Apr 9 Our Red Headed Woodpecker

This is the first Red Headed Woodpecker I have seen on our property. It has taken up residency in the large Red Oak just outside the kitchen window in the area we call the "squirrel yard". 

For the past week, it has been picking up corn I have spread out, and taken it up on the Oak to a cavity which may be its mate's nest. 

Such a colorful bird gets a lot of attention. This one spends much time with me, atop my desk.

This one makes the cover of a child's introduction to birds book.

Originally copyrighted in 1906, this 1951 edition of Charles A Reed's field guide says they are ruffians of the family and are quarrelsome.

Birds of America copyright 1917, this is the 1936 edition. It says, "He wears the German flag".

  Today's flag which was adopted in 1989.

  Germany had many flags. This one was in use in 1936 when the quote was published.

The Red Headed Woodpecker does not have any yellow coloring.

The Bird of America by the great John James Audubon. This is the 1942 edition. Audubon would have first published these from 1827-1838.  

They say it is good luck if a woodpecker knocks on your door.

Mar 28 What is Blooming Here

Dogwood

Sessile Bellwort

Pinxter

Pinxter

Sweet White Violets

Pinxter

Pussy Toes

Well, OK, not a bloom, but Dog Vomit Fungus. Even looks like a dog.

Dwarf Crested Iris

Bird's Foot Violet

Yellow Star Grass

Green and Gold

Blue Sedge??

Smooth Meadow Parsnip

Rue Anemone

Yellow Star Grass

Mar 23 Operation Bluebird

My Covid project for today is setting up bluebird boxes. I have 10 of them, numbered above 1-10. 

Then I located 10 cedar posts, all from trees cut during our timber cut. Then I put my PHD to work. Yes, I have a Post Hole Digger. The first six boxes, numbered 1-6 naturally, went up on our .6 mile gravel road. Beginning at Spinks Road, I measured off each tenth of a mile with my bicycle odometer and that is where I dug the holes. The rest of the boxes got scattered elsewhere on the property.

Before the first day ended, this Bluebird and his mate, staked out this box and vigorously defended it. 

Still to come are the snake and raccoon guards. I plan to use sheet metal wraps to prevent those creatures from accessing the boxes. 

Mar 19 Trail Blazes or Reassurance Markers?

Smartly attired volunteer reassures

We are accustomed to seeing painted blazes along trails. Some are nice and neat, perfect rectangles like the white blazes of the AT. Then there are the rogue blazes of all types in the Uwharries. Spray paint, happy faces, dripping paint, you name it, we got it. Beginning last year, just after our crew blaze painted the Walker Creek section, the National Forest informed us, they were switching to those plastic blazes. Mary Joan, chief blazer for the Uwharrie Trailblazers asked me to help blaze a section of the Uwharrie Trail near Wood Run. In checking the forest service regulations - yes, they have regulations and guidelines for everything - I learned they aren't blazes. They are "reassurance markers". Of course, that makes sense. You are reassuring hikers they are still on the trail. 

Typically, with painted blazes, you place them within sight of each other. Not so, with plastic reassurance markers. They are placed much farther apart except when the trail does something that might confuse a hiker. If the trail is obvious, those markers can be placed a long way apart. Place them on trees that have a good line of sight from the trail. Place them on either side of tree unless one side does not have a good line of sight. Put them at least 5 feet high. They do show up much better than paint too. Use aluminum (you can use the British pronunciation if preferred) nails. Not the ones the Forest Service provides. They are made to bend and go crooked. Get the extra long roofing nails at Lowes. Mary Joan knows which ones. Also, get a Lowes apron, like the ones their employees have. Its great to carry the markers and nails in. Or get your trail buddy to accompany and hand the markers with the nails already in position.  

Mar 16 Uwharrie Morels

This is it - 3 tiny morels. However, I did have fun hiking, alone in the rain. The forest trails are loaded with people "Covid" hiking, so I picked a day when no one else would be venturing out.

Its also the time of year for the slimy orange fungus on Eastern Red Cedars, to make its annual appearance. Cedar Apple Rust Fungus requires both trees, cedar and apple to be present. The fungus begins to appear in early spring on cedars. The spores then are blown to nearby apples. Then in the fall, the spore migration heads back to the cedars. Although, this fungus is not harmful to cedars, it can ruin a apple crop. The following is from Mass Audubon Blog - Your Great Outdoors:

 In 1914, apple growers wrote the Cedar Rust Act of Virginia allowing them to destroy cedar trees on neighboring property in an effort to control the fungus. While most people enjoy eating apples, a lot of people also like eastern red cedar trees, especially if they’re on your own property. You can imagine how people reacted when they woke up to see their neighbors cutting down all their cedar trees.

This all came to a head in a classic 1928 court case where a judge determined that apple trees were more valuable than cedars, and therefore more worthy of protecting. Cedar tree owners would not be compensated for their losses, but would be allowed to keep the wood from the cut trees. Remember to thank those folks who lost all their cedars next time you bite into a delicious apple!

Mar 8 Congaree National Park

Early on Sunday morning we made the drive from Columbia to Congaree National Park. In less than 30 minutes you go from downtown to the middle of a swamp. I was surprised at how small Columbia seems. Almost immediately you are leaving downtown and in an older, sparely developed landscape. This quickly gives way to swamp. 

We are in the early throes of coronavirus pandemic panic. The trails except the high boardwalk are closed. You can't social distance on a boardwalk but we manage.

Due to recent rains, the lower boardwalk and trails are under water. The boardwalk above just disappears into the water.

The only thing blooming was Yellow Jasmine, the state flower. Much to allergy sufferers' chagrin, the state wildflower is Goldenrod.

When we visited last March, there was no water and Butterweed was blooming out there. So, it was nice to experience the park in these flooded conditions. Although, not always an annual occurrence, flooding bottomland has happened often enough that this forest escaped development and timbering. It and another smaller tract to the east are all that are left of the ancient bottomland forests which covered much of the coastal plain of South Carolina. 

A "swamp" Loblolly

The end of the trail (for today)

Mar 7 Columbia Canal Walks

Downtown Columbia SC is where the Broad and Saluda Rivers form the Congaree River. We are at the fall line, that geologic point at which the piedmont gives way to the coastal plain. Its the last set of rapids on rivers headed to the ocean. It also marks the location of a number of major eastern cities since it was as far as you could travel upriver before encountering obstacles. 

Back in 1820, the plan was to build a canal on the Broad River to navigate by the rapids created by the fall line, thus allowing access further upriver. The canal was finished in 1824 as was another one connecting the Broad and Saluda. The canal along the Broad is 3.1 miles and drops 34 feet requiring 4 locks.

Less than 20 years after its completion, the railroads came to Columbia and the canal became less important. It continued to be used until the civil war. Mills along the canal were converted to make Confederate gunpowder. After the war, in 1868, a plan was hatched to use the canal to provide drinking water for Columbia. That scheme managed failed. Residents got dirty water!

Columbia's Christopher Columbus

Electric power was generated by the canal water in 1891. The hydroelectric plant powered the first textile mill to run on electricity - Columbia Mill in 1894. The latest chapter of the canal, is one I got to experience first hand. It is now a greenway. The canal is not nearly as attractive as the river. 

The greenway follows the canal with the river on the opposite side. It is a good half mile across the river to the other side. Rapids and many islands give it some character. Numerous bridges cross. However, you are separated from the city. The canal is built in a natural ravine. On the other side of the ravine is room for a railroad before you encounter any development.

It was a pleasant walk. A flood in 2015 has closed off a section near the confluence with the Saluda. Otherwise the greenway would connect with another riverside greenway, eventually cross the river and continue along the opposite of the Congaree. There are about 20 miles of riverside greenways along the 3 rivers.