The Recovery

While we all are wondering when there will be an economic recovery in this country and around the world; it’s hard to miss the biological recovery progressing in the areas on Cumberland Island that burned last summer.  Much of the twenty five hundred acres that burned on the north end of the island was a scrub type plant community with thick, saw palmetto undergrowth.  The fire loving palmettos have already returned to full size and all of them are sending up flower stalks.  In a couple months, honey bees will be attracted to this area and palmetto flowers, with the help of the bees will make a premium, high quality honey.  Later in the summer there should be a huge crop of palmetto berries which are a food source for many animals such as deer, turkeys, raccoons and rodents.  The native Timucuan Indians that once lived on Cumberland ate these berries also, but modern people today would find them hard to get down because of their strong, musky smell and taste.  However, the native people consumed a lot of them and might have even burned palmetto fields to promote the flowering and fruit production of the plant.

Many of the trees in the recent burn are starting to recover, especially the pines, which can take more heat from fire than the hardwoods; although trees like myrtle and bluejack oak that were destroyed above ground are now sending up new growth from their roots.  Pine trees that were killed by the fire are being stripped of their bark by woodpeckers as they hunt for remaining, wood boring insects.  Eventually these trees will fall down, decompose and become fertilizer for the next generation of plants.

Recent heavy rains have filled many of the ephemeral ponds in this area, so the return of amphibians like frogs that need water to reproduce in will be able to get re-established here, along with a number of predators that feed on them.  It wasn’t long after the big 1981 fire in this same location a large number of eastern leopard frogs were found.  At least one alligator was nesting close by also.  I remember watching baby alligators catching both frogs and dragon flies along the banks of one pond. 

Since the recent fire, signs of coyotes have been found along the north cut road that runs right through the middle of the burned area.  It’s also on this road where I have had most of my bobcat sightings over the years and no doubt they will be back hunting the prey species such as rodents that will benefit from all the new plant growth.  Hawks, owls and snakes will also take part in controlling these animals as well.  Several years ago, while conducting a Greyfield tour along the north cut road, we came upon the rare sight of two large yellow rat snakes hanging by their tails from a tree while mating.  However, the snakes I see the most are black racers as they hunt the road bed for lizards and other snakes.  Several times though we have encountered cottonmouths and eastern diamondback rattlers, two of the venomous snakes living on the Island, but no less important in maintaining the balance.

It’s interesting how both snakes and fire have received such a bad rap down through the recorded history of man.  While in reality, both are part of an efficient system that has worked itself out over evolutionary time.  On the other hand, we modern humans are still trying to find solutions to our many problems, while hoping for an economic recovery.

Carrying Capacity

Many visitors to the Island want to know where are the best places to see wildlife.  For variety and consistency I would have to say the Dungeness area on the south end of Cumberland, especially the quarter mile stretch between the Miller Greene cemetery and the beach.  Within this relatively short distance several Island eco-systems come together to create a bottleneck effect where animals from these converging habitats live together in close proximity.  At the center of this wildlife corridor is a boardwalk that borders a tidal creek and saltmarsh.  During high tides, Bottle nosed dolphins will sometimes move up this creek to feed.  In the warmer months, both alligators and manatees also frequent the waterway as well.  At low tide the creek is greatly reduced in size leaving a large area of exposed oyster beds and mud flats.  This is when wading birds and some shore birds move in to feed.  Raccoons find a buffet of things to eat here but are most often found digging fiddler crabs along the mud flats.  Occasionally river otters can be seen catching fish and blue crabs that congregate in the deeper areas of the creek at low tide.

Much of what happens in a saltmarsh eco-system can be observed from the south side of the boardwalk, but turning to the north side the vegetation of a maritime forest borders these wetlands.   Large live oak and red cedar trees grow here and are interspersed with a profusion of under growth that attracts a great variety of migratory song birds in the spring and autumn months.  Leaving the boardwalk on the east end, visitors are surprised to see the remnants of a maritime forest that was killed by migrating sand; here the twisted remains of dead live oak trees reach up through the sands of the large active dune that killed them.  This surreal landscape is a favorite location for photographers as a foot trail to the beach winds through the area.  A number of game trails also converge in this crossing zone between the habitats of saltmarsh, maritime forest, inter-dune meadows and the nearby beach.  The mostly night time activities of animals can be seen etched in the sand every morning.  This is an area we cover with our early morning birding tours that can quickly turn into tracking tours, depending on the amount of animal use the night before.  The easy to observe signs left here by wildlife tell a revealing and often dramatic story.  Signs of fighting, mating, searching for food and territorial marking with scat are just part of the story.  It’s easy to see which animals travel between habitats in this location and how often they pass through.  Understandably, reptiles such as lizards, snakes and alligators are only active during the warmer months.  But even then, their use of this cross over is infrequent.  Bobcats and coyotes hunt the area year round but may not be seen for intervals of up to a month.  However raccoons, opossums, armadillos and deer leave tracks almost every night:  especially raccoons.  This is one animal that really thrives on Cumberland because it can find food in all of the various habitats on the Island, while there are plenty of suitable den trees in the forest area as well.

In an area with s0 much wildlife I often think about the carrying capacity of the eco-systems they are a part of.  In other words, the number of species and the numbers within each species these areas can support.  This is an exercise for trained wildlife biologists but most people can understand that a natural area will only accommodate a certain number of animals.  If these numbers are exceeded; starvation, disease and damage to the habitat itself soon follows.  National Park lands such as Cumberland are managed to maintain a natural balance of native species.  This may include re-introducing native predators that were exterpated earlier in order to control prey species that can overpopulate.  Proper wildlands management also includes removing non-native species that upset the natural balance that developed over evolutionary time.  The Park Service also recognized the impact humans can have.  That is why they have a limit on the number of people allowed to visit the Island on a daily basis.

I wonder if scientists will ever identify the human carrying capacity for coastal eco-systems in relation to the heavy development that is occurring along the east coast, and will the government ever regulate these numbers?  One thing I know for sure, is that after talking with thousands of visitors to Cumberland over the years there is a growing awareness of what is being lost to development in other coastal areas.

Spring Thoughts and Encounters

Spring is well underway on Cumberland Island even though we have experienced some recent cold snaps over the last few weeks.  Temperatures have ranged from the low thirties to over eighty.  A couple warm days together managed to bring forth our first reptile sighting of the season; a six foot long Eastern Diamondback rattlesnake.  We watched as the snake slowly crossed the main road and disappeared into a nearby thicket of saw palmettos where it will be safe from snake predators such as hawks and owls,, but not from feral hogs.  One thing I have noticed over the years is when hog populations increase, I see fewer snakes.  Feral hogs are known for eating these important reptiles that help control the rodent populations and the diseases they carry.

On Cumberland the hog numbers are up, but that may change soon as the Park Service steps up their efforts to hunt them.  Also, there are some indications the coyotes that have recently found their way to the island are now feeding on pork among other things.  As temperatures rise alligators will become active and they too feed on hogs that often roam the wetland areas.  Over the years I have seen a number of hogs floating in the water that were killed by alligators; one was still in the reptile’s mouth.  Alligators don’t usually try to eat a large animal right after killing it because their teeth are not designed for chewing.  More often, they will let the carcass partially decompose in the water so it can be easily torn into bite size pieces and maybe it improves the flavor for them also, who knows?  It’s amazing how some animals can tolerate such extremes in the quality and condition of the foods they consume.  I often think of this when I drive by some fast food places on the mainland.

The breeding season for wild turkeys is getting started and there is a lot of this activity on the island now because we have a lot of turkeys.  I would have to say there are more turkeys on Cumberland today than I can remember at anytime in the past.  If anyone wants to photograph wild turkeys, this is certainly the time and place to to it.  The birds are not hunted here and therefore not afraid of people, making them much easier to observe and photograph. 

There are quite a few song birds visiting the island now as part of the spring migration.  Large flocks of Yellow Rumped warblers have already passed through.  While a number of other species will stay and nest here this time of year.  One bird in particular is not shy about it’s nesting intentions.  The Carolina wren is a true extrovert with a loud call that rings out through the forest.  This bird also nests where it pleases; meaning, it can be inside someones car or house if the windows are left open.

Winter shorebirds are still on the beach.  Many of these species will soon begin a migration northward to their nesting grounds in the arctic region.  However, the Oystercatchers are paired up now and will be nesting on Cumberland in a few weeks.  The nests of these beautiful birds is nothing more than a depression in the sand above the high tide line, usually closer to the foredunes.  Oystercatchers are a species of critical concern because they need wild undisturbed beaches for nesting and this type of habitat has become increasingly rare as so many beaches along the east coast have been developed.  Cumberland provides suitable conditions for ground nesting shore birds like Oystercatchers, while the park service  will also place signs near a nesting area warning people to stay away. 

Also on the beach are a few shells left over from winter northeast storms.  More recently though a number of Keyhole urchins, also known as sand dollars have been washing ashoree on the north end of the island to the delight of those visitors who collect them.  Sand dollars are related to both the Starfish and Sea urchins.  Most of the ones I’ve seen on Cumberland have been on the north end of the island.  This may be due to a shallow shoal area not far off shore which would be good habitat for this burrowing marine animal.

Spring is happening on Cumberland and it is a good time for visitors to experience the great variety of wildlife we have out here.

A Walk in the Winter Woods

Winter is a great time to get off the beaten paths and explore the more secluded parts of Cumberland Island.  Seasonal cold weather has caused problem insects like ticks to become dormant, while reptiles such as venomous snakes are inactive as well.  Actually, snakes are not much of a safety problem on the Island, but it’s comforting to know that this time of year they are most likely burrowed in the ground or under a log somewhere.  On the other hand, some animals are very active now.   This happens to be the breeding season for both raccoons and bobcats. 

On a recent cross country hike I came upon many tracks from both of these animals.  As I followed the trail it led me to a freshwater spring a little over one foot deep and maybe ten feet long by six feet wide.  There are several of these natural springs on the Island that I know about and probably some more I haven’t found, but they usually occur where there is a significant elevation change in the land.  After all, water flows down hill, even underground, so if it leads to a steep drop off, it will sometimes come to the surface nearby.  These shallow ground water springs should not be mistaken with the man made artisian wells we also have on Cumberland.  Part of the Florida aquifer that comes from higher elevations in north Georgia flows under the Island.  If this deep (over 500 feet down) underground river is accessed by a pipe, a free flowing well is created because the water is under pressure coming from a higher elevation, but much further inland.

Fresh water sources however, either natural or man made, are magnets for wildlife.  The spring I found had three game trails leading to it that were used so much, they were worn into ditches.  A great number of oyster shells were exposed by all the animal traffic even though oysters don’t live in fresh water springs.  This was obviously an Indian shell midden.  The question in my mind was “Were the early Native American people who lived here attracted to this spot by an already existing spring or did they inadvertently create a spring by changing the relief of the landscape with centuries of discarded oyster shells covering acres of land?”.   After looking around I could see this was a rather large archaeological site.  Scattered about I saw some whelk shells that were worn down on the ends, suggesting they may have been used as tools of some sort by these early people.  Nearby, I also found a fresh three-point deer antler.  On Cumberland, male deer shed their antlers by late winter.  How often I have heard people; even some deer hunters, refer to antlers as horns.  The difference is; animals with horns, such as bison, do not shed them.  On the other hand, members of the deer family, like our native white-tailed deer grow a new pair of antlers every year after they shed the old pair.  Wandering around on the Indian site, I couldn’t help thinking about how these people utilized the plant and animal resources around them.  If a deer antler was found, it would certainly be put to use as maybe an awl or some other tool.  At this location there were a number of sabal palm trees.  From these plants alone, the Native Americans could get both food and shelter.  During Autumn, the palms produce huge clusters of berries that were eaten along with the heart of the palm itself, located near the top, where new leaves are formed.  The mature fan shaped leaves were used to thatch the roofs of their lodges and could be woven into mats or clothing.  Living close to the land as these people did; not much was wasted.

After leaving this area I walked for another hour surprising a couple of deer that were bedded down for the day and found the skeletal remains of another deer.  This reminded me of a question I get sometimes, and that is “What happens when an animal dies out here?”.  Well, that’s left to the waste management department.  Out here, waste management are the vultures, both black and turkey vultures.  Add to that a rapid decomposition rate from bacteria in a warm environment; and a carcass gets cleaned up rather quickly.  The vultures are well adapted for what they do by not having feathers on their heads that could harbor harmful bacteria picked up while feeding.  Just a reminder that everything in nature has its place.

Later, it was time for me to return to my place, but not before realizing these off the beaten path walks can be a very serendipitous way to experience the Island and winter is the most comfortable time to do it.

Changes

Here we are a couple months into winter with several cold snaps already that have dropped temperatures into the high 20’s for a few hours.

According to local weather forecasters these temperatures are below normal for us but the question is “What is normal?”  I can remember the 1980’s on Cumberland when we would get prolonged pipe busting hard freezes several times every winter.  In 1983 over Christmas the temperatures went down to twelve degrees and stayed near that for three days.  On Christmas in 1989 there was four inches of snow on the ground and it also lasted for about three days.  So, at best, our winter weather is erratic but usually pleasantly cool and as I have noticed, getting warmer. 

However, cold fronts much further north have sent a great number of migratory birds our way: numerous shore birds like dunlins, sanderlings and red knots are affected by these weather changes.

The 2500 acres on the north end of the island that burned last summer are also attracting a lot of birds.  Some of the grasses that quickly recovered after the fire have already gone to seed.  So seed eating birds like sparrows and mourning doves are thick in these areas now. 

The fire has also changed the locations of quite a few feral hogs as they moved into areas farther south where they were more accessible to hunters.  Yet, many survived the public hunts this season and are now rooting up the main road and surrounding forest as they feed.  Hogs are not only a blight on Cumberland, but thirty eight states in the country are having serious problems with them.  It doesn’t look like there will soon be any changes to the better when it comes to controlling this invasive animal.

Some of the even more dynamic changes on Cumberland however have occurred along the island’s shoreline.  There is a significant current that runs from north to south along Georgia’s coastal islands.  Sand transported by the current will naturally build up on the north end of an island while sand from the southern end is carried southward to the next island in the group.  On Cumberland, a two mile long jetty was built on the south end in the 1890’s to stabilize the St. Marys inlet for ship traffic.  However, the jetty also interrupted the long shore currents transport of sand southward to Amelia Island.  As a result, Cumberland has gained many acres of new ground on its southern end while Amelia Island has lost shoreline on its north end.  So Cumberland is adding more sand at both ends but over the last quarter of a century since I’ve been here, has lost at least twenty yards into the shoreline over nearly a four mile stretch of beach in the middle of the island.  The lesson here is that shorelines along the southern Atlantic coast are very active and it’s hard to figure out what they are going to do in the future.  Also, things people do on one island can affect another island somewhere else.  On Cumberland there has never been any ocean front development.  But on other islands where people are allowed to build on beaches their fortunes often turn around rapidly when the sea starts to work against them. 

Probably the most dramatic changes I’ve seen on Cumberland have been along the main dunes and adjoining interdune meadows.  Heavy grazing from cattle years ago in the meadow areas exposed sand to the wind “allowing” large migrating dunes to form.  Prevailing easterly winds moved the dunes inland covering and killing trees while also filling in some of Cumberland’s unique fresh water wetlands.  In the 1970’s the cattle were removed and many of the locations that were impacted by the loss of interdune plants have recovered remarkably as the movement of sand has slowed.  Now the main thing keeping these habitats from a full recovery are the free ranging feral horses that are still grazing in some sensitive areas.  But I will leave them for another blog…

A more recent significant change to the island comes in the form of an exotic beetle from Asia.  The ambrosia beetle was first introduced into the shipping port of Savannah by accident about three years ago.  Since then, it has attacked red bay trees up and down the coast throughout the range of these trees.  Entomologists have no practical way of stopping the beetle which is attracted to the sweet smell of the red bay.  Scientists believe we could see the extinction of these trees in the not too distant future and then the beetle may move into other plant species.  The red bay is a very common tree on Cumberland and many of them have already been killed.  With these trees gone, no one really knows how the rest of the island’s forest will be affected, but it certainly will be changed.

Today, with a heightened public awareness of environmental changes, I thought I would pass on some of the changes here on Cumberland.  But one can also see how closely related the island is to outside forces, both natural and man made.  Never the less, this National Seashore remains to be one of the most scenic areas on the east coast.

Reflections on the Salt Marsh in Autumn

The salt marsh that borders Cumberland goes through a noticeable change during the month of November.  This is when the dominant salt marsh spartina grasses turn from green to gold.  It’s this annual die back of mature spartina leaves and flowering stalks that produces the bio-mass needed to start the food chain in our coastal waters.  Salt marshes are biologically among the richest natural areas on the planet.  One acre of spartina produces five to seven times more protein than the same area of a Kansas wheat field.  However, the nutritional value of spartina is not realized until it decomposes and becomes a major component of the organically rich mud seen in the marshes at low tide.  So marsh mud, as miserable as it may seem to anyone trying to walk through it, is really wonderful stuff.

The decomposition process of spartina starts with bacteria.  Among these are the purple sulfur bacteria that look like an oil slick on the surface of the water.  This anaerobic life form actually lives under the mud that floats to the surface if the ground is disturbed and because of its oily appearance has been mistaken for pollution in some areas.  As dead spartina is digested by bacteria, it mixes with algae in the marsh to become a nutrient rich soup known as detritus.

A great number of animals feed on this abundant food source with the smallest of these detritavores being protozoa and nematode worms that are so tiny they can be selective in eating certain types of bacteria and algae.  However, larger animals like mud snails and fiddler crabs eat all components of the detritus soup.  The largest detritavores in the marsh creeks are mullet.  Large schools of these fish graze in the marshes over the summer but in the autumn when the water cools they move to warmer areas farther south.  Menhaden are another schooling fish that feed directly on detritus in the marsh.  The most commercially valuable detritavore we have around Cumberland are shrimp which actually spawn in the ocean but grow up in the salt marsh.

With such an abundance of grazing animals in these wetlands there are also a host of predators here to feed on them.  Blue crabs will feed on fish and fiddler crabs but may be eaten themselves by river otters or bottle nosed dolphins.  Dolphins feed mostly on fish though, and will chase schools of mullet and menhaden onto mud flats to capture them.  Several kinds of predatory fish like sea trout and red fish go after the bait fish as well, and fishing for these popular game species is often rewarding around Cumberland. 

There are many fish eating birds in the area such as ospreys, the only bird to dive totally feet first into the water to catch fish.  Along the creek banks egrets and herons are able to grab and sometimes spear fish with their dagger like bills.  Clapper rails and white ibis with their probe shaped bills are more adapted to feeding on mud snails and fiddlers.  The most voracious predator of fiddler crabs though are probably the raccoons that roam the marshes at low tide eating them.

This, of course, is just a sampling of all the animal activity in our salt marshes.  So when the green marsh grasses turn gold in November, I keep in mind what it could eventually lead to and when I trek into a wet, unstable salt marsh, I think of all the life forms below my feet that more often than not will end up well above my knees.

The Newcomer

Well I’ve seen some of their tracks from time to time and heard a few stories about people seeing them on Cumberland; although most of these sightings were dismissed as being another animal, but on October 25th the Greyfield tour actually got a good look at a coyote off the North Cut Road on the north end of the Island. 

Originally an animal of our western states; coyotes have moved into most all of the eastern states over the last few decades and are now well established in all of Georgia counties, so it was just a matter of time before they made their way to Cumberland.  But how could this have happened?  Only two ways:  they were either brought over by man or they swam over from the mainland.  The swimming story is certainly plausible because like other canines, coyotes are good swimmers and like their larger cousins the wolves, they have a great deal of stamina.  Coyotes also follow their noses like other canines, so could this be how they found Cumberland?  The prevailing winds here are from the east which means the mainland is usually down wind from the island.  The scent from a large dead animal could possibly be carried to the mainland a couple miles away over mostly tidal marsh. 

This kind of feeding behavior also brings up another characteristic of the coyote and that is they will eat just about anything.  Being both highly adaptive and secretive they can be equally at home raiding garbage cans in a city or chasing down deer in an isolated wilderness area.  However, it’s the impact on game animals as well as livestock that has turned so many people against this elusive animal.  As a matter of fact, just about every hunter and farmer I’ve talked with over the years hates coyotes.  One western sheep farmer that was suffering heavy losses of lambs to coyotes stated that “Nature just can’t be safe with coyotes around”.  Even though the coyotes were more a natural part of the land than the sheep.  But it’s been this competition between people and coyotes that has reached epic proportions in some areas and condemned the wily coyote to a life on the run.

So how will this newcomer impact Cumberland?  Well; we don’t have sheep but we do have hogs that need to be eradicated and coyotes might take some of the smaller pigs.  But they won’t stop there.  These highly effective predators will also go after white-tailed deer along with many other native species.  With a native predator this keeps the system in balance.  But should the coyote be considered a native predator?  Even though they are native to many parts of North America, they are relatively new to the southeast and really new to Cumberland; (so new I don’t have photos of them yet for the blog).  However, some biologists have suggested they might be filling a niche left open when the native red wolf was nearly driven into extinction in this area sometime during the 1800’s.

Whatever the case, coyotes could change the dynamics of wildlife populations on the Island while providing a challenge to photograph in the future.

Acorns and Wildlife

October is when acorns ripen and fall from the trees; at times almost covering the forest floor.  On Cumberland there are eight species of oak trees that produce acorns.  However, the live oak, which is the predominant tree on the island, is also by far the largest producer of acorns.  Most people know that a tiny acorn can eventually become a huge oak tree, but fewer individuals understand how these oak seeds can effect wildlife populations.  A great number of animals depend on acorns as a food source; for some, their reproductive success is closely linked to the abundance of acorns.  For example:  White-tailed deer rely heavily on this nutritious autumn food, so when acorn production is high in the fall, chances are, there will also be a high number of fawns born the following spring.  If an animal eats well, they are more likely to reproduce well.  But this could ultimately lead to the future reduction in the number of oak trees; with a constant high number of browsing animals in the system there would be fewer acorns left for re-seeding the forest.  However, oaks have managed to survive by not producing a constant number of acorns each year.  During years of low acorn production, dependent animals adjust their numbers lower to match the food source.  If followed by a year of heavy acorn production, there will be a lot of food for the remaining wildlife plus plenty for re-seeding the forest.  It should be mentioned that large predators are also a regulating factor of plant consuming animals and complex relationships among all native plants and animals have been worked out over evolutionary time.  On Cumberland, however, this natural balance has been disrupted by non-native feral hogs.  Originally from Europe, hogs were first brought into North America and on to Cumberland in the 1500’s.  Hogs directly compete with native animals for the acorn crop but their population is not effected by acorn production because they have such a varied diet.  Also, while feeding, hogs root the ground plowing up the floor of the forest destroying the regeneration of new plant growth.  Left alone, hogs would eventually decimate a barrier island as they also impact other island Eco-systems with their rooting behaviour.  On Cumberland, predation on hogs from alligators and bobcats is hardly enough to keep their numbers under control.  These highly invasive swine can produce up to three large litters of young each year, so the National Park Service manages the hogs by hunting and trapping them.  The park service also sponsors six public hunts to help reduce the hog population.  The first hunt this year is in the third week of October and happens to coincide with the fall acorn crop which is much lower than what it was last year.  So competition for this important food source is much higher.  Removing the non-native hogs from this competition is a step towards achieving a more balanced natural system.

Fall Migration

October is the month when the fall migrations usually reach peak activity on Cumberland.  We already have peregrine falcons on the island following their food source:  other birds, south for the winter.  Peregrines, considered to be the fastest of all birds will also migrate long distances from the arctic regions to as far south as Argentina.  Of course, many of the small shore birds and song birds they feed on are in the area now.  Sanderlings, ruddy turnstones and semipalmated plovers frequent the beach this time of year while in the forest warblers are commonly seen.  Thirty two species of warblers have been recorded on Cumberland, so properly identifying these small birds in the thick vegetation can be a challenge.  American redstarts along with yellow throated and black and white warblers have been passing through for a couple weeks, while large flocks of yellow rumped warblers are just starting to arrive.

As for large numbers of birds though, nothing can compare with the huge flocks of tree swallows that usually show up in October.  Sometimes, thousands of these small dark colored birds swarm together over the inter-dune meadows and beach turning these areas black when they land in great numbers. 

A few bald eagles are on the island now, on their way to Florida for nesting season, but there were also two active eagle nests on Cumberland last year and once established, these birds may return to have their young.

The northern harrier or marsh hawk can be seen now flying low over the salt marsh and inter-dune meadows as flocks of cormorants fly higher over the island in V shaped formations.

Butterflies are also on the move.  Large numbers of sulfurs and gulf fritillaries have already passed through, being followed now by the monarchs.  Some years the monarch migration can be quite impressive.  I recall seeing great numbers of these large orange and black butterflies following the main duneline along the island as they work their way south toward a winter destination in Mexico.

Being located on the Atlantic flyway, Cumberland is both an important resting and feeding stop for many species of birds and butterflies during the migration.  This becomes apparent to anyone visiting the island during this active time of year.

Spanish Moss

Spanish moss is one of the most noticed and misunderstood plants on Cumberland.  Over the years, I have heard a number of unusual descriptions and interpretations of the ‘strange stuff’ that hangs from the trees.  I remember a commercial photo shoot on the Island a few years ago, when one of the fashion models thought a set designer had “put that stuff in the trees” to enhance the photos.  More recently, a visitor said “the stuff in the trees” reminded him of women’s under garments and a walk through Victoria’s Secrets. 

Just the origin of the plants name sparks the imagination as it may have been compared to the long gray beards of early spanish explorers.  The truth is, spanish moss is neither spanish nor is it a moss.  Instead it’s a native sub-tropical air plant or epiphyte that draws nourishment from moisture in the air, as opposed to a parasite that would feed directly on the host tree it is attached to.  Some people are confused over this because they have seen trees killed by spanish moss.  This is due usually to large amounts of moss shading out the trees leaves rather than feeding on the tree itself; but this is seldom seen on Cumberland where frequent windy conditions prune back the buildup of moss on most trees.  On the other hand, spanish moss acts like a sponge during wet weather adding a great deal of weight to a tree.  If strong winds occur many limbs can be broken off, leaving the tree susceptible to insect damage.  But the reservoir of water held by this odd looking plant will benefit the surrounding forest as it is released slowly through evaporation, nourishing other moisture loving plants.  Wind and air quality play a key role in the distribution and survival of spanish moss.  Although it flowers and produces seeds, the plant spreads mostly by pieces that have been separated by the wind.  This air plant is also an indicator of air quality because it will not grow in a polluted environment.  Spanish moss hanging from a live oak, it’s main host tree, is the classic picture of the deep south.  This time of year especially, with our brilliant red and golden autumn sunsets, the moss stands out in the forest, back lit by a warm quality of light that can stir the imagination, but for some reason it just doesn’t remind me of Victoria’s Secrets.