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.
Photo: Brian Carlisle.
Photo: Brian Carlisle.
Photo: Brian Carlisle.
Photo: Brian Carlisle.
Photo: Brian Carlisle.
Photo: Brian Carlisle.
Photo: Brian Carlisle.
Photo: Brian Carlisle.
Photo: Brian Carlisle.
Photo: Brian Carlisle.
Photo: Brian Carlisle.
Photo: Brian Carlisle.
Photo: Brian Carlisle.
Photo: Brian Carlisle.
Photo: Brian Carlisle.
Photo: Brian Carlisle.
Photo: Brian Carlisle.
Photo: Brian Carlisle.
Photo: Brian Carlisle.
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.
