In Dreams: 23 March 2019

Fulfilling a promise to our friend Dean Hurliman, my brother Brian and I took our Hurliman Ivorybills out for some sunlight and fresh Spring air.  In case you missed it, these simply astonishing works of art were gifted to us by artist Dean Hurliman of Iowa.  The big male is mine; Brian was gifted the other two, slightly smaller male and female.  We are still deeply, deeply humbled by the generosity of this kindred spirit.

It was a perfect Spring day in Elephant Man Swamp, in the far southern end of the Stronghold.  Red, white, glossy black, and antique white shone above the dark waters.  For a few magical moments, we allowed ourselves to believe.  And it was marvellous.

 (Photos:  Brian Carlisle)

Earlier, we hiked through swarms of mosquitoes to visit the Ancient of Days, waking up from his long sleep, drinking deep of waters from the overflow of the Pascagoula.

(Photos:  Brian Carlisle)

The white flowers belong to a Styrax americanus, or American snowbell, a species we have not (knowingly) encountered before.  This one grows along the overgrown trail, within a hundred yards or so of the Ancient of Days.

Thank you for visiting our blog.  We will continue to post accounts of our search for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker in the Pascagoula River Basin.

Mucking about the Leaf Wilderness: 18 February 2019

I took an increasingly rare opportunity to get afield on President's Day.  I spent most of the morning meandering along the ridgeline where a beech/holly/pine slope forest meets baldcypress/tupelo swamp.  Birds were quiet, though I heard and observed downy and red-bellied woodpeckers, and heard heavy tapping that was probably a pileated woodpecker.  It was cool (50's F), and windy in the trees atop Holly Ridge, as I call it, but the swamp was still. 

 Looking down into the swamp from Holly Ridge.

 Beaver work on a pine along Holly Ridge.  I found more beaver sign like this along the ridge.

 An impressive beech.

 Pine snag, one of many in the Leaf.  The area is still littered with pines killed in the passing of Hurricane Katrina.

 Young spruce pine.

Extensive scaling on a dead tupelo.  Likely pileated woodpecker work.  The species is very active in the Leaf Wilderness.

Heavy rains later in the week will likely render much of the habitat in the Pascagoula River Basin inaccessible.

Thanks to all who continue to visit this page.

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.

 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.