A Day at Francis Marion and Sumter National Forests

On February 21st, 2019 our class decided to take an hour drive north in order to arrive in McClellanville, SC, at the Francis Marion Park. That Thursday was a beautiful sunny day with a high of 77 degrees Fahrenheit and a low of 52 degrees. Around noon that day there was a high wind speed of 12 mph and a low of 5 mph later that night. The air pressure for the day was a high of 1022 MB around 10 a.m. that morning. When we first drove in we rode down a long winding dirt road covered by a canopy of trees, where we eventually reached a field with a map showing different nature trails we could walk along. The first path we went down was full of muddy, swamp like terrain where water seemed to of recently been. Our professor pointed out how the tree stumps we saw sticking out of the dried up forest were cedar trees, if I am recalling correctly, and they were peaking out like that in order to receive air. On this first path we encountered a Horned Passalus Beetle, it was hiding along a fallen tree. Its shell was very hard and it had what looked like horns at the top of its head. We concluded this trail by walking down a bridge area where we were trying to spot birds, but we unfortunately were not very lucky. The next path we adventured to encompassed a huge lake on the left and a small creek/stream on the right with a dirt path in-between the two. On the left we saw a baby alligator grazing along the water and a beautiful white egret searching for food. On the right, there was also a blue Heron in the water looking for food as well. This area was very unique to me because it seemed like a very suitable environment for local organisms in the area. The last trail we went to consisted of a woody pine like area full of pine trees. Our professor brought us to a pine tree that had a white slash painted on it which he indicated that it was painted for a reason. He explained how when pine trees mature they begin to develop a white sap like substance that oozes down the trees from a hole. The sap produced helps local woodpeckers to protect their nest and themselves from predation due to the sickness of the sap. I found some sap on the ground and shared it with our professor and both of our hands became sticky very quickly, it really was true! The last unique aspect to this trip I remember is when we spotted a Bald Eagle flying above mixed in with other turkey vultures. It was so fascinating to see all of the wild life that surrounded us and all we had to do was truly look for it.

Publicado el febrero 27, 2019 06:56 TARDE por lindsaywalls