Georgia Wild: Woodpecker Recovers, Skullcap Struggles

Georgia Department of Natural Resources sent this bulletin at 11/05/2024 07:00 AM EST

GaWild masthead: red-cockaded woodpecker (Martjan Lammertink/USFS)

IN THIS ISSUE

- Giving bats a way out

- Woodpecker recovering

- Ocmulgee skullcap struggling

- Special tree for wildlife, fall color

what to do when bats move in

Big brown bats roosting (Pete Pattavina/USFWS)

Bats in your belfry or, worse, your attic?

Before temperatures drop too low, now is the time to install exclusion devices that allow bats to safely leave and look for more appropriate shelter.

DNR provides DIY details from Bat Conservation International, as well as how to remove a single wayward bat and where to turn for professional help if needed.

Trina Morris, a DNR Wildlife Conservation Section program manager, emphasized leaving exclusion devices in place “over a stretch of good weather.” “As the weather cools, we suggest a week with warmer nighttime temps, low wind and no rain.”

Afterward, if you can access the area where the bats were roosting, make sure none are home and then seal the entry point to make sure they don’t return, Morris said.

For more: Georgia’s native bats

RCW RECOVERY, SKULLCAP DISCOVERY

RARE SPECIES TRENDING IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS

Red-cockaded woodpecker (Martjan Lammertink/USFS)

For red-cockaded woodpeckers, life is looking up.

These perky, family-focused woodpeckers of mature southeastern pinelands – they're the nation’s only woodpecker that excavates cavities in living pines – had been federally listed as endangered for 50 years. Yet late last month, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service downlisted them to threatened.

Their recovery from an estimated 1,470 family groups in the 1970s to about 7,800 from Virginia to Texas today reflects decades of work by government agencies, nonprofits and private landowners.

Georgia mirrors that outlook and effort. The number of red-cockaded woodpecker family groups here “is now well north of 1,500,” said Joe Burnam, lead DNR biologist for the species.

The success story ranges from military lands like Fort Stewart, where controlled burns and “recruitment” clusters of artificial nest cavities inserted in trees are helping the population grow, to southwest Georgia quail properties enrolled in Safe Harbor, part of a U.S.-first habitat conservation plan that DNR developed in 1999 for the woodpeckers and private landowners.

Burnam said the downlisting keeps federal protections in place and will not affect DNR conservation practices in the state. “We’ll continue to do what we’ve been doing … managing for the birds (and) their habitat.”

Habitat loss and degradation, a combo that landed the woodpeckers on the Endangered Species Act list, remain the leading threats. For example, Hurricane Helene wiped out over 40 percent of the nest cavity trees at Moody Forest Wildlife Management Area and Natural Area near Baxley.

But new cavity inserts have already been chainsawed into pines, and others will be added, Burnam said.

Ocmulgee skullcap (Alan Cressler)

For Ocumulgee skullcap, the outlook is more dire.

In 2022, the Fish and Wildlife Service proposed listing Scutellaria ocmulgee as federally threatened. But the surveys that followed indicated the species is closer to the brink than thought. The updated proposal is to list the plant as endangered; that is, in immediate danger of extinction in all or a large part of its range.

That range isn’t large. The showy perennial known for its purple-white petals shaped like a medieval skull cap (or maybe a vintage leather football helmet) is known from only 10 Georgia counties in the Ocmulgee and Savannah River basins and two South Carolina counties along the Savannah.

DNR senior botanist Lisa Kruse said the reassessment isn’t surprising because fieldwork spurred by the initial listing proposal found that some plants first identified as Ocmulgee skullcap were actually Mellichamp’s skullcap (Scutellaria mellichampii). Although also rare, Mellichamp’s is more common than its Ocmulgee kin.

The extra attention provided the chance to “really drill down and distinguish the species,” Kruse said. The insight is key, she added, noting that these critical studies of Ocmulgee skullcap were led by the late DNR botanist Tom Patrick and South Carolina DNR’s current lead botanist, Keith Bradley.

“We often don’t know what kind of genetic diversity is out there," Kruse explained. "It’s important (to know) for decisions that guide conservation.”

Ocmulgee skullcap is limited to calcium-rich soil and found on mesic, or moist, hardwood slopes. Endangered fringed campion and relict trillium favor the same habitat. Threats to skullcap include the loss of these forests to development and pine plantations, plus competition from invasive plants such as Japanese honeysuckle and the very real risk of being eaten by deer or wild hogs.

Thankfully, some state lands have Ocmulgee skullcap, Kruse said. The federal listing and identification of critical habitat will provide support needed to conserve the species, including outreach, research and work with private and public partners.

For more on rare wildlife: DNR Biodiversity Portal

OUT MY BACKDOOR: A truly SPECIAL TREE

Black gum in Monroe County, Ga. (Terry W. Johnson)

Black gum in Monroe County (Terry W. Johnson)

By TERRY W. JOHNSON

A few weeks ago, I accompanied my daughter Angela and her rambunctious husky to the city of Forsyth’s dog park. As we sat on a bench watching Poe frolic and investigate unfamiliar scents, Angela pointed to a tree growing alongside the park. “What is that tree?” she asked.

We couldn’t identify it from where we were sitting, so we walked over for a closer look. Much to my surprise the tree was a black gum.

Although black gums grow statewide, I don’t know the last time I’d seen one in Monroe County. But I do know that this tree, also called black tupelo, tupelo-gum and pepperidge, is one of our most beautiful native trees and a valuable one for wildlife. …

Read Terry’s column for more, including why some call black gum the bee tree.

Terry W. Johnson is a retired DNR manager and executive director of TERN, friends group of the Wildlife Conservation Section. Check out past columns and his blog. Permission is required to reprint a column.

noteworthy

Right whale Juno (No. 1612) and calf off Sapelo Island in December 2023 (DNR/NOAA permit 26919)

Here’s hoping this North Atlantic right whale calving season is safer. As the endangered whales migrate south to their only known calving grounds off Georgia and northeast Florida, there is some good news. The North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium has estimated the population at 372 as of 2023, up about 4 percent from 2020. However, last winter and spring suffered the most mortalities since 2019: five deaths documented and four calves presumed dead. Of the season's 19 calves, five were lost. NOAA estimates 50 calves a year are needed for the species to recover.

Coastal Georgia boaters are urged to go slow and keep watch in winter, for their safety and the whales'. Use the Whale Alert app to see if whales are possibly in an area. Report sightings via 877-WHALE-HELP (877-942-5343) or marine VHF channel 16. Most right whale deaths are caused by vessel strikes, which occur along the Eastern Seaboard, and entanglement in commercial fishing gear in the northeast Atlantic.

"Young Fires" interview with DNR fire crew member Jimmy Hernandez (Magic Kumquat Productions)

A DNR-supported video highlighting a new, diverse generation of prescribed fire practitioners has been nominated for a 2024 Emmy in the Suncoast (Fla.) regional awards. Magic Kumquat Productions created “Young Fires: The Future of Firelighting” with partners including DNR’s Wildlife Conservation Section, The Longleaf Alliance, TERN and others. The short-form content nomination in Environment/Science names Magic Kumquat’s Laura Albritton and Maurice “Zickie” Allgrove, DNR's Shan Cammack and Nicole Malanga of South Florida PBS.

Stream culvert assessment teams from the University of North Georgia and Dalton State College recently helped DNR sample aquatic life in the upper Coosawattee and Conasauga rivers. While the bonus was seeing species such as beautiful crayfish and blue shiner, the goal is pinpointing structures that pose significant barriers to the passage of fish and other aquatic wildlife.

Peregrine falcon in downtown Atlanta (DNR)

Peregrine falcon numbers have taken a dive along the East Coast and elsewhere, and concern is growing that bird flu is to blame. Evidence varies from dead falcons testing positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza to about half of 44 adult birds tracked in New Jersey missing this past nesting season. Peregrines specialize in prey such as waterfowl and shorebirds, known carriers of HPAI.

The Dugdown Mountain corridor, a wildlife passageway from Paulding Forest Wildlife Management Area in Georgia to Talladega National Forest in Alabama, continues to come together. The work has been awarded $19.5 million in Forest Legacy funding for a critical 9,900-acre tract in Alabama, while the federal Natural Resources Conservation Service's Regional Conservation Partnership Program has marked nearly $20 million for west Georgia conservation easements, which will include the corridor. Dugdown details: "Take A Walk on the Wild(life) Side."

An indigo bunting by Alpharetta's Erin Yi, a 2024 art contest runner-up

Quick hits:

Entries are being accepted for DNR’s annual Youth Birding Competition T-shirt Art Contest, which turns the attention of the state’s children and teens toward native Georgia birds.
Add Alapaha River Wildlife Management Area near Ocilla to the list of conservation lands where acoustic recording devices dubbed frog loggers are helping monitor frogs’ use of seasonal wetlands.
High schoolers can explore DNR jobs and possibly join the next generation caring for Georgia’s natural and cultural resources via the 2025 Career Academy, set for July 20-26. Register now.
As the weather cools, the fishing heats up on the state’s five delayed harvest trout streams, where Nov. 1-May 14 catch-and-release regulations and monthly stockings boost angler success rates.
With deer season in full swing, hunters are encouraged to provide venison for those in need through Hunters for the Hungry and drivers are urged to watch for deer, as mating season puts whitetails on the move and the time change pushes rush hour toward dawn and dusk, when deer are more active.
At the Georgia Sea Turtle Cooperative’s fall meeting, members asked to contribute verses for a poem about life and challenges during the nesting season submitted lines varying from “I learned you can’t outsmart an armadillo” and "I found out that the tide can affect how long you'll be on beach patrol" to “I hung out with a sea turtle named Delia” and “I did it all.”

Jason Lee on Ceylon WMA (Mac Stone/Mac Stone Photography)

DNR's Jason Lee at Ceylon WMA (Mac Stone/Mac Stone Photography)

Names in the news: The National Fish, Wildlife and Plants Climate Adaptation Network has honored DNR Wildlife Conservation Section Program Manager Jason Lee with a Climate Adaptation Leadership Award for Natural Resources. Lee, based at the agency’s Brunswick office, was lauded for his work in “bringing together experts and partners throughout the state, facilitating productive discussion, and distilling all of the best and recent science on climate change impacts and adaptation into the state’s 2025 State Wildlife Action Plan revision,” according to the network. Tallulah Gorge State Park manager Lieren Merz earned DNR’s Ranger Bravery Award for her lifesaving efforts at the popular north Georgia park, including coordinating five helicopter responses in six weeks.