were able to explore this place, I do not expect to return, unless it is to explore the bottomland well to the south of Boneyard. The forest is patchy in places and less mature overall than what we have found elsewhere in the Basin, particularly in the Stronghold and the area around John Goff Slough, and of course the fastness of Big Swamp.

Wednesday, September 26, 2018

Walking Melkor's Road: 11 September 2018

Brian and I returned to Big Swamp on September 11, after a 9-month hiatus. Time and money have been in short supply, and we are both family men who are mindful of our obligations. That, and the summer has been a real scorcher down here, raising the possibility of heat exhaustion, or worse.

At Brian's suggestion, we walked the same path we did in January of this year, which would take us south through Big Swamp, more or less shadowing Black Creek on its way to the Pascagoula River. I kept an eye out for Melkor's Pond as we hiked, but as with our last trip the Pond and its wizened guardian eluded us. Strange, how one misses things out there. The swamp's got its own ways, its own purposes.

Of Ivorybills we neither saw nor heard anything, nor any rumour thereof. But the habitat, as ever, is magnificent, begging the thought in my mind: they should be here, whether they are or not. They should be.

High water twice barred our path, but that was a good thing, as it got pretty hot later in the morning. I was very thankful to return to the kayaks, some time after midday.

Yep, it's a tree.

Typical view of the canopy in Big Swamp.

Ring of fire: old lightning scar on a pine.

Extensive bark stripping on a cypress. I could not manage a better picture. The phenomenon is still a bit of a mystery to me, though Brian has observed gray squirrels stripping cypress bark elsewhere in the Basin.

Swamp chestnut oak. They will likely be in fall colors next time we're in the Swamp.

Ye Hogge-wallow. We encountered a family of them on at least two different occasions, and Brian caught a glimpse of tusks. Always exciting!

Just needs a bit of paint, and it'll be fine.

Misty mornings in the Pascagoula River Swamp make this one of my favorite places on Earth.

We spent a good deal of time navigating this ford, only to find our way blocked again not much farther down the trail.

Chanterelles.

The deep excavation here suggests Pileated work to me.

Brian's photos from the trip:

Rat snake.

My brother seems to have a thing for fungi. Can't say I blame him.

American beautyberry. Apparently some people eat them. Not I.

Last fall, I sat at the base of the big cypress center-left, and named him Tulkas.

Not getting my feet wet is very important. It can be a deal-breaker, almost.

These sloughs are usually deeper than they seem. I believe this is one tentacle of German Slough, which makes most ventures into Big Swamp a pain in the ass.

Great Blue Heron and raccoon tracks.

Brian ID'ed this as a Rufous Geometer Moth.

Harbinger.

Cardinal flower.

Old Ivorybill country.

One of my favorite photos. Brian had to stop by the roadside on our way out of the WMA to photograph the butterflies and bees.

On another note, I am pleased to announce that my brother Brian is the recipient of a pair of magnificent Ivorybill carvings, courtesy of our friend Dean in Iowa. The generosity of this man cannot be overstated, as he creates and sends these amazing works of art free of charge. The two Brian received are among Dean's last Ivorybills, making them even more special. Brian and I will be taking our Hurliman Ivorybills to the Pascagoula River Swamp in the coming months for photos, and I look forward to sharing them with you all here.

Our Ivorybill Library

Gallagher, Tim. 'The Grail Bird: Hot on the Trail of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker.' A well-written and engrossing read by one of the few active Ivorybill searchers, documenting the "Rediscovery" in Arkansas in 2004 and the subsequent efforts to document the species there.
Hoose, Philip. 'The Race to Save the Lord God Bird.' Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2004. Now a bit dated, but still a good general history of the species and its relationship with humans in both the United States and Cuba.
Jackson, Jerome A. 'In Search of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker.' Smithsonian Books, 2004. A true cornerstone of the literature by an expert on Ivorybills.
Snyder, Noel F.R., Brown, David E., and Clark, Kevin B. 'The Travails of Two Woodpeckers: Ivory-Bills & Imperials.' University of New Mexico Press, 2009. An important and somewhat controversial work that challenges some long-held assumptions regarding the decline of the Ivory-bill. The book also raises important questions about successful approaches to species conservation.
Steinberg, Michael K. 'Stalking the Ghost Bird: The Elusive Ivory-billed Woodpecker in Louisiana.' Louisiana State University Press, 2008.
Tanner, James T. 'The Ivory-billed Woodpecker." 2003 Dover Publications reprint of the 1942 monograph. Essential reading for the serious student of Ivorybill lore.