The Annual Meeting of the South Carolina Chapter of The Wildlife Society was held on November 12-13 at the Pee Dee Research and Education Center in Darlington, SC.  The first day consisted of presentations based on the theme “Advances in Wildlife Management, Monitoring, and Research Techniques”.   During the Business Meeting, reports were provided by various committees and the Clemson University and Horry Georgetown Technical College student chapters.  Also during the business meeting, Outstanding Student, Professional Wildlife Management, and Lifetime Achievement awards were presented.  The first day concluded with an evening social and catered barbeque dinner.  The second day started with field demonstrations that included the use of drones, control methods for feral hogs, the identification of native plants in longleaf pine forests, and harvesting and planting techniques for native plant seed.  That afternoon a “BioBlitz” was conducted by various natural resource professionals within different habitats of the Pee Dee Research and Education Center.  Species documented (see below) during the BioBlitz included 45 birds, 5 mammals, 2 crayfish, 3 mussels/snails, 10 reptile/amphibians, 8 freshwater fish, 23 invertebrates, and 112 plants.

Native seed harvester demonstration

Native plant identification

Fish shocking during BioBlitz

Pee Dee Research and Education Center – Bioblitz 11/13/14

Birds (45)

6-American Crow

1-American Goldfinch

1-American Kestrel

70-American Robin

1-American Woodcock

2-Belted Kingfisher

1-Blue Jay

40-Brown-headed Cowbird

5-Carolina Chickadee

1-Carolina Wren

15-Cedar Waxwing

34-Chipping Sparrow

75-Common Grackle

2-Coopers Hawk

1-Dark-eyed Junco

37-Double-crested Cormorant

1-Downy Woodpecker

13-Eastern Bluebird

3-Eastern Phoebe

5-Eastern Towhee

1-Field Sparrow

1-Golden-crowned Kinglet

1-Great Blue Heron

1-Hairy Woodpecker

4-Hooded Merganser

2-Killdeer

2-Mallard

65-Mourning Dove

1-Northern Flicker

2-Northern Harrier

4-Northern Mockingbird

1-Pied-billed Grebe

2-Pileated Woodpecker

2-Red-bellied Woodpecker

1-Red-headed Woodpecker

1-Red-tailed Hawk

100-Red-winged blackbird

1-Ruby-crowned Kinglet

31-Song Sparrow

10-Swamp Sparrow

5-Turkey Vulture

2-White-throated Sparrow

2-Wild Turkey [feather; tracks]

1-Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

22-Yellow-rumped Warbler

60-unidentified sparrow sp.

200-unidentified mixed blackbird/grackle flock sp.

Mammals (5)

1-Beaver [slide]

1-Gray Squirrel

1-Raccoon [dead]

1-River Otter

2-White-tailed Deer [at least 2 sets of tracks]

Crayfish (2)

1-Procambarrus sp. [immature male]

1-Procambarrus sp.

Mussels & Snails (3)

1-Fingernail Clam (Sphaerium sp.)

1-Planorbid Snail

1-Ram’s Horn Snail

Reptiles & Amphibians (10-12)

3-Cottonmouth [2 adults, 1 juvenile]

1-Florida Cooter

1-Green Anole

4-Green Treefrog

1-Ground Skink

1-Leopard Frog

1-Slimy Salamander

50-Southern Cricket Frog (Acris gryllus)

1-Two-lined Salamander

1-Worm Snake

Misc. turtle bones, probably slider

Tadpole of Ranid sp., probably Leopard Frog

Freshwater Fish (8)

1-American Eel

1-Banded Pygmy Sunfish (Elassoma zonatum)

5-Bluegill

2-Dusky Shiner

100-Eastern Mosquitofish

2-Redear Sunfish

1-Redbreast Sunfish

2-Redfin Pickerel

Invertebrates (Terrestrial and Aquatic) (23)

1-Buckeye [butterfly]

5-Creeping Waterbug (Hemiptera: Naucoridae)

1-Damselfly sp. (Odonata: Coenagrionidae: Enalagma sp.)

1-Death Watch Beetle (Nicrophorus tomentosus) [on dead raccoon]

2-Dragonfly sp. [Skimmer- same species; nymph stages] (Odonata: Libellulidae)

1-Fat-faced Jumping Spider

3-Field Cricket

1-Hairy Rove Beetle (Creophilus maxillosus) [on dead raccoon]

1-Harvestman

40-Ladybug Beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)

1-Leech sp. (Hirudinea)

1-Long-jawed Spider (Aranea: Tetragnathidae: Tetragnatha sp.)

1-Phantom Cranefly (Diptera: Ptychopteridae)

1-Pine Sawyer Beetle [dead]

2-Predatory Diving Beetle [2 species] (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae)

1-Rattailed Maggot (Diptera: Syrphidae)

1-Sawfly sp. (Hymenoptera larva)

2-Shorthorn Grasshopper [2 species] (Odonata:Acrididae)

1-Sleepy Orange [sulphur butterfly]

5-Water Scavenger Beetle (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae)

Red wasp? [nest]

Plants (112)

Allium sp.

American Beautyberry

American Beech

American Holly (Ilex opaca)

Baggy Knees Grass/American cupscale

Bagpod/bladderpod

Bald Cypress/Swamp Cypress

Beaked Panicum

Beardgrass

Beauty Berry

Beggar’s Lice sp.

Black Gum (Nyssa biflora)

Black Willow

Blackberry

Blue Mistflower

Blunt-Leaf Rabbit Tobacco, Everlasting

Broomsedge

Bushy Lespedeza

Button-Bush

Carolina Indigo

Catbrier, Fringed Greenbriar

Cat-tail

Chinese Lespedeza, Sericea

Chinquapin

Cinnamon Fern

Cottongrass Bulrush/Woolgrass

Dog Fennel

Duckweed

Dwarf Spike-Rush

Ebony Spleenwort

Elderberry

Elephant’s Foot, Devil’s Grandmother

Elliott’s/Long Bristle Indian Grass

False Nettle

Flowering Dogwood

Frost Aster, Whiteheath Aster

Giant Cane

Goldenrod sp. (Solidago sp.)

Goose Grass

Grass-leaf Golden Aster, Narrow-Leaf Silk Grass

Hairy Lespedeza

Highbush Blueberry

Horse Sugar

Horsebriar, Greenbriar

Japanese Honeysuckle

Lamp Rush

Little Bluestem

Lizard’s Tail

Loblolly Pine

Long-Leaf Pine

Longleaf Woodoats

Marsh Pennywort sp.

Meadow Beauty sp.

Mockernut Hickory

Muscadine Grape

Netted Chain Fern

Nodding Beak Rush

Partridge Pea

Peppervine

Pigweed

Post Oak

Primrose sp.

Purple Lovegrass

Red Bay

Red Maple

Rough Buttonweed

Royal Fern

Sassafras

Saw Briar

Scrubby Post Oak

Seedbox

Shortleaf Pine

Showy Love Grass

Silver Plume Grass

Slender Goldentop

Slender-Leaf Pinweed

Smartweed sp.

Smooth Tick-trefoil

Sneezeweed

Sourwood

Southern Red Oak

Southern Rockbell

Spanish Moss

Sparkleberry

Spatterdock

Spike-Rush sp.

Split-Beard Bluestem, Silverbeard

Spurred Butterfly Pea

Swamp Spanish Oak/Cherrybark Oak

Sweet Goldenrod

Sweet Pepperbush

Sweet-Gum

Switchcane

Switchgrass

Tag Alder

Tall Lespedeza

Three-Awn Grass sp.

Tropic Croton

Trumpet Vine

Tulip Poplar, Yellow Poplar

Vasey’s Grass

Virginia/Slender Bush Clover

Water Meal

Water Oak

Wax Myrtle/Southern Bayberry

White Oak

Willow Oak

Winged Elm

Winged Sumac

Witchgrass, Ticklegrass

Yellow Jessamine

Yellow-Eyed Grass sp.