Georgia Wild: Fox in a Tree

Georgia Department of Natural Resources sent this bulletin at 12/10/2024 07:00 AM EST

Georgia Wild masthead: monarch butterfly (Linda May/DNR)

IN THIS ISSUE

- Georgia's tree fox

- Winter monarch watch

- Right whales, calves arrive

- Bus-sized but hard to see? You bet

OUT MY BACKDOOR: GEORGIA'S TREE FOX

Gray fox in a pine (Adobe Stock)

By TERRY W. JOHNSON

Although the gray fox is Georgia’s most common fox, this animal is truly a will-o’-the-wisp. Because gray foxes are shy and far more active at night than day, the only time most of us see one is when it darts through the beams of our headlights as we drive down a dark country road or suburban street.

While I treasure these far too infrequent events, the encounter I long to experience even more is seeing a gray fox perched in a tree.

Yes, as odd it may seem, the gray fox does indeed climb trees. …

Read Terry’s column to learn how gray foxes climb and why.

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.

WANTED: WINTER MONARCH SIGHTINGS

Monarch on aquatic milkweed (Linda May/DNR)

During recent winters, volunteers from Georgia and other Southeast and Gulf states have provided thousands of observations of monarch butterflies.

This winter, the partnership of universities, agencies and other organizations called Monarchs Overwintering in the Southeastern States is asking the public to again report sightings. Dr. Sonia Altizer, a University of Georgia ecology professor and a director of Project Monarch Health, said the information can help scientists determine if these iconic but declining butterflies “can overwinter as non-breeding adults in the southern U.S. and how this might affect future population numbers.”

The monitoring will also help document how winter-breeding activity might influence their annual migration to Mexico. Understanding migration and overwintering behavior is crucial to conserving monarchs, a candidate for listing under the Endangered Species Act.

The public is encouraged to report sightings of monarch adults, eggs, larvae and pupae November-March in Georgia, the Carolinas, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. Submit observations through Journey North or iNaturalist.

DNR wildlife biologist Anna Yellin said partners are grateful to all who have reported sightings. “When we come together as a community as we have with this effort, we stand a better chance of protecting the monarch for future generations.”

REPORTING MONARCHS

Use either of these quick and free methods.

At journeynorth.org:

Create an account.
Learn how to report monarch sightings.
November-March, submit monarch observations at journeynorth.org/sightings.

At inaturalist.org:

Create an account.
November-March, submit report monarch observations using your web browser or phone app.
For season updates, join the iNaturalist monarch winter project.

CALF 1 (OR 2) AND COUNTING

Nauset and calf off Blackbeard Island on Dec. 1 (DNR/NOAA permit 26919)

Calving season for North Atlantic right whales has started with a splash.

On Dec. 1, the opening day of Georgia’s winter surveys, the Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute aerial survey team contracted by DNR spotted a mom-and-calf pair off Blackbeard Island as the plane flew to the first survey transect.

The mother was right whale catalog No. 2413, nicknamed Nauset. (The name comes from part of her callosity pattern that resembles the restored Cape Cod lighthouse Nauset Light.) The calf was Nauset's fifth documented and her first since 2021.

Working by boat, DNR biopsied the calf, providing for genetic analysis to identify the animal and its lineage.

But Nauset’s calf may not have been the season’s first. Three other potential moms were spotted during plane surveys off the Carolinas between Nov. 20 and 25. And a boater off Cape Romain, S.C., on Nov. 25 photographed a mother and calf. However, the images don't provide enough detail to identify the adult.

In either case, with only about 370 North Atlantic right whales left, each calf is documented and celebrated – with hopefully many more to come this winter.

WHAT WHALE?

Right whale sighting off Cumberland Island in January (DNR/NOAA permit 26919)

Right whale sighting near Cumberland Island on Jan. 15 (DNR/NOAA permit 26919)

If you need a visual for why we caution coastal boaters to go slow and watch for North Atlantic right whales during winter, take a look at the photo above.

See any whales? If so, how many?

For the answer, read “Where’s the Whale?” on DNR's blog.

GO SLOW! WHALES BELOW

From November-April, coastal boaters off Georgia, northeast Florida and the Carolinas are encouraged to follow guidelines for Navigating in Right Whale Waters. Those take-homes, also highlighted in this flyer for recreational boaters, include:

Slow down when boating where right whales are present. Use the Whale Alert app to know if whales are possibly in the area.
Keep watch. Look for dark objects at the surface, large splashes, fluke swirls (slick spots on the surface) and recurring whitewater that could be made by a whale's tail, as well as the "V" shaped spout whales create when they breathe.
Report sightings by calling 877-WHALE-HELP (877-942-5343) or by hailing the U.S. Coast Guard on marine VHF channel 16.
If you spot a whale, slow down further, operate at slow speed or put your engine in neutral. Assess the scene and slowly leave the area while keeping watch—other whales could be nearby. Stay at least 500 yards from any right whale you see (it’s the law) and never pursue or follow one.

noteworthy

DNR biologist weighs a bat in a protective bag (Benjamin Galland/Volvo Project/St. Simons Land Trust)

The first land acquisition using the new Bat Conservation Fund has closed, and another is close. The initial tract is 373 acres in the Terrapin Creek watershed in Polk County; the second covers another 1,800 acres in Polk. Both will be managed as part of Treat Mountain Voluntary Public Access area. DNR, the Georgia Department of Transportation and federal agencies created the fund through historic agreements streamlining the approval of transportation projects regarding tree-clearing. DOT is providing about $4 million a year for DNR to protect priority, high-quality habitats.

Remember the State of the Bats Report released in 2023 and showing just over half of North America’s bat species at risk of steep population declines? This fall, the companion study that powered the report and provides a baseline to gauge the health of the continent’s bats was published, with co-authors including Katrina Morris, a program manager with DNR's Wildlife Conservation Section.

Spotted lanternfly, from left, eggs, immature insects and adults (Richard Gardner, Lawrence Barringer)

You’ve probably heard that the spotted lanternfly, an invasive planthopper that poses a threat to crops, forests and yards, has been found in Georgia. But what to do if you spot one? Three things: Take a clear photo, kill it and report it. Local Extension offices can provide more advice. (Related: "Spotted lanternflies thrive in cities," The Wildlife Society)

New Motus towers installed across the state by Wildlife Conservation Section technician Sam Holst and the American Bird Conservancy have revealed tagged birds from around the country and Canada migrating through Georgia this fall. While the wildlife tracking system is helpful for range-wide monitoring of birds like American kestrels and eastern whip-poor-wills, DNR also plans to use the towers to track migrating bats.

Bags of native grass seed collected at Albany Nursery WMA (Phil Spivey/DNR)

A donor field for native grass seed at Albany Nursery Wildlife Management Area continues to yield clean and accessible seed to restore grasslands. Established almost 20 years ago, the site at the WMA near Albany is dominated by wiregrass but also has many other native grasses, with the yield of seed boosting habitats for grassland species from northern bobwhites to loggerhead shrikes. Meanwhile in southeast Georgia, staff are managing a wiregrass donor plot at Altama Plantation WMA and gathering seed from an old-growth longleaf pine stand on Ceylon WMA.

Don’t forget that the last day to submit proposals for DNR’s Wildlife Viewing Grants Program is Feb. 6. This cycle of the grants aimed at helping people experience the state’s native wildlife, including rare plants and natural habitats, also upped the maximum grant amount to $5,000.

Juvenile, left, and adult seaside sparrow (DNR, Ty Ivey/GNPA)

Juvenile, left, and an adult seaside sparrow -- a saltmarsh sparrow species (DNR, Ty Ivey/GNPA)

Quick hits:

A sharp decline in saltmarsh sparrow populations has DNR and the College of William & Mary’s Center for Conservation Biology studying densities of the three species on Georgia wintering grounds, a study that will expand survey areas this year and tweak habitat categories to finetune estimates.
The Georgia Native Plant Society is backing legislation planned for next year’s General Assembly to change the state flower from non-native and invasive Cherokee rose to sweetbay magnolia, a native evergreen with white flowers.
DNR’s annual check on Radford’s mint (Dicerandra radfordiana), a rare plant known only from two sites in McIntosh County, counted 1,660 plants this year, down from 2,550 in 2023 but up from 550 in 2022.
Of the 1,000-plus respondents to Georgia Wild’s annual reader survey, 94 percent agreed the e-newsletter informs them about wildlife conservation, while 80 percent said it spurred them to learn more about a species or issue.
Here's a fun and insightful comic that explores the drama of bird families, and the science that helps explain the behaviors.
Georgia fishing and hunting licenses are gifts that help people enjoy the outdoors and DNR fulfill its wildlife mission, with sales being key to how much federal Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration funding the state receives. Learn more and purchase licenses.

DNR Facebook post on former Commissioner Tanner

Names in the news: Services held Dec. 4 at Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center near Mansfield and Liberty Plaza in Atlanta remembered Joe D. Tanner, DNR’s first commissioner, as a visionary leader committed to conserving the state’s natural resources. Tanner, 86, who died Nov. 24, consolidated 38 state agencies into the DNR during his first term as commissioner under then-Gov. Jimmy Carter. Tanner also led the agency from 1990-1995. Among other accomplishments, the Georgia native was the state's lead negotiator during the tri-state “water wars,” saw passage of the Georgia Heritage Trust Act of 1975 and Shore Protection Action of 1979 during his tenure, and – among other accomplishments – successfully led the Preservation 2000 initiative aimed at protecting 100,000 acres of environmentally sensitive lands. Tanner also served as Georgia labor commissioner and founded a lobbying firm. On Nov. 5, the Georgia Board of Natural Resources named him as the 2024 recipient of the Rock Howard Conservation Achievement Award for environmental conservation. Gov. Brian Kemp recently presented DNR game warden Matt Tsiklistas with an Acts of Heroism Award. Responding to a crash in Glynn County Nov. 22, Tsiklistas and State Trooper Sgt. Ty Brooks, who also received the award, rescued the driver of a pickup truck lodged under a dump truck and beginning to catch fire. DNR Wildlife Conservation Section Program Manager Dr. Bob Sargent co-authored two papers published in the latest Georgia Ornithological Society journal The Oriole. Sargent teamed with agency GIS specialist Liz Morata to document the common ravens nest at Tallulah Gorge State Park in 2024 and with communications specialist Rick Lavender to report this year’s results from the state bald eagle nest surveys, which Sargent coordinates.