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Re: ARNWR, WNV, and Columbia-area activities



On Sat, 14 Oct 2000, Carleton Wood wrote:
> 
> 	Just a note to let you know that the Alligator Refuge roads are open to the
> public until Nov 1. This is your opportunity to explore those areas you
> previously only drooled over!
>
> 	Jeff Lewis

Hi Carolinabirders,

Just curious: does this mean that the ARNWR roads are closed *after* 
November 1? Until when? I was under the impression that the un-gated 
roads like Milltail were open year-round, and that the gated roads were 
open to foot traffic unless posted otherwise. Is my impression wrong, or 
is Jeff talking about different roads into ARNWR than I am?

As advertised, I was down in Columbia for fall break. Unfortunately, I 
spent Saturday on the couch with a fever of 101 degrees. Whether it was 
due to a virus, or a poorly informed decision to taste an unfamiliar 
plant, is still a subject of debate. The plant was growing in the Castle 
Hayne Quarry, where I spent Friday fossil-hunting with some fellow grad 
students. No fossil birds in evidence, but a large number of Palm 
Warblers flitted over the mounds of earth as we picked through them.

On Sunday, thanks to the Big Sit, I had the pleasure of finally meeting 
Carolina Eastman, Robin Carter, and Jerry Griggs (in that order 
chronologically). We arrived late and missed most of the action, but did 
see an Osprey and a sapsucker, and heard a Pileated Woodpecker. We also 
saw the cuckoo robin mentioned, in the same tree where he and Caroline 
had spotted it hours earlier. Amazing that it spent so long in a single 
tree...

Monday we visited Peachtree Rock, an area with very interesting plants 
and geology. It seemed very promising bird-wise, particularly in that it 
had a small creek with a waterfall in the otherwise pretty dry SC 
sandhills, but there was virtually nothing around. Did see a Mourning 
Cloak, a butterfly species I usually associate more with early spring.

I wrapped up fall break by following Robin's directions to the Congaree 
Creek Heritage Preserve. Two warnings to other folks who try to do the 
same. First, the trail is very easy to miss, I walked right past it. The 
easy way is to look for an abrupt change of habitat: the forest on the 
right changes suddenly from a typically birdless, timber-industry 
maintained Loblolly Pine plantation to a much older and more diverse 
deciduous forest with many large oaks, Sweet Gums, etc. The trail runs 
just inside the edge of the deciduous habitat.

Second, the cold snap which greatly depleted mosquito populations in the 
NC peidmont apparently hasn't reached Congaree Creek yet. I had my 
defenses down, hiking in shorts and without repellent. By the time that I 
reached the fork in the trail and stopped to look for alligators, I had a 
cloud forming around my legs. I did manage to see a Pileated Woodpecker 
and a Winter Wren, as well as a large flock of blackbirds (mostly Common 
Grackles) causing a rain of plant parts and bird poop out of the forest 
canopy, before the bloodsuckers ran me out of the forest.

Speaking of mosquitoes, a post to the Virginia list claims that West Nile 
Virus has been detected in a crow within 40 miles of Richmond. It's 
getting closer...

Good birding!

Josh



Joshua S. Rose
Duke University
Department of Biology (Zoology, R.I.P.)

jsr6@acpub.duke.edu
http://www.duke.edu/~jsr6/