A Little Reward

Yesterday was yet another day inside. This is getting old, people. I am not meant for the indoors. And apparently, Mother Nature feels my angst because she gave me two little rewards yesterday.

The first was an opportunity to do a little skink wrangling. A nice fat five-lined skink wriggled its way under the door and into the corridor leading to the classroom. I got a good laugh watching it trying to maneuver on the tiled floor and was successful in herding it back out onto the deck. No pictures, I'm afraid. This skink was just too fast.

The second came as I was locking up. I glanced out the glass door on to the deck and thought to myself, "Wow, that greenbriar sure grew fast. It wasn't there this morning." Then I realized it wasn't a vine, it was a snake. A beautiful little Northern Rough Green Snake playing periscope up through the trex boards of the deck.

First I took a picture through the glass just in case...

Then I eased open the door, eased down onto the deck, and eased my camera close to the snake. It cooperated nicely for a heart beat or two...

So yeah, despite being inside way too much this summer, I do love my job :)

A Matter of Perspective

Late yesterday afternoon I was hard at work, desperately trying to get the work schedule completed for September and October. It's something I have been trying to accomplish for the past two weeks without success. One thing after another has interrupted me, including a blue screen error on a very important computer in our network (oh, the horror!). While I was working, probably scowling at the computer, there came a timid tap on the glass of the office door. I glanced up to see a gentleman peering in at me and it was obvious that he had a question to ask but was reluctant to interrupt me. Visitor questions always take precedence over just about anything else and I am never upset to be interrupted by someone who wants to know something about the park or a plant or an animal...he had questions about all three.

We chatted for a bit and I was able to answer all of his questions except one. He and his wife were geocachers and they were working they way from their home in New Jersey to their vacation destination in Emerald Isle, NC, finding caches all along the way. There is one cache immediately adjacent to the park and I am familiar with the location. (By the way, if you are a geocacher, please don't place a cache on a state park in NC without permission!) He told me that when they found the cache and prepared to sign the log book they got what he considered an unpleasant surprise -- a snake! The couple said it looked like a coral snake, orange with white stripes circling the body. I told them that we were a bit too far north for a coral and asked them if they noticed any black on the snake. One said no, the other said yes. Not unusual when two people see the same snake and try to describe it ;)

I told them I would go check it out. At this point I was cautiously optimistic about the possible identity of the snake and I grabbed a container just in case I was correct. The couple needed to be on their way so they gave me their email address and I promised to send them an ID if the snake was still in the cache. They left and I walked over to check the cache...

The snake was still there and, for me, it was the most pleasant of surprises. As I had hoped, the snake turned out to be a Scarlet Kingsnake, Lampropeltis triangulum elapsoides. Scarlet kings are secretive little snakes and very hard to find. It put a huge smile on my face to find one in a mailbox of all places!

The snake was a beauty. I handled it briefly, took a few hurried shots and then let it go. A pleasant surprise indeed and a great way to end an otherwise frustrating day.

Click on the photo below to appreciate just how pretty this little snake is.

Be free! Live long and reproduce.

Three Good Things

It has a been a very frustrating summer for me. Way too much time spent in the office and way too little time spent outdoors. Today I managed to get out for a few hours. It was wonderful -- I feel almost human again ;) There was much to see, but I will just share my favorite three for the day...

Squirrel Treefrog

Transforming tadpole of unknown species -- king of all he surveys

A young mother out for a stroll with the kids.

Life is good.

Where'd It Go?

Yesterday found us at the work swamp slogging around doing an inventory of a new piece of property. It's always good to know what's growing where and what's living there, too. We saw plenty of wildlife sign and even added several new plants to our list. One thing that cracked me up, though, was this northern black racer, Coluber constrictor constrictor.

Initially, I thought the snake was dead. Its head was at an odd angle and when I touched it on the tail it didn't move. A closer look revealed that the racer was indeed alive. It was checking out a hole down under the leaf litter and when I tapped its tail a second time, zip, down the hole it went.

Rainy Day Blahs

While it is true that I got a lot of work done today, it was not necessarily work of my liking. I do so hate to be inside all day. But, as it was raining, dreary and gray out, I guess if I had to be in all day this was a good day for it.

Since I'm sure you aren't interested in seeing or hearing about the paperwork, phone calls, emails, and minor repairs that filled my day, I'll share this photo with you instead.

The sycamore, Plantanus occidentalis, has always been a favorite of mine. I wrote a poem about it when I was 8, as a matter of fact. The leaves are beautiful, the seeds are fun, and the bark is compelling, even when wet ;)

Hack, Hack

 

While out cutting trail today I happened upon this owl pellet. If I had had a container to put it in I would have packed it up for further study. It would have been interesting to find out what sort of bones these are. Alas, I had nothing handy and the pellet was sopping wet...not an ideal condition for popping into one's pocket.

It was a beautiful day with blue skies and bright sunshine but comfortably chilly, great conditions for the trail work that needed to be done. Unfortunately, I didn't get many pictures to share -- it is difficult to swing a brush axe and take pictures at the same time, don't you know.

Gossip Gulls

 

Work took us to another park today, Pettigrew State Park in Tyrell County. We were helping out as presenters for the park's annual Indian Heritage Week. Fourth graders rolled in by the busload. Treebeard taught them about hunting with the atlatl and the bow and I talked to them about the wildlife of the area and how Native Americans depended on the animals for many of their needs. It was fun -- tiring, but fun. Other rangers from different parks and volunteers from the community will man the stations for the remainder of the week. Hope their experiences are as good as ours were today.

I've written about Pettigrew in past posts. It is an interesting place. If you ever find yourself in Tyrell County, near the town of Creswell, I recommend that you take the time to visit the park. Lake Phelps features prominently in the landscape of the park. It is some 16,000 acres in area and averages somewhere around four feet deep. The gulls and terns sure like it. They were lined up on the pier today enjoying a cool breeze -- a welcome break after yesterday's stifling temperatures in the 90s.

Double Trouble

Standing dead snags are great things...unless they are too close to a high-use area. Then, according to guidelines, they have to be cut down. We took down 53 dead trees on Tuesday and Wednesday. Generally, we fell them, buck them, and them toss them off the road. But not this bad boy...we called for the front-end loader to move this one after it was dropped.

Nearly forty feet tall, this dead sycamore was wrapped up with poison ivy, (Toxicodendron radicans), and it was within two feet of the road. It had to come down.

The vine was so big I would have had to use both hands to reach around it - not that I touched it, mind you :) We grow some impressive poison ivy in the work swamp! Luckily, I have never experienced a rash from ivy and I hope to keep it that way.

And for those of you who may be unaware of the fact, you can get a rash from poison ivy anytime of year. The oil that causes the rash is in all parts of the plant (except the flowers and berries). If you are susceptible to it and you get the oil on your skin, then you're probably going to get the rash.

How Pretty

Perhaps I should start a bear scat of the month feature this year...
Seriously, it really was pretty -- full of greenbrier (Smilax sp.)berries. Love those bright red seeds and the dark blue berry skins.

Plus, there is an added appeal to piles of scat like this. In another section of the swamp I found where a bear had planted an accidental garden, all little greenbrier plants...

Sometimes you find beautyberry thickets, dense stands of pawpaw, a wild tangle of supplejack vines or loads of baby swamp gums. All courtesy of some intrepid pooping bear :)

Just Another Thursday at Work

[knock, knock, knock] Uh, hi. Me and my crew are working down the road and there's this bird. It keeps following us around and my guys are scared of it.

Yes sir, I'll be happy to help if I can. Could you tell me what type of bird it is? (I reach for a net)

It's one of those birds with a big bill. You know, about this long...(spreads hands to indicate about 10 inches) Plus, it's got like duck feet. You know?

Are you talking about a pelican? (my eyebrows raise inquiringly and I put my inadequate net back against the wall)

Yeah, yeah...that's what it is, a pelican. (vigorous nodding) I couldn't think of what they were called, but I saw one on TV once.

And you say your crew is working nearby here?

Yes m'am. Just out on the highway there. You know, in the median.

I'll follow you in my truck...





Sure enough, it was a pelican. A pelican "terrorizing" a DOT crew working in the median of the highway. The poor guys were tucked safely in their trucks and didn't get out until I got out of my truck. Seems they were putting out signs and traffic cones and this pelican just started following them around.

Not wanting to startle the pelican, I approached it slowly. It just stood there, calm as could be. I raised the binoculars to read the band on its leg and recorded as much of the number as I could. Meanwhile I was trying to think of who to call to help me wrangle a pelican -- didn't want the bird to fly out onto the road because it's a busy highway. Assuring the work crew that I would be back as quick as I could I headed back to the park. Close to our parking lot I spotted a county animal control truck and flagged him down. Yipee! Help.

Me: Hi, how you doing? You have anything in your truck to catch a pelican?

Animal Control Officer: So that's what it is, eh? A pelican. Dispatch said there was a report of a bearded duck out here not letting people out of their cars. I saw your truck as I passed. Is it out there on the highway?

Me: Yep and the DOT guys are not happy.

ACO: I've got a net... (Sheriff's Deputy wheels in) Hey, Deputy! That bearded duck call is about a pelican. The ranger here saw it.

Deputy: Heh. I thought dispatch was gonna choke trying to keep from laughing about the bearded duck. (Another animal control truck rolls up.)

Me: Hi. How are your pelican wrangling skills?

Second ACO: Guess we'll find out. I was kinda hoping it really was a bearded duck...

First ACO: Ranger Swampy says it's out there with the DOT crew. Guess we better head that way...

Deputy: No hurry. I saw a big bird take off when I passed that work crew just now. Sure didn't know it was the bearded duck...

A Doe, A Deer

These two couldn't quite make up their minds about me. They would start to run, then stop and stare. I see them nearly every day, you'd think they'd recognize me by now :)

Icy Morning

It was a chilly 16 degrees out this morning. The swamp was icy.

 

 

Blowing Raspberries?

Friday afternoon found me in the work swamp tweaking a trail that a boy scout troop helped me cut. I was working by myself, but I wasn't alone. The woods were full of birds - mostly robins, but there were other species as well. This pileated stayed close by for quite some time so I finally put down my hand tools and picked up the camera -- just in time to catch him sticking out his tongue.
(My ultra-slow dial-up connection has prevented me from posting as many pictures as I'd like. Sometimes it takes 10 minutes for a picture to load and then there will be problems that prevent the post from publishing. Very, very frustrating. To attempt to overcome this challenge I am resizing my photos before posting. I'm not crazy about the results though...)

Vandal!

Last December 28th I posted a picture of some shells I had found in the work swamp -- they have been on my desk for a whole year. Yesterday morning I went into my office and found this:

Some nocturnal vandal had visited my just-straightened, unusually cleared-off desk and left this mess in its wake. Plus, a butterfly wing I had been studying was missing! Who could do such a thing? Determined to find out, I set a live trap and left the office for a few minutes. Surely the culprit would return to the scene of the crime (particularly since I had baited the trap with some extra yummy peanuts...).

AHA!

The miscreant did indeed return! I emptied the live trap into a large galvanized trash can to get a good look at it before I dispatched it...my mistake. Took one look at those big eyes and those cute ears and couldn't bring myself to kill it. Such a sucker. I toted the can well out into the woods and let the little rodent go. Yeah, it will probably be back in my office in no time, but then again it could end up as owl/hawk/fox food...mmmmwwwwahhhh.

Unexpected

This morning we got a phone call in the office: "Is Ranger Swampy working today? We have a bird that's hurt and we want her to come get it."

My co-worker and I headed out for the bird. By the time we got to it, it had died - the apparent victim of a window strike. We both looked at it and immediately knew it was a swallow, but neither of us knew what kind of swallow. About the only swallow we might see in the early winter here is a tree swallow. We both knew it wasn't a tree swallow...so, we were off to the guides, both print and online.

Our conclusion was that this is a cave swallow. But, we don't have cave swallows here. They see them out on the coast, but not here. But still, the field marks matched those of the cave swallow. I sent the picture off to someone more knowledgable than we are -- two someones, actually -- and they both said, yep, that's a cave swallow.

Unexpected, yes. But then again, it does have wings...