Sunday, October 2nd: Reed Bingham State Park, Georgia

Near Moultrie, GA

This 1,613 acre park was established in 1965 and surrounds a 375 acre lake.  A number of habitats, including cypress swamp and sandhill areas, are represented here.

 This park is an over-wintering roost for thousands of both Black and Turkey Vultures.  In 2005 and 2006 this park became part of a major conservation effort to restore Longleaf Pines in the southeastern US where 97% of these pines have been lost due to logging and changing of the land for agriculture.

Many, many Gopher Tortoises are found in the sandy uphill areas of the park.  On our hike, we saw marker flags over at least 50 active burrows.

Spicebush Swallowtail Butterfly

Their host plants include Red Bay, Swamp Bay, Sassafras and Camphortrees 

Spanish Moss

Spanish Moss is actually a member of the pineapple family and is not even a true moss, but an air plant, or epiphyte.

It grows on trees and other substrates for support but gets its nutrients from the air, sun and rain.  The thin, chain-like grey-green pendants hanging from live oak and cypress limbs are used for nest-building by a variety of birds.

Over the years this versatile plant has been used commercially.  In 1925, moss production was valued at over one million dollars  in the South.  The famous Mayo Clinic found it was 6-10 times more absorbent than cotton and used it in surgical procedures and dressings.

Eastern Bluebird

 Eastern Bluebirds occur across eastern North America and south as far as Nicaragua.  Birds that live farther north and in the west of the range tend to lay more eggs than eastern and southern birds.

 They tend to eat mostly insects, wild fruit and berries.

The male Eastern Bluebird displays at his nest cavity to attract a female.  He brings nest material to the hole, goes in and out, and waves his wings while perched above it.  That's pretty much his contribution to nest building; only the female builds the nest and incubates the eggs.

These birds are resident to medium-distance migrants leaving their breeding grounds in the north of their range to winter in southeastern U.S. or Mexico.  Populations in the northern part of their range are entirely migratory, spending winters in the SE U.S. or Mexico.  Some fly as far as 2,000 miles between western Manitoba and Texas.

Gulf Fritillary Butterfly

Red-headed Woodpecker

Banana Spider aka Golden silk orb-weaver

 They grow up to about 2 inches in size and if one includes the legs, some are over 5 inches in size.  The females are much larger than the males and typically eat the males after mating.  This species is the oldest surviving spider genus with fossil remnants over 165 million years old.

The yellow silk of this spider's web gives the golden orb its name.  Theses webs are extremely complex and can be as wide as one meter across.  The yellow coloring is thought to serve two main purposes: first, the sunlit web attracts and traps bees that re drawn to the bright silk strands; second, the color blends in with background foliage, acting as camouflage in darker and shadier conditions.

BirdMobile in Reed Bingham SP