The Green Swamp and Brunswick County, North Carolina — Last day of our adventure — 2014-08-17

After leaving the Francis Marion National Forest on Saturday afternoon (in pouring rain, I might add), we made our way to Shallotte (pronounced Shah-LOTE), North Carolina where we would spend the night. On the agenda for Sunday, would be a visit to the Green Swamp Preserve and a few areas east of there in Boiling Spring Lakes — all in Brunswick County. But before I checked in at the motel, I wanted to drive an additional few miles to check out a wet roadside site where there is always something blooming, most anytime of the year.

This roadside site is a low area stretching about 20 yards (18 meters) from the road and running for a length of about 1 mile (1.6 km). In season, it’s fairly easy to find several orchid species in bloom in addition to a few other plants which are rare to North Carolina. On this day, however, I was looking for Platanthera conspicua or Southern White Fringed orchid.

A few years ago, my photography buddy, Skip Pudney found a nice population of them blooming along this roadside. Skip used to live in the area and we were very grateful for his willingness to scout for us before any of our annual trips to Brunswick County. A few months ago, Skip and his family moved to Texas, of all places, so far away. Now, I think fondly of him whenever I’m in Brunswick County taking photographs of the orchids that he should be seeing, as well.

When I reached the first portion of the roadside, I did not see any of the orchids where they were growing a few years ago. There is no suitable place to pull off at this spot, so I continued up the road toward a driveway for a small business, where I could turn around and head back to the motel for the night. About halfway along that 1-mile stretch, what do I see but many hundreds of white flower clusters dotted all along the roadside. I couldn’t stop and take a picture while on the road, so I’ll show you what it looked like from in the middle of the population the next morning:

I don’t have to tell you how excited I was to see these orchids in such numbers! And, although some of them were still in tight bud, most of them were in perfect bloom.

When I got back to the motel to check in, my friends Erica and George met me at the front door and saw the smile on my face. I told them I had a big surprise for them in the morning just up the road at our first stop, but I didn’t tell them what it was. Erica said she was hoping its was not an alligator. Lol!

So, we get up bright and early, eat our continental breakfast, and head toward our first stop. I had previously told my buddy and North Carolina resident, Kelvin Taylor, that we would meet at this roadside site first then head toward our main objective, the Green Swamp Preserve. He had told me he was bringing another photographer with him, Jackie Tate, who also wanted to see the orchids in the Green Swamp.

Since there is no parking along the roadside, we had to park up the road next to a fire tower. It was a convenient spot with a large grassy area that would accommodate several vehicles. When Erica, George, and I arrived, Kelvin and Jackie were not there yet, so we didn’t waste any time gathering our gear and heading toward the roadside billboards where the orchids were growing. Needless to say, Erica and George were suitably impressed with the sight! Just after we got there, Kelvin and Jackie drove up and joined us.

Here is a shot of the group busying themselves with trying to find the perfect plant to photograph:

Left to right are Jackie Tate, Erica Obey, George Baird, and Kelvin Taylor. Of course, I’m behind the camera… And, Ocean Air Heating and Cooling are getting a bit of free advertisement in these photos. 😉

Here are a few close-up shots of the flowers covered with morning dew:

It’s probably difficult to believe, but everyone was so overwhelmed with the number of orchids at this site, that it became difficult to know which plant to photograph. At one point, we were all just standing around staring at the plants and wondering what to do next.

After about an hour of this, we decided it was time to head on over to the “Pond”, a water-filled borrow pit next to the parking area for Big Island. Big Island is the premier longleaf pine savannah in the center of the Green Swamp Preserve, providing plentiful numbers of several of the region’s finest orchid species. In many longleaf pine preserves, the savannahs are called “islands”. If you think about it a bit, you will see that a grassy savannah is an opening in the forest, and this opening is just like a grassy island. From satellite images, these islands are pretty easy to spot.

Anyway, we arrived at the Pond, gathered our gear and headed south along the roadside to the gate for Big Island. The Green Swamp is owned and managed by The Nature Conservancy, but this particular area is home to a local hunt club. That’s the reason for the gate. There is public access to Big Island, but not public access to the road circling the island. No problem — it’s just a 5-minute walk that will put us into the center of the savannah. Almost immediately, we spot some orange “torches” rising above the knee-high wire grass. It’s Platanthera ciliaris or Yellow Fringed orchid, the first orchid we will find on Big Island.

These Yellow Fringed orchids are nice and big. The first one I chose to photograph had an inflorescence that was about 8 inches (20 cm) tall. Little did I realize then, that it was providing a good hiding place for a Peucetia viridans or Green Lynx spider — one of several that we would see this day. It’s not unusual for me to discover these hidden creatures when I process the images:

These orchids were scattered all over the savannah, and occasionally, we would find a nice pair to photograph:

Here is one next to the plant’s seed capsules from last year:

This next one was not the largest of the day, but I asked Erica if she would place her hand behind the inflorescence to give a sense of scale:

Erica and George had already seen the Yellow Fringed orchids the day before in the Francis Marion National Forest, so I wanted them to be able to add a new species to their list. This new species is Gymnadeniopsis integra or Yellow Fringeless orchid. It is definitely a yellow orchid! …very bright yellow that some have called Saffron yellow:

Although there were lots of them in the savannah, they were much harder to spot due to their smaller size and the fact that they were nestled down beneath the top of the grasses. I even found one with a Green Lynx spider perfectly perched on the inflorescence, waiting for lunch:

Also scattered here and there were the beautiful, magenta flowers of Sabatia dodecandra or Marsh rose-gentian.

And what would a visit to Big Island be without getting a shot of two if its carnivorous plants, Dionaea muscipula or Venus’ Fly-trap and Pinguicula lutea or Yellow Butterwort. Both of these were new to Erica and George, although Erica’s brother had a Venus’ Fly-trap when he was a kid. She was excited to see it in the wild:

In this shot, the Venus’ Fly-traps are obvious, but the Yellow Butterwort is the plant with the curled, strap-like leaves in the upper right. It catches and digests its prey on the sticky surface of its leaves.

It was really hot (94 degrees F or 35 degrees C), and very humid (my guess is would be in the upper 80% humidity range). A couple of times I got a bit wobbly, but I continued to drink plenty of water to keep myself hydrated. Lunchtime was approaching, so I suggested that we head toward the town of Supply, about 5 minutes away. There is a gas-station/Subway restaurant there, and it’s a good place to eat and plan the next part of the trip. Erica and George indicated that they were leaning toward heading back home since they had a long way to drive, but there was one more orchid species that I wanted them to see, and I was sure of where to find it.

After lunch, we headed toward Boiling Spring Lakes, southeast of Wilmington and about 30 minutes away. I led the party and took some back roads to get us there a bit quicker. Upon arriving, we parked off the road and close to a golf course. In the ditch between the road and the golf course, I had seen in previous years, Southern White Fringed orchids as well as Habenaria repens or Water-spider orchids. The latter species begins blooming in late spring, and will continue to send up shoots that will bloom until the first frost. It’s not a knock-your-socks-off orchid — mostly shades of green, but up close it is very interesting. The flowers resemble spiders, and it grows in or near water — thus the name, Water-spider orchid:

It was now time for George and Erica to get back on the road, since they had a 6-hour drive to their first stop before getting home. It was fun for me to have them tag along on some field trips to a couple of places that seem never to disappoint this time of year. They had the chance to see a number of orchid species for the first time, and I had the opportunity to meet two new friends. I’ll also count Jackie as a new friend, since I’m sure I’ll be seeing her again down this way.

After Erica and George packed their gear and headed north, Kelvin and Jackie and I proceeded over to the Boiling Spring Lakes Community Center, where there is a nature trail with all sorts of neat botanical sights. What Kelvin wanted to show me was an off-the-trail location for more Southern White Fringed orchids. A few years ago, he had wandered off-trail into an area that had just been burned. There, he found a number of Southern White Fringed orchids. Since he had not been back in a couple of years, he wanted to know if they were still growing there. The trail to that spot is probably around 1 mile (1.6 km) long. I was quite tired at that point, and I had already seen my fill of that orchid species, so I decided to leave my camera equipment in the truck. Well, for me, that means we will find something super if I don’t have my camera in hand.

Kelvin, Jackie, and I head down the trail losing our way a couple of times because we didn’t pay attention to the blazes. Finally, we reach the point to leave the trail. I followed Kelvin downhill into a very wet area, and we spotted some Sundews and Venus’ Fly-traps but no orchids. We traversed the part of the hill where the seep seems to be emanating while at the same time, we skirted the overgrown, weedy foliage. Suddenly, we saw a patch of white — then another, and another. We continued around the corner and came upon a large cluster of about two dozen blooming Southern White Fringed orchids in an area of no more than a couple of square feet! Dagnabit! I didn’t even have my iPhone with me. Of course, I predicted that we would find something special. Even Kelvin remarked that it was much better than he remembered.

After Kelvin finished his photography, we retraced our steps and stopped at a picnic table near the Community Center’s main building. There were lots of people there playing disc golf. And it was interesting to watch them strategize their plays. Seems that the prize of $200 for a hole-in-one brought out the citizenry to try their hand at this interesting game.

It was fun spending time with Jackie and Kelvin, and I look forward to this fall when we will get together again in the Green Swamp for more orchid watching. Although the weekend bordered on being exhausting for me (I was not physically prepared for the heat and humidity), it was great to get out into the field with both old and new friends. I don’t know if I’ll “host” another field trip expedition in the future, but this one was quite rewarding, and I believe my out-of-town field-trippers had a good time. I guess that’s what it’s all about, after all…

–Jim