Pat’s Wildways: South Cumberland Island

I’ve lived in Fernandina about 25 years, so of course I’ve been to Cumberland Island. I can see it from my walks on the Fort Clinch beach, where sometimes the famous horses are even visible from here. I’ve taken the ferry to Cumberland from St. Marys a number of times, stopping to explore the areas around Sea Camp and Dungeness docks. I’ve taken an Amelia River Cruise up Beach Creek a number of times, even seeing dolphins chasing fish ashore to capture them in the process called strand fishing. Bucko and I have splurged and stayed at the Greyfield Inn for one anniversary celebration. I’ve toured the Plum Orchard mansion when it was decorated for Christmas. I’ve seen lots on Cumberland.

But I never went on a skiff to the Dungeness ruins area and last week this was a first for me. My friends Ed and Diane invited me for a boating outing and yes, of course, I agreed. It was a perfect day for this, a warmish day in and among the recent spate of cold and wintry weather. Ed put the boat in the water at the Dee Dee Bartels boat ramp on Amelia Island and, after a brief channel crossing, we headed up Beach Creek on Cumberland Island, not even slowing to watch the dolphins we saw along the way. We’ve seen dolphins many times, but today was about Cumberland Island.

Beach Creek weaves into the interior of the south end of Cumberland Island, surrounded by marshes where egrets and herons feed from the shores and clapper rails weave invisibly among the spartina blades. When we neared the Dungeness ruins a group of egrets welcomed us from their roosts on a tree at the shoreline, apparently done with their fishing that morning. We disembarked along the shoreline, and then we were off on land, exploring the area on foot.

And what fun that was. The majestic but destroyed ruins of the Dungeness mansion dominated the scene. This formerly 59-room mansion was built by the Carnegies in 1884 as a winter retreat, but abandoned in 1925 before the uninhabited structure was set ablaze in 1959, presumably by a disgruntled poacher. The ruins and a number of outbuildings are now protected by the National Park Service, and signage provides a brief history of the structures.

It was fun to walk around the ruins, but even more fun for us nature-lovers to admire the historic giant oaks and other interesting vegetation that adorns this property. I just read about green fly orchids, an epiphyte that lives among the resurrection ferns on old live oak trees and we looked for these for a while, aware that they are not now blooming and only show off their tough shiny green leaves. We wandered around the Green-Miller Cemetery where long ago Cumberland Island residents are buried, but rather than the history I was more intrigued by the piles of carnivore droppings on top of the wall surrounding it, most likely from foxes is what we guess.

Beyond the cemetery we walked on a narrow wooded path to access a long wooden boardwalk along the shore, affording us great views of Beach Creek and well-placed benches that were a perfect place to eat our lunch. Although we could have walked to the Atlantic beach side of south Cumberland Island, we were happy with our outing so far and headed back to our boat instead. Back on the water again we traveled back down Beach Creek and, at my urging, stopped to talk to a crabber who was emptying his crab traps. “Not a good catch today,” he told us but we all agreed it was a great day to be on the water anyway.

Although there were plenty of fresh signs of wild horses during our walk, mostly horse droppings, we didn’t see any around the ruins. So, as a last bit of fun, Ed steered us further north along the Cumberland Island shoreline until we finally spotted some. Two horses, a black one and a buckskin were close to shore, feeding on the salty vegetation that damages their kidneys and shortens their lifespan, but that’s all they have to eat. The presence of the feral horses, descendants of horses brought to the island by former residents, but now without any vet care or supplemental feeding, is the basis of strong opinions and controversy about their condition and about the damage they do to a wild area where they are exotic animals.

It was a fun day trip that, even without your own skiff, is possible for one and all. The Cumberland Island Ferry leaves from St. Marys and will take you to a dock near enough to walk to the Dungeness ruins and to explore this area on your own. Now, in winter, is the best time to visit. In summer, the weather and bugs can be brutal. But now, have fun!

Pat Foster-Turley, Ph.D., is a zoologist on Amelia Island. She welcomes your nature questions and observations. patandbucko@yahoo.com