Ivory-billed Woodpecker, Choctawhatchee River, Florida

Map of Choctawhatchee River in the panhandle of Florida. To reach Tilley Landing from Tallahassee, take Rt. 10 west to Rt. 81 south; continue several miles past Red Bay (see center of map) and you will see a sign on the left.

This is the sign to the Tilley Landing boat ramp.

Entry road is a bumpy gravel road which smooths out

and you reach this sign on the right.

The road goes through a mixed hardwood and pine bottomland forest.

About .2 mi. past the green sign on the right we came to this dying hardwood tree.

There were areas of bark scaled off on one side

and lots more scaling on the opposite side of the tree.

Closer view.

Still closer view showing massive chiseling and areas where the wood is splintered and there are a few insect holes in the wood.

At the base of the tree were some mushrooms on its trunk and fresh looking wood chips on the ground. Our Corgi puppy has her nose on the wood chips. Wonder what she can tell?

On the gravel road we saw other evidence of scaling on trees.

This twisted, pine had large areas of bark off of it.

This tree has some interesting chiseled marks and holes.

Close-up showing horizontal, gouged marks that are rounded on one side

A pine with section of bark removed and hole.

Scaled off area is roughly 3 x 3 inches and the beetle larvae hole is slightly less than 1/2 inch wide.

At the end of the road there are two boat ramps, this is the one on the right. The water area is called Dead River and it empties into the Choctawhatchee River.

Here there were all the comforts of home — a covered picnic table and grill,

and even a well maintained porta-potty. There were two hunter's trucks parked and we could hear gunshots in the distance.

The view across the water was interesting with some large trees. The tree with the hollowed out base had a cavity high up in it

as this photo shows.

Here is a close-up of the cavity.

To the right of this tree was a bush with red berries and in the middle was a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, hardly visible in this photo taken with my Canon Mark II with a Canon 300 mm IS lens with a 1.4 converter.

But if you blow-up the photo and crop it you see the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker with a berry in its mouth!

On our way to Florida, we left Congaree National Forest in South Carolina (see our blog entry below), a majestic old growth forest in the historic range of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker and in which a current search for the Ivory-billed Woodpeckers is taking place. We then headed to the Choctawhatchee River in the panhandle of Florida, where Auburn researcher Dr. Geoff Hill and his team had reported Ivory-billed Woodpeckers in May 2005 and the winter of 2006 and were again searching this winter season. An update to his website as of yesterday says they have had several more sightings of Ivory-billed woodpeckers very recently. We were curious as to what the area was like. We did not have a canoe so were limited to looking on foot and by car.

On Geoff Hill's website, he specifically recommends going to Tilley Landing and says "this area has numerous large cavities and scaled trees, including feeding sign on spruce pine along the road, suggesting that it is regularly used by Ivory-billed Woodpeckers. Walking the gravel road from the upper parking area (at the Choctawhatchee Wildlife Area sign) to the end of the road is an excellent way for birders who do not want to kayak or wade to search for ivorybills."

We went to Tilley Landing and followed the signs and gravel road. The road at first is bumpy, then levels out and goes through swamp forest of pine and hardwoods in which there are some large mature trees, mixed with smaller, thinner trees. We both drove and walked and did see a variety of trees with areas of bark scaled off. A short distance past a green sign we came on a tree right next to the road with massive amounts of bark scaled off. The tree was dying but not entirely dead and the bark was still fairy well adhered on it. It has mushrooms growing out of the base and plentiful fresh wood chips on the ground.

Could these have been done by an Ivory-billed Woodpecker? To actually know, one would have to have evidence of an Ivory-billed Woodpecker doing this and also rule out the possibility that a Pileated Woodpecker could have done this. We are well aware of the large controvery surrounding any recent Ivory-billed Woodpecker sightings and to our knowledge, there are no crystal clear recent photos of an Ivory-billed Woodpecker, which is the proof the ornithological world is waiting for. Hill has three teams now searching the Choctowhatchee hoping to obtain photos of an Ivory-billed Woodpecker.

Hill shows numerous examples of tree scaling on his website that he feels is unique and on more tightly adhered tree bark compared to what he had witnessed done in the Alabama woods around Auburn Univ. presumably by Pileated Woodpeckers.

According to the authoritative Birds of North American monographs done by Dr. Jerome Jackson on both the Ivory-billed Woodpecker and the Pileated Woodpecker, both woodpeckers could do scaling on trees, but much less frequently in the case of the Pileated Woodpecker. He says "the primary foraging method for Ivory-billed Woodpeckers was to strip bark from recently dead trees by using its bill much like a carpenter's wood chisel to reveal beetle larvae: also sought wood-boring insects in small trees and fallen logs, splintering them in its search for food. Less often would excavate in a manner similar to Pileated Woodpeckers—digging deeper, slightly conical holes into rooted wood."

Regarding the Ivory-billed bill, Jackson says the "bill is incredibly robust; its straightness and broad and deep base contribute to its strength. At about 7.6 cm long and tapering to a chisel-tip on both upper and lower halves of bill can serve not only as a wood chisel, but also as probe, dagger, and pincers all wrapped into one tool, a Swiss Army Knife for the primeval forest." He says that the Pileated's bill is a "dark bill that is much smaller and more pointed than Ivory-billed's."

It is interesting to look at the scaling examples in the photos above. One in particular shows large horizontal rounded gouges across the wood. If someone could provide definitive evidence of the feeding signs of Ivory-bills, this could be used to assess other habitats for the presence of Ivory-bills.

We continued down the road and at the end there are two boat ramps — one on a road veering off to the left, one on the right. I took the photos of the one on the right. It was a well equipped ramp area going down into the water with all the conveniences. The water area is not directly on the Choctawhatchee River, but leads to it. If one were to venture out in a boat you would need good GPS skills and detailed maps.

We encoutered several hunters and trucks and could hear distant gunfire at times while standing at the landing, but there mostly was quiet. We soaked it in. Across the water there were large Cypress and other trees, one with a good sized cavity. We heard and saw Eastern Bluebirds fly over our heads. Across the water we heard a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and saw it in a shrub eating the berries. At one point in the Choctawhatchee woods, we saw a Pileated Woodpecker fly in front of us, giving a side view. We had a one second view through the trees, but it was enough for us to see the red crest and black trailing edge on the upper and lower wings as it flew.

The birdlife was not as abundant as we had seen at Congaree National Forest and we did not hear many bird sounds. Our bird list is below. We did not see an Ivory-billed Woodpecker. If it does exist, we hope Hill, or someone, gets a clear photo.

Bird List, Choctowhatchee River

Winter Wren
Northen Cardinal
Carolina Chickadee
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Northen Flicker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Eastern Bluebird
Carolina Wren
American Robin
Common Grackle
Red-winged Blackbird
Hermit Thrush
Northern Mockingbird
Pileated Woodpecker

Photos @ Lillian Stokes, 2007

Congaree National Park: Ivory-billed Woodpecker, part 2

A flooded part of the Congaree forest along Sims Trail

Don next to one of the large trees

Scaled areas on one of the pines on the trail

Large dying hardwood, lower section

Upper dead part of the same tree

There were several areas of scaling on this same tree, here

And here,

Close-up of the scaling

A Pileated Woodpecker photographed through the branches about 6o plus feet away with a Canon Mark II with a Canon 300 IS lens plus 1.4 teleconverter

Another shot of the same bird, taken from same place, cropped and enlarged. Notice the red dot to the right of the Pileated. It's the nearby head of a Red-bellied Woodpecker.

Farther down the path

We decide to go over the bridge

The Cypress woods viewed from the bridge are thick

"Wise Lake" is more of a flooded opening, with a serene feel

On our return to the visitor's center we see this perky, petite Winter Wren

continued from 1/4/2007...

We continued to walk farther down the Sims Trail through the old growth woods at Congaree National Forest. The trail took us next to some large trees, some fallen, some standing. We were struck by the abundant birdlife, including lots of woodpeckers. We crossed over the boardwalk and continued down Sims Trail towards Wise Lake.

Several times we noticed trees whose bark had been scaled off. Most noticeably, we came to a large tree on the right that had the bark scaled off in several places, revealing shallow holes. See the photos above. The photos reminded us of some of the photos we had seen on Auburn University Ivory-billed Woodpecker researcher, Dr. Geoff Hill's website, given as possible evidence of Ivory-billed Woodpecker scaling.

There were several scaled places on this tree. The top of the tree was dead and broken off. There were mushrooms growing on the tree and on the lower portion, there was a section of removed bark that showed fanned out beetle tunnels. We do not know who scaled the bark off the tree. Ivory-billed Woodpeckers were known to forage by chiseling bark off recently dead trees to expose beetle larvae but also were reported to occasionally excavate in rotted wood like a Pileated Woodpecker. On the other hand, Pileated Woodpeckers, while foraging in a variety of ways, from gleaning to deep retangular excavations, have been reported to sometimes scale bark off trees.

We heard and saw Pileated Woopeckers several times. At one point, when we were close to a clearing before Wise Lake, we saw a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers in the trees. We were alerted to their presence by what sounded like muted pecking into bark. We then heard 4 very loud single knocks, spaced erratically, come from their vicinity. The knocks did not sound like anything that had been reported from Ivory-billed Woodpeckers. We were surprised by the loudness of the knocks, and they seemed different in quality from the softer feeding pecks that preceeded them. We walked into the forest, which was easy due to the lack of thick understory and got a little closer to one of them. We saw him feeding by pecking into a large dead rotted tree stub. See Lillian's photos. Interestingly, a Red-bellied Woodpecker lurked nearby, within seeming to watch the Pileated peck into the wood. Lillian photographed the male Pileated Woodpecker from about 60 feet away. The male Pileated fed for awhile by pecking, then sticking his bill further into the wood. He then flew off towards the female, his black and white wings barely through the trees.

Lillian's photo tip: If you are photographing through dense woods, move your body until you find a hole through the tangle in which the camera's autofocus sensor will lock onto the bird.

We crossed a bridge and looked into the Cypress forest realizing how dense the woods were. We came to Wise Lake, expecting a large body of water with better sight lines. The scene of water and large cypress trunks appeared ancient and serene. We stopped, watched and absorbed the quiet.

We returned back the way we had come, encountering Eastern Phoebes, a Blue-headed Vireo and a Hairy Woodpecker excavating a hole. Back near the visitor's center we saw a perky Winter Wren, with it's little tail cocked up in classic wren style.

Did we see an Ivory-billed Woodpecker? No. But it was enchanting and awe-inspiring to visit this truly magnificent forest, in the historic range of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker and experience a little, what it must have been like when Ivory-bills were there. It is well worth the trip.

Here is our trip list of birds:

Pileated Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Eastern Phoebe
Blue-headed Vireo
Eastern Bluebird
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
Dark-eyed Junco
White-throated Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Winter Wren
Carolina Wren
Northen Mockingbird
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Red-shouldered Hawk


Coming Monday....we visited the Choctawhatchee River Basin, FL home of recent Ivory-billed Woodpecker sightings

Congaree National Park: Ivory-billed Woodpecker, part 1

Entrance Sign

The visitor's center is nestled in the woods

Don entering visitor's center

Display inside visitor's center of model of ancient fallen tree

Sign about some of the large "National Champion" trees that were and still are, in Congaree. One current Loblolly pine is 167 feet tall and 15 ft. in circumference

At the visitor's desk there was an Ivory-billed Woodpecker Sighting Form from Cornell Lab of Ornithology

The back of the form had diagrams showing how to tell an Ivory-billed Woodpecker from a Pileated Woodpecker. The form was to be sent to Cornell.

Large map of Congaree National Park, which is 22,200 acres along the Congaree River

We walked the Bluff Trail, then the Sim's Trail to Wise Lake on Cedar Creek (blue line). We could not get all the way down to the river (large lower blue line on upper map) because of flooding of the trails.

The trail was beautiful and we walked on the fallen leaves

The height of some of the trees were amazing. Lillian focusing on a bird high up.

Some trees towered way, way, above our heads

We encountered many Hermit Thrushes

On our way to FL, we stopped in Congaree National Park (est. 2003), South Carolina, a 22,200 acre preserve which contains the largest contiguous area of old-growth bottomland hardwood forest remaining in the United States and is one of the tallest broad-leaved forests in the world with thousands of trees over 130 ft. tall. Many of the trees are 100-200 years old. Bald Cyress and Water Tupelo trees are found in the low areas of standing water and Sweet Gums, Ash, Oaks, Loblolly Pine and other hardwoods grow in the rest of the forest.

We heard there is a current Ivory-billed Woodpecker mobile search team associated with Cornell Lab of Ornithology that will be in the park from Dec. 5 th into Jan. searching and using autonomous recording units (ARUs). The Nature Conservancy, in cooperation with others in the South Carolina Ivory-billed Working Group will continue the search during the winter.

Since we were passing nearby, we though we would stop and see for ourselves what this magnificent habitat was like. Visitors to the park may not use motororized vehicles or motorboats, but walking and canoeing are permitted. The park is vast and much of it is difficult to access. At the time we were there, much of the forest and trails that led to the river were flooded. We had limited time and walked the Bluff Trail then took Sim's Trail down to West Lake. There is a boardwalk but some of it was underwater.

It was partly sunny and pleasant and ranged from the low 40's to the mid 50's. The forest was beautiful with the acoustical quality of deep quiet punctuated with frequent bird sounds, especially the ringing of Carolina Wren song and the bubbling cascade of Winter Wrens. Early on we saw a Hermit Thrush, one of many we were to encounter.

We were immediately struck by how tall some of the trees were. We had to cran our necks to see all the way to the tops. The large trees were mixed in with smaller trees and low vegetation without a very thick understory. It was as if we had walked back in time and were experiencing what it was like long ago. Up until the last half of the 1800's there were more than 52 million acres of floodplain forest in the Southeast. South Carolina had 1 million acres. Now there is so little left — what a loss.

continued tomorrow.....

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to you all. Our New Year's resolution is to keep on blogging and continue to bring you great photos and bird info. We have been on a trip and migrated to FL where we now are. On our way we stopped at two places where there have been reports of Ivory-billed Woodpeckers — Congaree National Park, SC and the Choctawatchee River in the panhandle of FL. We will give you our trip reports soon.
Lillian and Don

See you in 2007

We will be travelling for the next week. Have a wonderful holiday and a great New Year!
We will see you in early January 2007!

Happy Holidays

We wish all of you a very

Happy Holiday!

Lillian, Don and Phoebe

(The photo is of our puppy Phoebe, on left, and her sister, Lyric, on right)