Georgia rockcress makes
comeback at Black’s Bluff

By Mincy Moffett
   A rare Georgia plant species, the Georgia rockcress (Arabis georgiana), has been pulled from the precipice of extinction and is showing early signs of safeguarding success on the steep slopes above the Coosa River. The population of this small, white-flowered member of the mustard family (Brassicaceae), which is a state-protected species and a candidate for listing under the federal Endangered Species Act, had shrunk to one plant at The Nature Conservancy’s Black’s Bluff Preserve near Rome.
   But last spring, 100 individuals of the Georgia rockcress (Black’s Bluff ecotype) were outplanted at 10 appropriate micro-sites within the preserve. A thorough census this March indicated a survival rate of 85 percent, with 40 percent flowering.
   These very encouraging first-year results will serve as a spring-board for future Georgia Plant Conservation Alliance safeguarding efforts. The GPCA is an innovative network of public gardens, government agencies and environmental organizations committed to preserving the state’s endangered flora.
   The Black’s Bluff population of Georgia rockcress, discovered in the mid-1990s and consisting of just a few plants, dwindled to a single plant by 2007. Then the Nongame Conservation Section, along with GPCA partners, the State Botanical Garden of Georgia, the Chattahoochee Nature Center and The Nature Conservancy, began the ambitious task of preserving the Black’s Bluff ecotype.
   Seed was collected from the last plant in fall 2008 before its death and transferred to the State Botanical Garden in Athens. Five plants were germinated from the seed. These plants became the initial stock that by 2009 produced thousands of seed and the second generation plants that were outplanted in 2010.
   Excess seed is warehoused at the State Botanical Garden. The Chattahoochee Nature Center in Roswell has taken over the role as lead propagator. It is expected that hundreds of seedlings and thousands of seed will be outplanted or direct-sown at Black’s Bluff in the next two years.
   Georgia rockcress is known from only six sites in Georgia; three in the Chattahoochee River basin and three within the drainage of the Coosa and Oostanaula rivers. Populations in northwest Georgia, including at Black’s Bluff, are of particular concern with sizes averaging from one to 30 individuals per site. The reintroduced population at Black’s Bluff will be monitored vigorously for signs of in-breeding depression that may result from the genetic bottle-neck of having a single parent.

Mincy Moffett has a doctorate in plant ecology and is a botanist and wildlife biologist with the DNR’s Nongame Conservation Section.




Entanglements, strandings
shadow right whale counts

   The North Atlantic right whale calving season off the Southeast coast featured the good, the bad and the unexpected this year.
   Federal and state agencies, along with the nonprofit EcoHealth Alliance, documented 20 calves and 120 other right whales through March 31. The number of calves is about average, according to Clay George, a wildlife biologist with DNR’s Nongame Conservation Section.
  DNR also worked with NOAA Fisheries Service and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission staff to obtain skin samples from 23 whales, 12 of them calves. The genetic information is used to monitor these very rare whales.
   That’s all good.
   The bad: Five whales were seen entangled in fishing gear. The total matched the record high reached in 2009. Biologists disentangled two of them (video), sedating one – only the second time a whale has been sedated on the open ocean. The sedated whale, a young female already in poor condition, later died from complications of chronic entanglement with fishing gear.
   Compounding that loss, four more right whale mortalities were documented between South Carolina and Virginia. Of those, one died from entanglement in fishing gear and one from a ship collision. Cause of death in the other cases could not be determined.
   Two of the dead whales were breeding-age females, one of which was seen in the Southeast this winter with a calf. Protection of breeding-age females is critical to recovery of this endangered population.
   The deaths and entanglements are troubling but not altogether unexpected. Unfortunately, fishing gear entanglements and ship collisions are well-documented causes of right whale mortality. What surprised George this year was the distribution of whales. Fewer right whales were seen off the Georgia coast than in recent years. Most of the right whales were seen in Florida waters, some as far south as the Fort Lauderdale area.
   “Many moms with calves were only seen a handful of times this winter,” George said. “We believe the right whales may have moved farther south in response to the abnormally cold water temperatures in the Southeast this winter.”
   Another surprise: an orphaned newborn calf seen off St. Simons Island on Christmas Day. The calf appeared healthy and behaved normally, but biologists were unable to locate the calf’s mother. George speculated that the calf may have become separated from its mother during bad weather, or perhaps was abandoned for unknown reasons.

Great whites off Georgia
Aerial survey teams also documented numerous sightings of great white sharks offshore of Georgia and Florida this winter. Biologists have seen great whites in previous years, but then the sharks were seen scavenging on dead whales. This year, numerous great whites were spotted swimming offshore when no whales were present. Biologists think great white sharks may migrate to Southeast waters to prey on young and sick whales. If so, the sharks likely return to the Northeast in spring as Southeast waters warm and whales return north to their feeding grounds.


Ranger handles hawk shooting
Teen takes lesson to heart

   Cpl. Jesse Cook knew two things after questioning a Camden County teen accused of shooting a hawk with a BB gun Feb. 20:
   The teen lied in denying he did it.
   Second, there might be a better way to handle the case – considering all factors, including family hardships – than charging him.
   When the 18-year-old confessed, Cook said he would speak with federal agents on his behalf if the teen would visit the injured red-shouldered hawk where it was being rehabilitated, talk with the vet caring for it and write a report on what he learned.
   The young man, who wants to follow in his father’s footsteps and join the Navy, turned the report in on time. The two pages detail the natural history of red-shouldered hawks and the extreme care, from physical therapy to feet cleanings and sometimes forced feedings, required to rehabilitate one.
   The teen then closes with an apology. He writes that he is “truly sorry and feel(s) really bad about shooting the bird.”
   “I promise never again to thoughtlessly shoot another living creature. I am truly thankful that you gave me this opportunity to learn more about the red-shouldered hawk and the ramifications of my actions. I will try my best to make a successful career of the Navy and not waste this opportunity that you have given me.”
   The hawk, a state- and federally protected species, has been moved to a flight cage at a rehabilitation center and is expected to fully recover.
   Cook, an 18-year DNR veteran, considers the teen’s prospects promising, too.
   “I personally don't believe that we will ever have any further problems out of (him) and I hope that he will become a successful young man.”


Out my backdoor
Drama in the bluebird box

By Terry W. Johnson
   To me, having a pair of bluebirds nest in my backyard is a big deal. It means I provided the birds with a much-needed place for them to lay their eggs. It also guarantees I will regularly see one of our most colorful birds for weeks to come.
   Yet, there also is a compelling story behind every nest. I’m convinced a quick glimpse of what goes on in and around a nest will help you better appreciate bluebirds nesting in your yard.
   After a male eastern bluebird selects a nesting territory, he tries to attract a mate. If successful, he escorts her to the nesting sites in his domain. She inspects each before choosing one.
   Some females begin collecting materials for the nest within hours of making their choice; others wait a few days. Some persnickety females work on nests at several sites before focusing in on one box or natural cavity. Construction may take from two days to two weeks, but four to five days is the norm.
   The cup-shaped nest is a work of art. It is typically made of pine needles, grass, straw and twigs. Feathers and hair are occasionally included.
   Bluebird nests usually contain four to five eggs. Most are light blue but 5-9 percent are white. Once a female starts laying eggs, she lays one a day – usually before mid-morning – until the clutch is completed. Incubation begins once the last egg is laid, ensuring the eggs hatch at about the same time.
   Incubation takes from 13 to 20 days. The length is affected by the amount of food a male brings his mate and the air temperature in the box. Low temperatures and less food extend incubation.
   Hatchlings emerge naked, blind and immobile – in a word, helpless. They totally depend on the parents to feed and protect them. Because they have no feathers, they cannot regulate their body temperature. In cold weather, the female will brood her young to keep them warm.
   Feeding the young is a monumental task and requires both parents’ undivided attention. In Georgia, where bluebirds nest two to three times a year, the young hatched earlier in the year often assist in feeding their younger brothers and sisters. Each hatchling is fed about once every 20 minutes during daylight hours. At first, the diet is soft-bodied insects such as caterpillars. Hard-bodied insects are added as the young mature.
   When hatchlings are 8 days old, their eyes begin to open. Pin feathers appear within 10 days. Once the youngsters are 12-14 days old, they become very skittish and will bail out of a nest if disturbed. (Nest-box checks should be curtailed when the young reach this age!) The young are ready to take their first flight when they are anywhere from 17-21 days old.
   The young birds often have to be coaxed out of their secure home by their parents. If a young bird is too weak or refuses to leave, after a few hours the parents will abandon it.
   Once the fledglings take wing, they don’t return to the box. However, for the next three to four weeks they are fed by their parents.
   I would like say that all bluebird nesting attempts are successful. They aren’t. Females, their eggs and the young are all vulnerable to a wide range of hazards. House wrens will peck bluebird eggs. Predators such as rat snakes, cats and raccoons are always a threat. Parasites such as blow flies can kill hatchlings.
   Consequently, although the bluebird box standing at the edge of your yard may seem serene, you now know that the bluebirds using it are engaged in the deadly serious business of trying to raise their young.
   With that in mind, who needs to watch a contrived reality show on TV when a true life drama is being played out just outside your backdoor?

Terry Johnson is a former Nongame program manager with the Wildlife Resources Division, a backyard wildlife expert, and executive director of TERN, the friends group of the Nongame Conservation Section. (Permission is required to reprint this column. Contact rick.lavender@dnr.state.ga.us)

Read his full column on bluebirds, including the misperception that dads help with incubation.

Cleaning house
Ever noticed that after a brood of young bluebirds have “flown the coop” you never find any droppings in the box? The young birds’ dropping are surrounded by a thin membrane known as a fecal sac. The parents remove these sacs, dropping them some distance from the nest. It is thought this helps keeps odors down, which, in turn, reduces the chances that predators will find the young.

N.Y. bluebird cam
Peer inside a nest daily with the New York State Bluebird Society's nest cam. WildEarth TV is the web host for the live streaming video. Click image to view.



Noteworthy

   Endangered Canby's dropwort in Dooly County is the focus of a federal Wetlands Reserve Enhancement Program grant, one of only five approved nationwide this fiscal year. The $500,000 will go toward enrolling some 400 acres in and around Oakbin pond under conservation easements. Restoring the natural wetland, one of the few known Georgia sites with Oxypolis canbyi, is the goal of the project headed by the Natural Resources Conservation Service and DNR.
   On the General Assembly's last day, Georgia lawmakers passed legislation to provide for the transfer and distribution of unused income tax credits for donating real property for conservation purposes.  If Gov. Deal signs House Bill 346, the added incentive of being able to transfer credits takes effect next year and is expected to add to the number of landowners who donate conservation easements.
   Bald eagles are still going strong in Georgia. In this year’s aerial surveys of eagle nests, Nongame Program Manager Jim Ozier counted 142 occupied nesting territories – up from 2010 – but slightly fewer successful nests and young fledged than last year.
   Unfortunately, Avian Vacuolar Myelinopathy, a neurological disease deadly to waterbirds, is going strong at Clarks Hill Reservoir. The number of known eagle nesting territories there has dwindled from as many as eight to two, with a pair of adult eagles found dead at one nest this year and 11 deaths documented all told since fall.
   Winning artwork in the Give Wildlife a Chance Poster Contest is on display during weekends this month at the Go Fish Education Center in Perry. The 21st annual art competition sponsored by the DNR Wildlife Resources Division and The State Botanical Garden of Georgia fielded more than 4,400 entries from kindergarten through 5th-grade students. (Also see winners on Flickr!)
   White-nose syndrome continues to creep across the U.S. and Canada. Kentucky is the latest state to document the bat killer, confirming WNS in a little brown bat from a cave in Trigg County, just north of Nashville, Tenn.
   At least 10 adult brown pelicans rescued from the Gulf oil spill last summer and released on Georgia’s coast are in the Peach State for nesting season. The question for Nongame Conservation Section biologist Tim Keyes, who spotted the banded pelicans (one is pictured at left), is whether the rehabilitated birds actually nest and, if so, successfully raise young.
   Relocating red-cockaded woodpeckers is expanding these endangered birds across their range, the Southern Range Translocation Cooperative says in its 2008-2010 report. The partnership of federal agencies, five southern states and two universities topped its three-year target for red-cockaded woodpeckers moved to start or strengthen populations, including four pairs and three singles translocated last fall from Eglin Air Force Base to Silver Lake Wildlife Management Area near Bainbridge (see "Newcomers settling in," October 2010).
   Ten more robust redhorse will help scientists probe migration patterns and recruitment in the Broad River. The Nongame Conservation Section’s Brett Albanese and Deb Weiler helped capture and tag the rare suckers, doubling the number of fish the University of Georgia is tracking in a State Wildlife Grants project to better understand the river’s introduced population of robust redhorse.
   Longleaf pine forests in Georgia will benefit from funding to restore another 20,000 acres through the Conservation Reserve Program’s Longleaf Pine Initiative. Announced recently, the funding extends the landowners program dubbed CP36 that has restored more than 77,000 acres of longleaf pine since its start in 2006, continuing work started by a precursor program for longleaf – CP3A.
   A recent controlled burn at Dawson Forest Wildlife Management near Dawsonville will help eastern turkeybeard, state-listed as rare in Georgia. DNR Game Management and Nongame Conservation sections are collaborating on improving habitat for rare species on the 90-acre unit, with burning aimed at restoring vegetation communities on rocky, xeric ridgetops.
   Forest management and wildlife opening practices that enhance habitat for many wildlife species are detailed in a new set of free fact sheets from DNR's Wildlife Resources Division, the Georgia Forestry Commission and other conservation partners. Click here, then look under "Manage Wildlife On Your Land."

Parting shot

Like parent, like …

Three children of DNR staff – from left, Harper Ann Moffett, Heron Eaton and Jarrod Shulimson – volunteer during a Georgia Plant Conservation Alliance workday in April. The smiles, hard hats and dirty hands were part of outplanting Carolina bog laurel (Kalmia carolina) at a mountain bog on Chattahoochee National Forest. Carolina bog laurel is state-listed as threatened in Georgia.