Walking Weymouth Woods

 

Red-cockaded Woodpecker (Dryobates borealis)
at a nest hole in a Longleaf Pine (Pinus palustris).
Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve, North Carolina.  

Longleaf Pines (Pinus palustris) tower over drought tolerant plants that grow from the sandy soil. Threatened Red-cockaded Woodpeckers (Dryobates borealis) fly between the trees.  This is the Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve, located in Moore County North Carolina.  The Sandhills run along the inland edge of the Coastal Plain from Georgia to Virginia. They are the remains of ancient windblown dunes and sand sheets formed when sea levels were higher than today.  The rainwater drains quickly through the sand creating a home for a unique assemblage of plants and animals.   

Longleaf Pines.
Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve, North Carolina. 

Longleaf Pine forest.  The trees have been scorched by fire at their bases.
Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve, North Carolina.

Starting down the trail at Weymouth Woods it feels like you are in a park ,with scattered pines and an open understory.  The Longleaf Pine ecosystem is maintained by fire that kills the hardwood trees which would otherwise overtake and replace the pines.  Evidence of fire is found at the base of the pines whose thick, scaly bark keeps the trees from being consumed.

Yellow Wild Indigo (Baptisia tinctoria). 
Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve, North Carolina.

Goat's Rue (Tephrosia virginiana).
Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve North Carolina.
 

Spurge Nettle (Cnidoscolus stimulosus). 
Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve, North Carolina.  

Maryland Meadow Beauty (Rhexia mariana). 
Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve, North Carolina.  

Wildflowers abound in Weymouth Woods.  Members of the pea family, the Fabaceae, like Yellow Wild Indigo (Baptisia tinctoria) and Goat’s Rue (Tephrosia virginiana) grow well in the dry Sandhill soil.  Spurge Nettle (Cnidoscolus stimulosus) and Maryland Rhexia (Rhexia mariana) plants flower along the trails.

Rattlesnake Master (Eryngium yuccifolium).
Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve, North Carolina. 

Threadleaf Coreopsis (Coreopsis verticillata).
Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve, North Carolina.

 

White-topped Aster (Sericocarpus sp.).
Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve, North Carolina. 

Composites (family Asteraceae) like the impressive Rattlesnake Master (Eryngium yuccifolium), yellow flowered Threadleaf Coreopsis (Coreopsis vericillata) and the delicate White-topped Aster (Seriococarpus sp.) brighten up the woods. 

James Creek.
Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve, North Carolina. 

Sweet Bay Magnolia (Magnolia virginiana).
Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve, North Carolina. 

Ebony Jewelwing (Calopteryx maculata).  The white spots
on the tips of the wing show this is a female Ebony Jewelwing. 
Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve, North Carolina. 

James Creek trickles through Weymouth Woods and the trail crosses this small stream in several places. The creek supports an array of plants that require more water, like Sweetbay Magnolia (Magnolia virginiana).  Ebony Jewelwings (Calopteryx maculata), brilliant black and blue damselflies flutter in the cool shade.   

Cottonmouth (Agkistridon piscivorus)
swimming across James Creek.
Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve, North Carolina. 

The creek also harbors Cottonmouths, also known as Water Moccasins (Akistrodon piscivorus), a venomous pit viper.  In fact, one of the bridges across James Creek is called Moccasin Crossing.  One day Diane and I were hiking along the creek and happened upon one of these snakes.  We jumped back in surprise as the snake slid into the water and swam away. 

This female Eastern Towhee (Piplio erythrophthalmus)
is a member of  the white-eyed subspecies.
Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve, North Carolina. 

A brilliant male Summer Tanager (Piranga rubra)
peeking around a branch. 
Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve, North Carolina.
 

This Great-crested Flycatcher (Myiarchus crinitus)
was carrying a feather to its nest hole.  
Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve, North Carolina. 

Eastern Wood Pewee (Contopus virens).
Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve, North Carolina. 

Birds are abundant in the pine forest and along the creek.  White-eyed Eastern Towhees (Pipilo erythrophthalmus) call from the undergrowth.  The Sandhills are the inland limit of this Coastal Plain subspecies's range.  Summer Tanagers (Piranga rubra) give their “pit-i-tuck” call from the trees, Great-crested Flycatchers (Myiarchus crinitus) pop in and out of their nest holes and Eastern Wood Pewees (Contopus virens) sing their plaintive “pee-oh-wee” song as they look for insects. 

Common Nighthawk (Chordeiles minor).
Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve, North Carolina. 

Common Nighthawks (Chordeiles minor) usually hunt at night but will sometimes fly during the day.  We were lucky enough to see them perform their impressive aerial mating display.  A male Nighthawk will climb to an impressive height than swoop toward the ground.  As it dives, air passing through wing feathers makes a roar like a speeding racecar.  This is known as booming and is done to attract female Nighthawks and to warn off trespassing males.  

Bachman's Sparrow (Peucaea aestivalis).
Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve, North Carolina. 

Bachman’s Sparrows (Peucaea aestivalis) are specialists of the Southeastern pine forests.  They range from Texas to North Carolina and are a near threatened species.  These sparrows will sing from low branches of pines, but they spend much of their time on the ground where they forage and build their nests.  

Red-headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus).
Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve, North Carolina.

Woodpeckers are common in Weymouth Woods including Red-headed Woodpeckers (Melanerpes erythrocephalus).  These bold black, white and red birds light on the tree trunks and chisel out insects.  

 

Red-cockaded Woodpecker.
Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve, North Carolina.

Perhaps the most charismatic creature of Weymouth Woods is the Red-cockaded Woodpecker.  About 12,000 of these threatened birds are found in colonies from Virginia to Texas. The Red-cockaded Woodpecker has a black and white ladder back, black cap and a large white cheek patch.  Males have a small red patch of feathers behind the eye, the cockade, that is rarely visible. 

 

Red-cockaded Woodpecker visiting its nest hole. 
Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve, North Carolina.

Red-cockaded Woodpecker flying from its nest hole.
Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve, North Carolina.

These medium-sized woodpeckers have very specific habitat requirements.  They nest only in mature, living Longleaf Pines that have a fungal infection called red heart disease.  The fungus causes the heartwood of the pine to become soft, making nest excavation easier.  Red-cockaded Woodpeckers drill small holes in the bark of a nest tree that ooze sticky pine sap.  The resinous sap makes it difficult for snakes to climb to the nest hole and eat the baby woodpeckers. This flowing sap also colors the tree trunk white and makes the nest trees easy to spot.  Red-cockaded Woodpeckers are cooperative breeders.  A breeding pair is assisted by their young from pervious nesting seasons who incubate eggs then feed the hatchlings.  The Red-cockaded Woodpeckers are the subject of intensive scientific study and most have colored plastic bands on their legs to allow identification in the field. 

Red-cockaded Woodpecker nest tree.
Dripping sap stains the tree white around the nest hole.
Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve, North Carolina. 

Longleaf Pines forests once covered 90,000,000 acres in the Southeast.  The trees can reach 150 feet in height and live for hundreds of years.  Today only about 5% of this forest remains.  Intense economic use of Longleaf Pines began in the 18^th and 19^th centuries. Longleaf Pines were tapped to produce turpentine and resin.  The trees were cut down to make masts for sailing ships and they were milled for lumber.  The coming of railroads in the late 1800s allowed massive clear cutting of the forest and fire suppression let hardwoods replace the pines.  Weymouth Woods gives us a glimpse of the forest that was, with its botanical wonders and fascinating fauna.

Sandhills Longleaf pine forest.
Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve, North Carolina.