Diario del proyecto 2021 Blue Trail BioBlitz

20 de abril de 2021

Spotlight Species #10: Spartina

Spotlight Species #10:
Spartina (Sporobolus alterniflorus)

What to Look For:
Spartina grows very tall! The grass grows from 3 to 8 feet tall. It has green leaves and its flowers are 4 to 12 inch spikes with seeds.

Where to Find It:
Spartina can be found all along the coastal plain in brackish to salty marshes. The grass prefers full sun and moist to wet sandy soil - perfect for our coastal areas!

Why It Is a Spotlight Species:
Spartina can be used to control shoreline erosion and is an important species in our marshes and wetlands. With climate change and sea level rise, spartina’s distribution may be changing, but will continue to be an important species for our marshes.

Publicado el abril 20, 2021 08:14 TARDE por waccamaw_riverkeeper waccamaw_riverkeeper | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

19 de abril de 2021

Spotlight Species #9: Atlantic marsh fiddler crab

Spotlight Species #9:
Atlantic marsh fiddler crab (Minuca pugnax)

What to Look For:
Atlantic marsh fiddler crabs look very different depending on whether they are male or female. Both male and female are olive-brown in color. Males have a patch of royal blue on the carapace, females do not. Males are also larger (15-23 mm) than females (13-18 mm). Both have narrow eyestalks and dark bands on their walking legs. Males have one greatly enlarged claw that is often yellow.

Where to Find It:
As you may guess by its name, the Atlantic marsh fiddler crab can be found in - you guessed it - Atlantic marshes. Check out Huntington Beach State Park or the marshes of Winyah Bay for this species!

Why It Is a Spotlight Species:
The Atlantic marsh fiddler crab is the most common fiddler crab along our coasts. They are impacted by climate change as their range creeps northward with warming waters.

Publicado el abril 19, 2021 03:06 TARDE por waccamaw_riverkeeper waccamaw_riverkeeper | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

15 de abril de 2021

Spotlight Species #8: Swallow-tailed kite

Spotlight Species #8:
Swallow-tailed kite (Elanoides forficatus)

What to Look For:
Swallow-tailed kites are easy to identify when they are in flight. They have a white belly, neck, and head with wings and tail tipped with black. Their long forked tail gives them their name and makes them stand out when flying.

Where to Find It:
Swallow-tailed kites visit the Waccamaw River watershed during the spring and summer months. You’ll find them soaring about the wooded wetlands along the river where they like to nest.

Why It Is a Spotlight Species:
The Waccamaw National Wildlife Refuge is home to the highest density of nesting swallow-tailed kites in South Carolina! It is also the northernmost nesting site for the species. If you visit the refuge visitor center, you might luck into seeing the birds flying right over the building!

Publicado el abril 15, 2021 01:13 TARDE por waccamaw_riverkeeper waccamaw_riverkeeper | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

13 de abril de 2021

Spotlight Species #7: Bald cypress

Spotlight Species #7:
Bald cypress (Taxodium distichum)

What to Look For:
Bald cypress trees are large trees, growing up to 120 feet tall and 6 feet around. The tree is not bald but has needle-like green leaves. The “bald” moniker comes from the tree’s needles turning yellow or copper and then dropping early in the fall. They produce round green cones that turn hard and brown with tree maturity. Bald cypress trees also have cypress knees around them on the ground.

Where to Find It:
The bald cypress loves the wet soils of our wetlands, our humid weather, and our rainy days. You can find them in our swamps throughout the Waccamaw River watershed.

Why It Is a Spotlight Species:
Bald cypress trees have been in our watershed far longer than we have been! They can live for up to 600 years! They will be here in the watershed long after we’re gone.

Publicado el abril 13, 2021 09:57 TARDE por waccamaw_riverkeeper waccamaw_riverkeeper | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

08 de abril de 2021

Spotlight Species #6: Great blue heron

Spotlight Species #6:
Great blue heron (Ardea herodias)

What to Look For:
Great blue herons are tall birds with long necks. They are typically a grayish-blue in color overall. They have a long orange-yellow bill and a black crown. Great blue herons have unique colorations. You might even recognize your local great blue from its markings.

Where to Find It:
Great blue herons are found on shorelines, riverbanks, and the edges of marshes, estuaries, and ponds. In the air, they have slow wing beats with a large wingspan.

Why It Is a Spotlight Species:
Great blue herons rely on our waterways for food. They fish in the shallows of rivers and marshes using their beak to spear or grab their prey. These birds rely on clean water along the Blue Trail to survive.

Publicado el abril 8, 2021 01:52 TARDE por waccamaw_riverkeeper waccamaw_riverkeeper | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

06 de abril de 2021

Spotlight Species #5: Eastern river cooter OR Yellow-bellied slider

Spotlight Species #5:
Eastern river cooter (Pseudemys concinna concinna)
Yellow-bellied slider (Trachemys scripta scripta)

What to Look For:
These two species look very similar. They are both black and yellow, but there are some good ways to tell them apart.
While both have yellow bellies, the yellow-bellied slider is ALL yellow while the eastern river cooter’s belly will have black pigments. The eastern river cooter has a longer lower shaped shell while the yellow-bellied slider has a more dome-shaped shell. Also, the eastern river cooter has a straight smooth shell edge whereas the yellow-bellied slider has a more sawtoothed shell edge.
They have different yellow markings on their faces. The yellow-bellied slider has a big yellow blotch behind the eye while the eastern river cooter has defined yellow stripes on the face.

Where to Find It:
You can find both species on the Waccamaw. They are basking turtles that like to hang out on logs and riverbanks to catch some sun. You might also spot these two species in your neighborhood pond.

Why It Is a Spotlight Species:
Both of these species can be found throughout our Waccamaw River watershed and are relatively easy to spot. The challenge is telling them apart! We hope you will learn a little more about our local turtle species.

Publicado el abril 6, 2021 04:30 TARDE por waccamaw_riverkeeper waccamaw_riverkeeper | 1 comentario | Deja un comentario

03 de abril de 2021

Spotlight Species #4: Pine warbler

Spotlight Species #4:
Pine warbler (Setophaga pinus)

What to Look For:
Pine warblers are small birds with short bills. The species has a yellow throat, a yellow to olive back, a white lower belly, and grey and white wings. There is a lot of variation in their coloring, but all pine warblers are cute little birds.

Where to Find It:
Pine warblers like pine forests, of course! They are often found in forests and surrounding areas. The species is a common sight at bird feeders.

Why It Is a Spotlight Species:
Pine warblers really like to hang out in our Waccamaw pine forests. They know it’s the place to be and stick around during migration.
They are a vocal bird that likes to sing at any time with a song of 10-30 notes.

Publicado el abril 3, 2021 10:09 TARDE por waccamaw_riverkeeper waccamaw_riverkeeper | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

30 de marzo de 2021

Spotlight Species #3: Carolina anole

Spotlight Species #3:
Carolina anole (Anolis Carolinensis)

What to Look For:
Carolina anoles can be either green or brown. They are about 5 - 8 inches long. Males have a pink throat fan.

Where to Find It:
Carolina anoles can be found all over the place! Check in bushes, on fences, or on your house for them. Anoles tend to live in wooded areas. They also enjoy basking in the sun during warm weather.

Why It Is a Spotlight Species:
We could not leave out this special little lizard. It exists throughout our entire watershed and even has our state name in its common name.
Though referred to as a green anole, the lizard can be brown or green. Due to its color-changing ability, it is sometimes also referred to as the American chameleon. But, of course, it is not a tru chameleon.

Publicado el marzo 30, 2021 06:34 TARDE por waccamaw_riverkeeper waccamaw_riverkeeper | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

27 de marzo de 2021

Spotlight Species #2: Redbay

Spotlight Species #2:
Redbay (Persea borbonia)

What to Look For:
Redbay can grow as a tree of bush from 30 - 70 feet tall. The bark is a reddish-brown. In the summer, redbay produces small yellow-green flowers in clusters and a dark blue spherical fruit.

Where to Find It:
Redbay grows in the rich moist soils along swamps and streams throughout the Waccamaw River Blue Trail. You will definitely find them around the shoreline of Lake Waccamaw.

Why It Is a Spotlight Species:
Bay trees are often credited with being the origin of the term “Carolina Bay” because they tend to grow around the bays.
These trees have a high mortality rate in South Carolina due to laurel wilt disease, a fungal disease carried by the redbay ambrosia beetle. One beetle can kill an entire tree!

Publicado el marzo 27, 2021 06:42 TARDE por waccamaw_riverkeeper waccamaw_riverkeeper | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

26 de marzo de 2021

Spotlight Species #1: Alligator Weed

Spotlight Species #1:
Alligator weed (Alternanthera philoxeroides)

What to Look For:
The plants typically form into dense mats along the shoreline. The leaves are opposite, lance-shaped, about 1-2 inches long, with a distinct midrib (a vein that runs from stem to tip). The stems are hollow to provide buoyancy. The plant also produces a small white clover-like flower throughout the summer.

Where to Find It:
Alligatorweed likes to grow in wet or moist conditions throughout the coastal plain of the Carolinas. It forms a dense mat in the water. You may find it at boat ramps as it tends to be transported on boats.

Why It Is a Spotlight Species:
Alligator weed is an invasive species from South America. When not managed, the infestations can cause damage to our watershed including causing flooding, erosion, and navigation hazards.
Boaters can help prevent the spread of alligator weed by cleaning their boats of any vegetation when traveling between water bodies.

Publicado el marzo 26, 2021 09:06 TARDE por waccamaw_riverkeeper waccamaw_riverkeeper | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

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