Worlds Oldest Longleaf Pine #Longleafpine

 The Worlds Oldest Longleaf Pine is right here in North Carolina not to far from my house . Several years ago I made it a point to go find it with nothing more than a general location and a picture in hand.   I wandered around for about an hour and then I found it!   This Tree is NOT the biggest one in the area. But, it is most certainly the most gnarly looking one for sure.  Right now as of  August of 2023 this tree is somewhere around 485 years old!!

Here is the base of this Old tree

***note- you can click on the pictures to make them bigger***

Here is an aerial shot the yellow circle denoting the general area of this Tree

Here is a Bigger one that has to be over 400 years old.  This tree has a white ring on it which denotes it has a Red Cockaded Woodpecker nest/hole in it.   There are lots of these in this area.

Here is the video where I found this old Tree

#longleafpine

#weymouthwoods

Berry Hill Plantation - South Boston , Va

Berry Hill Resort

I thought  I would blog on something different this time.  I spent this past  weekend with my wife at Berry Hill Plantation Just outside of South Boston Virginia.  Now, I will not go into all of what they have to do there as google is your friend ,  but some of the pictures I post you probably will not find on the internet.

Berry Hill Mansion

There is a 100~ room Motel just to the right of the Mansion but the way it is landscaped and the hill off to the side you would never know it is there.

This is the old rock wall surrounding the Mansion.

An old Rock building.  This was one of the Slave Quarters. This is way back behind the Mansion on the trail to the Dan River

The trail that goes from the House to the river  then  meets up with The Tobacco Heritage Trail . You can walk from the Mansion or ride a bike but warning! It is uphill all the way back to the Mansion.   The Tobacco Heritage trail is only partially complete and part of it dead ends just up the river from Berry Hill.

This view is from the end of the Tobacco Heritage Trail looking east and the picnic  table seen in the 2nd picture down is in sight in this picture.

 This view is looking west (upstream) ,  the end of the Tobacco Heritage Trail is in the picture.

 

  This view is looking upstream

Look at the tree I walked up on! This Tree is Between the Trail and the river within sight of the dead end.  This is the biggest tree I have seen in a looooooooog time. What is so amazing is that  this tree stays the same diameter to at least 70 feet up.   It is either a Red or Black oak but I can't tell for sure without seeing a leaf from it.

Oh, If you happen upon this tree and have some insight as to what kind of Oak it is please post a comment. 

A view of one of the Fields behind Berry Hill . The Dan River is maybe 200 yards behind where I stood to take this picture.

Here is a map I made from Google earth and it shows the Mansion, Slave quarters, and the Big Tree

Oh, and don't forget to visit Darby's Tavern while you are there. 
Thanks for Looking Mack

Tags  "Berry Hill Plantation"
"Berry Hill Resort"  "Dan River"
"Tobacco Heritage Trail"

#berryhillplantation

#berryhillresort

Last Stand of Longleaf Pines In Wake County ?

Longleaf Pines at Harris Lake

Tuesday I planted 100 longleafs and gave Jordan lake State Park 50 seedlings which they are going to plant in a field.
I then stopped by to see what I believe to be the last stand of Mature trees in Wake County.

The Longleaf pine forest used stretch as far west as Cary and Raleigh on the beltline in Wake County. You can still see a few old trees(usually alone and surrounded by Lobllies) along the Beltline between US1 and Gorman St, and a few trees On US1 south of Apex. There is one old flat topped Longleaf  on Gorman St. within site of the Beltline.  There also used to be a nice stand on Hwy 64 Bus, just west of the Neuse River but last time through there it looked like they had been cut.
Several sites in Wake county are being planted in Longleaf but it will take awhile before they are  producing Longleaf seedlings.   This video below is probably the last stand of Mature Longleaf in Wake County. That said I use the term "stand" loosely.  This stand does have Longleafs planted around the mature ones but the mature ones number probably less than 50 trees.

Added: February 26, 2012  ....I ended up planting a total of 300 longleaf pines this winter....I also donated an additional 50 to Jordan Lake State park which they planted in a field. The 300 Longleafs I planted were mostly in  Chatham , Wake and Halifax Counties where each spot got right at 100 planted. ....I did put a few in Lee as well.... Hopefully next year I can add some to these locations and start a few others as well.

Added February 2023

The Planted Longleafs around the Native older ones are now ~25 years old and producing cones.

I visited this area last month and it has turned into a very nice forest, I even found some Fox Squirrel sign!!     I will post some pictures this spring.   Here is a recent google maps photo of the area in Orange and the red areas are where the few mature ones are located . 

Expanded area showing the resoration site. 

Mack

#longleafpine

Fox Squirrels in Eastern North Carolina ( Sciurus niger niger )

Fox Squirrels In Eastern Nc

Published 12/11/11 and updated frequently 

The Fox Squirrel found in Eastern North Carolina are the biggest squirrels in North America . The scientific name for this squirrel is Sciurus niger niger. The Fox Squirrel found in Northwestern North Carolina and a few spots in the piedmont is a different subspecies. Most biologist call Sciurus niger niger the Southeastern fox squirrel or the Southern Fox Squirrel  as it is found from SE Virginia to Northern Florida. In Northern Florida some call it the Carolina Fox Squirrel.

This squirrel favors  Mature Longleaf pine forest that are burned and have a scattering of oaks underneath and also the surrounding bottoms. The can and do live in other habitats like big mature Loblollies that are open(and burned) but the Lonfleaf pine forest is the best habitat. A preferred habitat is some golf courses in eastern North Carolina.  The fox squirrel has to have favorable habitat so some areas have good populations and then others the Fox squirrels are scattered in isolated pockets of favorable habitat.  This squirrel(S. niger niger) always has a Black head with white nose and ears. Some call this a mask. The rest of the squirrel can be any color. North Carolina allows hunting for The southeastern fox squirrel in 21 eastern counties(it is now allowed in all 100 counties). North Carolina allows hunting for the subspecies found in the west in only 2 counties. Here is a list of the 21 Eastern counties and I will add some tidbits of what I know. 
 
Anson- found in predominately loblollies in this county.
Bladen- Good habitat
Brunswick-  good habitat
Cumberland- good habitat especially on Ft. Bragg
Duplin -
Edgecombe- only opened recently-  Edited 2016 - I Saw a big Black one a few miles east of Wesleyan

 College  in March of 2016 and more recenty (2025 & 26) have seen bunches along Hwy 64 between Rocky Mount and Tarboro
Greene-  Seen 2 there recently along Hwy 264 (2026)
Harnett-
Hoke- good habitat
Johnston- most found east of I-95 but a few pockets of them west of I-95
Jones- I have seen a few in this county
Lenoir- I have seen a lot in this county
Moore- good habitat-I have seen a lot in this county
New Hanover- good
Onslow-
Pender-
Pitt-
Richmond-good habitat
Sampson- good
Scotland- good
Wayne- Lots of reports from this area
 
Now for counties where I know this animal exists but hunting isn't allowed. These are usually counties that border the above counties. and I will list then in no particular order.

*****added these counties below you can now hunt them as in the last few years the NCWRC has opened up every county to hunting fox squrrels***  
 
Union- eastern part
Stanley-
Montgomery- candor south mostly
Chatham- Limited to a few isolated "pockets" Especially around Jordan and harris lakes but hunting them there is mostly useless as while they are there they are still "limited"
Lee-
Wake-Limited to a few Isolated "pockets"  a few found within a few miles of Apex/Cary
Wilson-
Halifax- Edited 8/2016  Getting more and more here,  Most east of I-95 but a few west of 95 as well. A lot near the Community of Tillery.

Nash-  I saw 1 near Spring hope 2025  
Northhampton-  

Martin-Good reports from there- some on Roanoke River Refuge
Craven- I have seen a lot in this county - I have wondered why there is no season here???
Carteret-
Robeson-I have seen 1 there, it is decent habitat but not great.
Columbus-
Bertie-
Hertford-
Beaufort- Plenty arount Choccowinnity and especially Cypress landing golf course and Mauls Pt Rd
Pamilco- used to be a lot around Minnisott - edit 2026  some at Minnesott Golf and country club)
Randolph-a few reports from very southern part 

  
 
The counties above defiantly have some , other counties maybe Gates,  and a few others.
The key to more Fox squirrels in eastern North Carolina is more controlled burns in the Longleaf  and  The Loblolly pine forest  but to leave some oaks underneath. The restoration of the Longleaf to its habitat it has lost will do a lot for the fox squirrel. The  Loblolly  forest around Jordan lake is being  thinned and burned some  by the forest service and the maturing of that forest may lead to very good habitat in the future.  If you look closely (But be careful while driving) you can see some Longleafs (very few) scattered along us1 in Wake and Chatham counties. Virginia also has some S. niger niger in a few counties above Northhampton and Hertford but it is very rare there.
 
I have hunted and studied  S. niger niger  since 1990 and Even though my favorite animal to hunt is the Fox Squirrel , I would never hunt them in a place where they were not common. if you have some on your land in a county where they are not allowed to be hunted please make sure they are protected and if you can,  plant some Longleafs and possibly do some controlled burns.
Like I said in my last post, this week I am planting 100 Longleafs. 100 is not that many but if every hunter in NC  planted 100 we would be in good shape.

Here are a few pics of ones I have harvested.  I will post some more pictures at a later date.

This is what is called a "saddleback" color phase.  Except most saddlebacks do not have the white tipped tail.

This was my son's first Fox Sq. he harvested about 5 years ago. He spotted it in the top of that big loblolly he is in front of.

This Black Phase Fox Squirrel was the first Black one I harvested back in the early 90's.

This squirrel measures fron the tip of his nose to the base of the tail 17 inches. Then from the base of the tail to the tip of the tail it is 17.5 inches making this squirrel 34.5 inches long!!!!!  When someone unfamiliar with these squirrels sees one they have no idea it is a squirrel because they are twice as big as a gray squirrel. Note - 25 percent of Fox Squirrels in Eastern NC are Black. This varies from county to county but usually 25 percent are Black.  

This Old guy below was a brute  going 3.4 lbs.  His Black face is almost faded out. This is one of the best looking ones I have harvested. You have to see him in person. The color is a blue-silver. I was about to quit squirrel  hunting that evening as I hadn't seen a Fox Squirrel all day so right before dark I went where the Longleafs give way to the thick bottoms and proceeded to call on a dying rabbit call to coax a Bobcat out of the bottom. Instead of a bobcat coming out of the thick bottom I kept hearing something behind me getting closer and closer every time I called. When I finally turned around this old guy was staring me down. Sometimes animals come to predator calls just out of curiosity. 

This is a recent one, This is one of the common color phases. Reddish gray. You can also see really good the black head with white nose and ears that they all have.

Mack

#foxsquirrel

#foxsquirrelhunting

Bull Loblloies and Eagles

Got out this am on one of my favorite spots at Jordan lake. This spot gave me a 7 lber this spring to a spinnerbait and during that spring trip I noticed an eagle going in and out of a big ole Bull Loblloy pine . I have fished this spot since the early eighties and have seen eagles here regulary, but have never seen a nest on this part of the lake. I have known of numerous other nest but not here. It didnt suprise me as this is a very remote corner of the lake.

Here is a picture of the tree. If you look closely you can see the nest.



















Here is the base of this Loblolly. These pictures do not do this tree justice. This tree is massive. It is at least 120' tall and that nest is as big around as a volkswagon beetle.















I thought the fishing this morning would be great after last night rains but the fishing was slow. I caught 1- 2 lber on a lunker lure and lost 2 and then I lost a decent bass on a texas rigged 10 inch culprit plastic worm. Even though fishing was slow it was a good morning as I saw 2 eagles, 2 ospreys , many herons and 1 white cattle egret. Also, i would not go to the base of this tree if they were still nesting. Eagles are done by the end of June.

Here is a decent bass caught this spring near the eagle nest. Also caught a 9lber in another spot within 1 mile from this nest. Gotta luv spinnerbaits in the spring.















Mack

Cypress Trees at Jordan Lake

Over the years I have planted a lot of trees.  Catalpa trees grown from cuttings. Chestnuts, oaks, Osage Orange, Persimmon, and Honey Locust all grown from seeds. I also  have planted a lot of Cypress trees, probably in the neighborhood of several thousand in Jordan lake and some on the haw river on two tracts of family land.

Did I mention that I like to plant trees?....I started planting Cypress trees at Jordan  lake in the early 90's. I first started buying seedlings(100 to a bag) from a nursery and did this for several years and then I found out about 2 local area groups(The haw River Assembly, and the Sierra Club) that were buying  seedlings and planting them here also. I contacted them and helped them 1 year plant 4000 seedlings. A young forester named Brian and myself planted about 1000 of these. I have always planted these 2'-3' seedlings with their tips just sticking out of the water. These seedlings have done fine being planted this way except for 1 thing. Beavers!!!!

I plant them at a depth of 2-3 feet so one day they will have fish using them for cover. I have planted a few 6' trees at a depth of 3- 4 ft. Cypress trees can survive in water 6 ft deep if their tops are out of the water. Did I mention that I don't like beavers anymore?...Well probably 3900 plus most of the ones I purchased myself have been eaten. Fortunately some stands have done well. One stand that I planted myself is doing quite well. Beavers have eaten a few, but these have all sprouted back except for a couple of them. Hopefully one day I can witness an eagle or osprey nest in one of these.

Here are some of these cypress in the mid 90's

Click on the Pictures to enlarge them 

Here is the same stand looking the opposite way. This is late summer, early fall so the trees don't look bright green like they normally do. This picture was taken around 2004 or so.

Here is a picture this year(2009). Note... the water is down about 5'. Normally these trees would have water all around them. 

Here is another picture from farther away.

Here is one of the trees up close. Notice all the cones that this tree is producing. Also notice the root system. This stand has aprox 40 -50 trees and a couple of these are doing this. Great fish habitat as in the spring and early summer there are lots of minnows in these roots. I caught a 4lb bass under this tree early this year.

Hopefully next spring I can post a few pictures of these trees and also me with a few bass caught wading around these........Mack

NEW UPDATED PICTURE .....

This shot below was taken in May of 2010. Some of the trees in this stand are approaching 20 years old.

Updated May 2015

Here is a Google Earth "screen shot of the pond where these Cypress trees have done the best.
I can count over 60 trees. Look along the upper part of the pond and you can see the trees in the water!

Click on the pictures to enlarge them.

Updated January 2023

Some of these trees are now approaching ~30 years old and most are doing extremely well.  I have also every few years added several so there are some young ones there as well. 

Here is a recent Google earth shot.

#baldcypress

#jordanlake

"jordan lake cypress trees"

jordan lake cypress trees