CAROLINA SANDHILLS NATIONAL WILDL.ibh BE.'UGE MCBEE, SOUTH CAROLINA NARRAXI V.6 REPORT January 1, 1972 - December 31, 1972 PERSONNEL George R. Garris Refuge Manager Sam 0 . Drake, Jr . Assistant Refuge Manager* James E . Howe Forester Boy F. Rogers Biological Technician Olin Morrison Biological Technician Bonnie Kay Warr Clerk-Typist* Ellice Sweeney Laborer *Departed this station - 10/1/72 **Intermittent - works 20 hours per week **Intermittent - works 3 days per week 0 0 TABLE OF CONTENTS SUBJECT PAGE GENERAL Weather Conditions 1 Habitat Conditions 3 gratory Birds Upland Game Birds Big-Game Animals 8 Fur .Animals, Predators, Rodents, and other Mammals 9 Hawks, Eagles, Owls, Crows, and Black Birds 10 Other Birds 11 Fish 12 Reptiles 13 Disease 14 AFUGE 11EVELOPMENT .AND MATNTENANCE, Physical Development 15 Planting 19 Collections and Receipts 21 Control of Vegetation 21 Planned Burning 21 Fires 22 RESOUBOE MANAGEMENT, Grazing 23 Haying 23 Timber Removal 23 FIEn INVESTIGATION OR APPLIED RESEARCH Progress Report 25 PUBLIC RELATIONS Recreational Uses 29 Refuge Visitors 30 Refuge Participations 32 Hunting 35 Safety ~ OTHER ITEMS Items of- Interest 39 Photographs 39 0 ANNUAL REFUGE NARRATIVE REPORT CAROLINA SANDHILLS NATIONAL WILDLIE& REFUGE January-December, 1972 I . GENERAL A. WeatherConditiogs,: The information in the table below was obtained from the U. S . Department of Commerce "Climatological Data" tables for South Carolina as recorded at the Cheraw Weather Sta- tion (located approximately 20 miles northeast of the refuge) . 1972 WEATHER DATA PreciDi tatio,n Temperatures, Month 1972 Now Mali mum, Minimum, January 5 .09 3 .36 69 8 February 3 .97 3 .47 73 27 March 3 .44 4 .14 78 2 April 1 .01 3 .84 90 28 May 5 .24 3 .36 89 42 June 4 .94 4.09 93 46 July 6 .43 5 .62 96 57 August 2 .03 5 .35 98 62 September 2 .71 4.26 92 52 October 3 .63 2 .68 84 30 November 5 .62 2 .80 84 27 December 5 .39 3 .46 81 17 TOTALS 49 .7 46 .43 9U The year, 1972, started as a wet year with above average rainfall during January and the first two weeks in February . January was extremely wet with heavy rains throughout the month. Over one-half of the rainfall received in February fell during the first four days of the monthh . The total precipitation for March was slightly below normal i with rainfall on 14 different days . On March 26, approximately (2) 0 .5 inches of snow fell but it melted almost as soon as it touched the ground . April was a dry month with only 1 .01 inches of precipitation recorded during the month . This was less than one-third of the average precipitation expected in April . Over one- half of the precipitation was received on April 8, when a total of 0 .64 inches of rainfall was recorded . May was a wet month followed by June and July with slightly above normal precipitation . Tropical Depression "Agnes" hit South Carolina during June, 1972, but South Carolina was very fortunate when compared with the states to the north. By the time Agnes hit South Carolina she was downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm. She remained in the "depression" stage until she reached the North Carolina coast where intensification began . There was little or no wind damage, but major flooding did occur on some of the rivers and large streams . The worst flooding was on the Pee Dee River which reached nearly 11 feet above flood stage at Cheraw South Carolina (located 20 miles northeast of the refuge) . Losses in this area were extensive to pastures, small grains, and soybeans . Some areas in the state received over 8 inches of rainfall from Agnes but the refuge was lucky and only received ap- proximately 2 .5 inches of rainfall . Except for Martins Lake dam, refuge roads and dams received only minor damage from the heavy rains . A long hot, dry period hit this area during August, Septem- ber, and the first 18 days in October . During this period there was a deficiency of over 5 inches of precipitation . August had a deficiency of 3 .32 inches of precipitation fol- lowed by September with a deficiency of 1 .55 inches . No precipitation was recorded during the first 18 days of October. Badly needed rains came during the last part of October but they were too late to save some of-the crops . November and December were both wet months and the year ended, as it started, with very wet conditions existing . The amount of precipitation during November and December was almost twice the normal amount with more than 5 inches of rainfall recorded during each month . (3) B . HabitatConditions : 1 . Water : All streams flowed freely throughout the year and supplied sufficient water for wildlife, even during the long dry period that occurred in August, September, and October . Almost all of the streams on the refuge are spring fed and even during periods of below normal precipitation, the springs supply adequate water to keep the streams flowing freely . Except for Martins Lake, it was possible even during the dry periods to maintain water levels in refuge impoundments as scheduled . Heavy rains eroded large holes in the spill- way at Martins Lake, making it necessary to lower the water to prevent the collapse of the structure . The 60-acre lake was reduced to approximately 5 acres while repairs were being made to the spillway . Also, while the spillway was being repaired, the old water control structure was replaced . A flashboaxd riser type structure was installed that will permit more efficient water management on this impoundment . The water level can now be fluctuated to encourage better plant growth along the edges of the lake . One of our continuing problems relating to water management is our conflict with the beavers that live in some of the impoundments . The beavers do not always agree with us on the proper water levels that should be maintained in the impoundments . They are very persistent in their work to raise the levels by plugging the water control structures with tree limbs, mud, and other debris . We spend many hours annually removing their dams of debris from the structures . 2 . Food and Cover : Due to the erratic weather conditions that created long dry periods followed by extremely wet conditions, the production of natural foods was very sporadic . Some of the early maturing and fast growing annuals produced excellent growth as compared to the late maturing plants that did not produce at all . Some of the better erennial fruit producers during 1972 included persimmon (Dio s vros virgin , hickories (Carya sp .), and longleaf pine (Pinus,ralustris,)s These species all produced excellent crops of fruit . All of the oaks (Quercus sp .) produced good crops of acorns . Dogwoods (4) (Cornus, floc d4) produced a fair crop of fruit while the 0 production o blackberries (Ru us,ML.), grapes Viti$ ,fps), plums and cherries (Prunes s„g,.,~, and hawthorns (Crataeru$ sp .) was very poor. During 1972, fifteen impoundments were scheduled to be maintained at full water level, six impoundments were to be completely drained, and six impoundments were to be partially dewatered . Except for Martins Lake which had to be dewatered to make emergency repairs, this schedule was followed. Fair to good crops of waterfowl food plants were produced on the exposed shorelines and bottoms of partially dewatered and drained impoundments . Also 10 acres of Japanese millet were planted in the dewatered areas of Martins Lake No . 2 and Pool J. An excellent. crop of seed was produced . The first heavy concentration of ducks observed this fall on the refuge were in the areas where Japanese millet had been planted . In 1972, Mr. Otto Florschutz, East Coast Biologist, and Sam Drake, Assistant Refuge Manager, made two vegetation surveys in the dewatered impoundments . A summary of the surveys as recorded by Biologist Florschutz is presented below. ,qUW. RM OF WETLAND VEGETATION SURVEYS, : Two wetland vegetation transect lines were run on Carolina Sandhills NWR in 1972 . These included the line in Ox Pen #1 which has been run each year since 1969 and a newline established this year in the Martin Holdover (Duck Field) area. These two lines totaled 870 feet in which 31 stops were made and five-point sampling was conducted at 155 points . The Ox Pen #1 transect line normally has been taken on the north side ofthe partially drawndown pond where a gradual slope usually abounds in various foods . This year however, the entire 10-acre pond was drawn down for the first time and the completely exposed bottom and sides grew up in veg- etation . Consequently, the line location was changed to sample the center of the exposed bottom starting from the control structure and leading straight-away from it . The pond was drawndown on March 15, 1972 and remained drained all summer to the end of September. The spikerushes were the predominant plants and their incidence was nearly double that occurring previously on the higher edges. False loose- strife was second in abundance and occurred about the same incidence as on the edges in 1971 . As might be suspected, (5) the grasses in the wetter pond bottom occurred less fre- quently than on the pond edges but still accounted for approximately a quarter of all the samples . The small Martins Holdover Pond is drawndown each spring and either plowed and planted to Japanese millet or if much good natural food is present, is left fallow and re-flooded in the fall . In order to evaluate the natural production of waterfowl foods, it was decided this year to establish a transect line there .