An IBWO in a Gum Tree

I wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, and in particular my new wife Susanne, who was so instrumental in getting the Quest going this year, and who picks up the pieces after long days in the Wild; my fellows in the field, IBWOH's Brian Carlisle and Richard Ezell, both currently working out in the Gulf of Mexico, who have made it such a remarkable year; my friends Mark and Frank of the Project Coyote team, from whom I have learned and continue to learn so much; Dr. Jerome Jackson, who has been kind enough to take time out of his schedule for the occasional correspondence with me; and to all my fellow ivorybill enthusiasts, and those around the world who have visited the site.  Thank you for being a part of our adventures so far!

Speaking of Project Coyote, please join me in wishing them good stalking as they return to the field yet again in the coming days.  If you haven't already, be sure to check out their site www.projectcoyoteibwo.com.  There is much to be learned there for any serious student of the remarkable Ivory-billed Woodpecker, which continues to captivate us from the shadows.

IBWOs on the Isle of Orleans

View from our honeymoon hotel window.  We found this Audubon print in a museum gift shop on Royal Street, New Orleans, Louisiana.

Survey: Dace Lake and Big Lake, Pascagoula WMA, 8 December 2014

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.

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.  

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.

For Treebeard, Leaflock, the Ancient of Days, and Hollow Man

Dwight Norris posted the following article on "The Ivory-billed Woodpecker -- Rediscovered" group on Facebook:

Visions of Glories Past; Manhandled Mobile River Basin Sadly Diminished; in Hidden Places, Hints at Wonders of Long Ago
(Address:  www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2014/12/visions_of_glories_past_manhan.html#incart_river )

I was moved to write the following response:

"I've stood beside several giant cypresses such as the one in the photo -- relicts -- in the Pascagoula River basin.  All were spared the axe and saw because they are hollow.  Passenger pigeons and Carolina parakeets likely roosted in their crowns; they likely were touched by the hands of Native American hunters, and saw the movements of Native tribes, for hundreds of years.  I put my own hand on their trunks, and wonder what a forest full of such giants must have looked like... and imagination fails me.  I am moved from awe to sadness, and feel the need to offer some kind of apology for the colossal stupidity of my species.  But it would be akin to a former Nazi offering an apology to someone who lost their entire family in the Holocaust.  It is a wrong that can never be erased, until the victim survives and thrives, and the wrongdoer vanishes completely from the face of the earth."

Will we as a species ever regain our perspective, and see beyond our own immediate want?

Brian Carlisle and Treebeard, a relict cypress in the Leaf Wilderness and a living, breathing link to an older world.

Smells Like IBWO Out There

Autumn generally comes a bit later to the Deep South than to the rest of the country, and this year was no exception.  We had several nights below freezing a week or so ago here in south Mississippi, finally sending the maples into firegold.  The big poplar at the back of my lot dropped most of its leaves in shock, and the cypresses in the little grove I planted nearby now stand rust against the neighbor's bamboo forest.

Wonderful personal news:  IBWO-1 is back in service.  I will retrieve it from the mechanic tomorrow, having been without it for fully four weeks.  Thanks to my Mom for the use of her car, which I enter and exit like a spider in and out of its tunnel; and for the use of her money, without which I could not have met the expense, which was considerable.  Hopefully, we will be able to return to the Pascagoula WMA once or twice to search before the New Year turns.  Dace Lake, I have my eye on you.

In what is undoubtedly the biggest Ivorybill news lately, Project Coyote is returning to the field on Thanksgiving Day to continue the search in Louisiana.  Mark and Frank feel they are very, very close, so keep checking the Project Coyote site and their Facebook page for updates later this month and in December.  I know I am not alone in wishing them success.  I am not sure, but Project Coyote may be the longest-running continuous Ivorybill search effort going these days, and their methods reflect those years of refinement.  If anyone can find the Ivorybill, I believe it is their team.  Good luck, guys.

For myself, my backpack sits at the ready, and fresh batteries lie beside my battered camera.  I have nearly finished Hoose's The Race to Save the Lord God Bird, which I thankfully found in my local library.  It has helped to pass these days when I could not walk the bottomland, trying to simultaneously watch the treetops for big woodpeckers, the space in front of me for spiderwebs, and the ground for snakes.  The book holds a wealth of information, and Hoose's prose is easy on the brain, though I am at odds with the overall tone of the book.  I find his lack of faith disturbing.

IBWO-1 Down Again... for a while...

Looks like the repair shop did the equivalent of placing a Band-Aid on a stab wound.  Much more extensive, and expensive, repair work is in order before IBWO-1 can take me back to Ivorybill territory.  Perhaps a break from the search would be no bad thing, especially during these next weeks of deer season in Mississippi.  Besides, there is much that needs tending to around my house, things that have been a bit neglected in the past few months of my search; and there are holidays upon us as well.  Oh, and I am getting married in December.  So, a busy time.

But I do chomp at the bit on these cool autumn mornings, and wonder about the sounds and shadows in the bottomlands.

IBWO-1 Up!

Got the call from the mechanics today... not the starter, but the ignition switch.  I should have my own ride again in a day or two.  YES!!!

Not sure when I'll be able to get back into the field, though...