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an absolutely fascinating life filled with ornithological endeavors i highly recommend reading this short 6 page biography on the man wayne who lived in the charleston area began systematically searching for more bachman s warblers in the i on swamp specifically throughout the old fairlawn plantation property in 1906 he found two nests providing evidence that the warbler did indeed breed in the i on swamp and didn t just use the swamp as a migration stopover over the next several years he found many more individuals and nests as i said the bachman s warbler was always hard to find and its ecology is rather misunderstood there have been no actual studies ever done on this species prior to its extinction everything we know comes from naturalists in the 1800 s and early 1900 s who thankfully recorded bits and pieces of information on the species whether it was the habitat one was found in or the behavior of an individual or what have you the last confirmed sighting of a bachman s warbler was in 1988 and the species is almost certainly extinct the cause for the extinction of the species has been subject to debate and several hypotheses have been put forth about the cause nearly everyone agrees the bachman s warbler went extinct due to habitat destruction but no one knows what type of habitat the warbler exactly required the bachman s warbler vanished before any thorough studies of its habitat requirements could be conducted the little habitat information we do have is confusing and contradictory which further complicates matters for example some naturalists found the bachman s warblers in mature swamp forests others found it in young successional swamp forests if habitat destruction was the killer of the bachman s warbler what specific habitat feature was destroyed that the bachman s warbler relied on although bachman s warblers had been recorded in mature swamp forests it seems unlikely that they depended on such a habitat like the ivory billed woodpecker did between 1948 and 1953 there were many bachman s warblers observed throughout the i on swamp which if you remember was all but a young secondary growth swamp forest at that time after the period of intense logging between 1900 1920 the prevalence of the bachman s warbler in the i on swamp when it was a young secondary growth swamp forest has made some scientists hypothesize that the species relied on disturbed successional areas within swamps similar to how the blue winged warbler and prairie warbler rely on similarly disturbed successional areas within forests drier areas within the i on swamp like the area pictured above would have been the site of extensive giant cane canebrakes nowadays such extensive canebrakes have vanished the apparent fact that bachman s warblers could be found in both mature and successional swamp forests suggests that there was some other habitat component or feature that they relied on and not simply the age of the forest in 1986 j v remsen jr published an article in the auk that argued the bachman s warbler was actually a bamboo specialist throughout the southeastern us there s a species of bamboo called giant cane arundinaria gigantea giant cane used to be extremely prevalent throughout the swamps of the southeast many times forming near impenetrable understories called canebrakes which would go on for miles in swamps over the most recent 300 years approximately 98 of these canebrakes were cut down or otherwise destroyed as they proved a barrier to farmers and travelers sadly giant cane is a finicky slow growing plant with a low reproduction rate and the remaining individuals have been unable to fully recolonize the sites of former canebrakes although you can still find giant cane today as well as dense canebrakes these are nowhere near as dense and extensive as they once were what does that have to with the bachman s warbler as it turns out most of the notes that naturalists recorded on the habitat of the bachman s warbler mentioned the presence of giant cane this is even more prevalent when reading descriptions of where nests were found nearly all of them mention the nests being either in giant cane plants or being in the same vicinity of giant cane many of their nests even contained leaves from giant cane this suggests that the bachman s warbler might have been a bamboo specialist a niche that many birds across the world utilize if this is true then it makes sense that the bachman s warbler disappeared as the giant cane canebrakes became less and less extensive throughout the southeast is the decline of giant cane the sole reason for the extinction of the bachman s warbler probably not although it might be the main contributor to the destruction of the species other factors probably exacerbated the decline the destruction of swamps across the southeast the destruction of their wintering habitats in cuba and potentially unknown factors might have all helped drive the bachman s warbler to extinction the i on swamp today visiting the i on swamp today can be a difficult endeavor the swamp is large and only a few gravel and dirt roads allow access only one trail exists in the whole of the swamp that trail the 2 5 mile i on swamp interpretive trail is part of the francis marion national forest trail system the i on swamp interpretive trail offers the easiest way for visitors to get into the swamp but at only 2 5 miles it allows visitors a tiny glimpse of the swamp short of bushwhacking through the swamp the trail is the best choice visitors have to see the swamp nearly the entirety of the i on swamp interpretive trail runs atop ancient dikes that once belonged to the wythewood plantation one of the main rice plantations that used to call the swamp home as you walk along the nearly 300 year old dikes you can t help but marvel at the engineering feat they represent at the same time you can t help but feel an overwhelming sorrow when you realize that enslaved peoples from africa were the ones who toiled away to make these extensive dikes the colonial and early american rice industry was the second most dangerous industry for enslaved peoples to find themselves part of second only to the sugar cane industry between the harsh owners never ending work the oppressive heat of the carolina lowcountry rampant diseases and dangerous wildlife being a rice plantation slave was an absolutely brutal and many times short affair injuries and deaths were commonplace the mortality rate of enslaved peoples working on rice plantations is mind numbing to consider at some rice plantations almost 90 of children died before they reached 16 years old many adults did not make it past 30 the profit margins on rice were so high that an enslaved person only had to work for one season for the owner to make back the cost of the slave so slaves were viewed as a highly dispensable commodity although this mentality seems unfathomable today it was sadly common throughout the lowcountry in the 1700 s and 1800 s today the i on swamp looks like a very young secondary growth swamp forest when hurricane hugo slammed south carolina in 1989 the winds knocked down essentially all of the trees in the eastern section of francis marion nf including the i on swamp consequently most of the i on swamp s forest is only 28 years old despite the young age the forest is still impressive dwarf palmettos cover the ground red maples and black tupelos take hold in the drier areas bald cypresses dot the wetter areas where their knees jut up through the shallow tannin stained water alligators bask along the banks of the ancient dikes and river otters swim through the canals the place feels natural on the surface but while it is still natural to a certain extent true the i on swamp is scarred animals which should call the swamp home are forever gone plants which should be easily found throughout the swamp are uncommon and nowhere near as extensive as they used to be the water flows in unnatural channels and canals separated by earthen banks that shouldn t be there the landscape has been forever changed and a sorrow hangs in the air not only because the land will never be as it once was but also because so many lives were unnecessarily lost here despite the scars the i on swamp is nevertheless a fascinating place go visit the swamp if you re in the lowcountry of south carolina walk along the ancient rice field dikes as you travel through the swamp forest look for animals and plants and enjoy the landscape but while you do don t forget to take a few moments to reflect on all the history bound up in this swamp posted by kyle brooks at 1 19 pm 5 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels nature ohio photography parks anthropology birds coastal plain conservation human history national forests ornithology south carolina south carolina history swamps wetlands location i on swamp rd awendaw sc 29429 usa tuesday february 16 2016 ross s geese in athens this february has shaped up to be one of the most spectacular migratory goose flights in ohio in awhile beginning in the first week of the month reports started pouring in from around the state on ebird birding ohio and other media reporting flocks of dozens to even hundreds of snow geese ross s geese and greater white fronted geese these species of geese are pretty rare in ohio but each winter will often bring many scattered reports of one or two individuals mixed in with a flock of canada geese the past 2 weeks for some reason has brought very large flocks of these rare geese throughout ohio luckily athens got to partake in what i ve heard people calling goosapalooza on february 12 ohio university professor phil cantino reported 8 white geese on the western side of athens near the hocking river these 8 white geese turned out to be ross s geese and they continued hanging out for several days yesterday on feb 15 a group of ohio university students including myself went to see the individuals it wasn t hard we drove past a large group of canada geese hanging out at the athens county fairgrounds and sure enough the 8 ross s geese were mixed in with the group of 150 or so canada geese the diminutive ross s goose is one of my favorite birds as i mentioned previously they are quite rare in ohio but they aren t globally rare however their rarity in ohio stems from their migration routes the ross s goose breeds in northern canada and overwinters in two distinct locations california and the southern great plains the populations which overwinter in the southern great plains migrate using the central flyway which is pretty much 2 states west of ohio since they utilize a migration flyway which doesn t come through ohio they don t really come through ohio either occasionally something whether it be a storm individual mistake etc will cause one or a few individuals to veer off course and end up in places like ohio in the case of this giant flight into ohio weather is probably to blame photo taken in fairfield county ohio back in december 2015 the snow goose is in the back while the ross s goose is in front of the snow goose as you might have seen i had a post on both ross s geese and snow geese back in december which you can read at this link the snow goose and the ross s goose superficially look the same but there are a few differences to note i ll use a nice comparison photo from the fairfield county ones i chased back in december in the photo above the snow goose is the white goose in the back while the ross s goose is the white goose in the front first take note of the black wingtips in both this shows that the goose is either a snow or ross s goose and not just a white domestic goose which will lack any black in the wings now how do you tell the difference between a snow goose and a ross s essentially a ross s goose is a miniature duck sized version of a snow goose size however can be deceiving another feature that can help but can also be deceiving is neck size a ross s goose typically has a very short stubby neck while a snow goose typically has a much longer neck however this can be dependent on how the goose is holding its neck and it isn t a good feature to solely base an identification on the best field mark to separate the two species is the bill with a snow goose the bill will be large and pretty long the bill will also have a distinctive dark mustache a ross s goose will have a much smaller and more dainty bill and it will lack that dark mustache in the case of the flock of 8 white geese this time around they were all tiny short necked geese with dainty bills this identifies them all as ross s geese this was pretty exciting the ross s goose was one of the last rare goose species which i hadn t yet seen in athens when rare geese do show up in ohio it s typically in the northwestern part of ohio or along lake erie southeastern ohio isn t typically a hotspot for rare waterfowl however the past 2 winters have brought an array of rare geese with greater white fronted geese and cackling geese and snow geese now i can add ross s geese to the list of interesting hocking river visitors if you live in ohio keep your eyes out for the rest of the week for any unusual geese you never know what you might find posted by kyle brooks at 3 17 pm 3 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels nature ohio photography parks athens county ohio birding ornithology rare birds location athens oh 45701 usa tuesday january 26 2016 a little blue heron in the salt marsh as i mentioned in my previous post on the cottonmouth i recently took a 2000 mile solo road trip during my winter break i spent most of my time birding throughout coastal south carolina racking up a total of 90 species including 8 lifers from december 28 2015 to january 2 2016 this wasn t my first time birding in south carolina just a few months prior i visited with my ornithology class for a 4 day field trip which you can read about here part 1 and part 2 it s an absolutely wonderful state to go birding in one of the locations i visited was pinckney island national wildlife refuge in the very very southern tip of south carolina it s a very interesting preserve and most of it is open saltwater or salt marsh i went to visit a productive freshwater pond named the ibis pond but first had to walk by an extremely shallow salt marsh and in that marsh was a small white bird and that small white bird was a little blue heron you might be wondering why a little blue heron is white and this is because it is a juvenile little blue heron this species begins life in all white plumage and individuals transition to their deep blue plumage upon maturity i would like to take a moment to talk a bit about the name heron as you might know there are herons and egrets both look essentially the same aside from species level color differences you might be thinking there is some kind of difference between the two groups like there s something that makes a heron ...
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