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 Information on local wildlife put together by Conservancy staff and Interns on Snakes, Foxes and Alligators.


Notes from the Field, April - May 2008
By Maureen Dewire, BHI Conservancy Director of Education & Senior Naturalist 
 
New species documented on Bald Head Island! May 22, 2008

On a recent night-time spotlight survey in search of white-tailed deer, Conservancy Naturalist Maureen Dewire and her Wildlife Interns confirmed the presence of two amphibian species not previously found on Bald Head Island. These two species are the Fowler Toad and the Barking Tree Frog. This brings the total to 8 species of frogs and toads found on the island currently

The signs of spring are everywhere you look on BHI! The education staff of the BHI Conservancy have been spending a lot of hours out in the field and we have much to share about recent discoveries. 
 
• Two pairs of Ospreys are nesting on the golf course once again and
are presumably sitting on eggs now

• Red foxes have given birth to their kits and they are now leaving
the den

• A beaver appeared in the BHI Marina back in March but hasn’t
been seen since

• Dolphins have been feeding in both Bald Head Creek and Cape
Creek during high tides

• White Ibis are nesting by the thousands on Battery Island and as a
result, feeding by the thousands throughout the BHI salt marshes

• Painted buntings can be seen and heard throughout the island

• A Peregrine Falcon has taken up residence along The Point near
the Shoal’s Club

• It was an excellent bloom year for the Carolina Jessamine vine
(yellow jasmine), Carolina Laurel Cherry and Flowering Dogwood
trees. 

• In bloom right now are the Yaupon Holly and the Sparkleberry
shrubs. Sparkleberry is in the blueberry family and has small,
delicate white flowers that hang down like bells

• Ironwood trees are quite noticeable with their brilliant green leaves
bursting off their branches

• A five foot shark washed up dead on east beach last week,
believed to be a sand tiger shark. It appeared to have had its jaw
removed, including all of the teeth. We are unsure if teeth were
removed by an angler or after the animal washed up on our
beach.

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