bear grass and rosemary

Fence cuts and firewood

2012-02-05T16:18:00.000-08:00

Things have gotten strange again.

I talked to a kid who wanted some wood for a back yard fire. so I said OK. That was yesterday, But today when I checked back I discovered there had been some wholesale wood removal next to the northern fire lane and there was fence damage from people climbing the fence at another location across a vacant lot where some other problems had occurred.

This may require some law enforcement intervention is this continues.

On the plus side, the wood gathering did reveal some trash piles. I removed three bags of trash and some other debris.

Also, yesterday I found some 4x4s that some of the neighborhood kids had brought in to make a fort. I told one of the other kids that this was not allowed,

I'll need to keep an eye on things.

Quiet winter so far

2012-01-02T18:26:00.000-08:00

I went out today looking for the typical post-holiday mischief.

I didn't see any problems today, but didn't check everywhere.

I spent most of the time attacking one small, I think, trash pile. I'll have to come back with a pick.

October arrives colorful and damp

2011-10-09T13:10:00.000-07:00

More than 6 inches of rain has fallen in the past day or so. There was some wind, too, so I checked out things, especially the south tract, which I hadn't visited in a couple of months.

I had a couple of surprises in the south tract.

On the plus side, Polygonella basiramia was doing well in the northeast fire lane. I thought it would be overcome by Natal grass, but the grass has subsided and there were several basiramia, some in the later stages of blooming.

On the minus side, I found a small patch of Cogon grass in a wind row, pulled up what I could and bagged it. That's the first Cogon grass I can recall on that tract, but there's enough seed source in the area.

In the north tract, the Cogon grass that Bill Parken sprayed last month appears to be dead.

There's a lot of color still in the landscape. The Balduinia is putting on quite a show and so is the October flower. Blue curls have begun blooming. Garberia will come later.

Fixing a fence becomes harder

2011-09-24T17:23:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure what the thinking was behind the fencing here, but it plays havoc with repairs.

The hog wire or whatever it is they nailed in front of the barbed wire makes it hard to get the barbed wire, which was already hard to get at because it was nailed on the outside, which is in dense growth or private property.

It had been cut for awhile because grass had grown around some of the cut barbed wire. Some had thrown a fire and some beer bottles over the fence near the cut. I gave them back.

Searching for seeds

2011-09-24T17:16:00.000-07:00

Today we had a work day featuring a Girl Scout Troop from Winter Haven. The job was to look for Scrub Lupines that may have sprouted since the prescribed fire last fall. We had d no luck.

We did collect some seeds from other endangered plants for Bok Tower.

Although I didn't find any Scrub Lupine, I did encounter three Sky Blue Lupine plants in the southeast corner near the Clitoria fragrans site. They are in a different part of that section than they have been in the past and may be crowded out by Natal grass, which has become rife along the edges and within parts of the fire lane, except where Guinea grass and other disturbed area plants thrive.

Cogon grass advances

2011-09-18T14:46:00.000-07:00

During my monthly butterfly survey today I found new infestations of cogon grass.
In addition to the expected advance on the west side near known sites near the railroad, I also found a new site in the southeast part of the north tract near the Clitoria fragrans area.

Also, sandspurs have returned to paths where I had knocked them back a couple of years ago.

On the plus side, blazing star is in full bloom and is really providing some color to the landscape.

Caesar weed round I done

2011-08-06T09:23:00.002-07:00

This morning I got out and finished pulling up the last of the Caesar weed stands I could find near the fire lane. I am finding fewer sprouts in the fire lane, which is encouraging. This may take a couple of seasons, but source reduction seems to be the best management technique.

I've thought of bringing in some Painted Leaf from my yard or somewhere to see if an aggressive native can hold an aggressive exotic at bay.

Found more trash, too. Surprise. Surprise. Surprise.

During a rest period, noticed a Northern Flicker and a Red-bellied Woodpecker are making use of a pine snag nearby. Don't see Flickers often anymore.

Bobwhite still calling in the distance.

More Ceasar weed

2011-07-30T17:59:00.000-07:00

I went out to do some followup work on the large Caesar weed patch I found near the fire lane and started checking around and found another large patch to the east.

I got most of the stalks with seeds, but have to go back and get the new plants before they spout seeds. I also found some more trash in the process, so I'll bring a bag when I come back.

I also cleared one the paths/haul routes of Guinea grass,which has invaded.

Bobwhites

2011-07-29T05:23:00.000-07:00

I have seen bobwhites here from time to time over the years, but now it's possible the post-burn landscape may be more attractive than the overgrown conditions in the past.,

In recent months I have occasionally flushed some bobwhites.

Last night I heard two of them calling.

Interesting.

Schlepping the stones

2011-07-29T05:17:00.000-07:00

Yesterday afternoon I took care of a chore that it was time to deal with.
After the burn last year I uncovered some large chunks of concrete in the rear area of the preserve,
I took the wheelbarrow out and hauled five loads of them out and deposited them at the main driveway along with the other debris I'd collected and recycled.
Good exercise after a day in an office chair.

School of scrub

2011-07-22T04:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I hosted some students who are studying Florida ecosystems.

Lake Blue Scrub turned out to be a convenient site for a quick tour for classes on tight schedules because it is less remote than other scrub sites and you can see quite a bit in a short time.

There was plenty to see.

I showed the students several of the rare plants, the experimental scrub lupine site, sand skink trails in the sand and what one kind of ecotone looks like.

A couple of them took me up on my offer to try a gopher apple. They agreed it's delicious.

It was fun to share .

Transplanting, weeding

2011-07-17T18:09:00.000-07:00

Hot, sweaty work this time of year. On Friday Marian Ryan and I dug up some Hercules Club that had grown up into the fence and took them to Circle B Bar Reserve for transplanting in the butterfly garden,

Saturday a Ridge Ranger group weeded the newer lupine patch. Plants seem to be doing well, but drought has been rough on older plants, which died after blooming.

Sunday I finished cleaning up area where we dug Hercules Club and removed Guinea grass around walk through entrance to keep the patch clear.

Bugs and bug hunters

2011-07-13T13:43:00.000-07:00

As I was surveying the butterfly population and checking on things this afternoon, I suddenly caught movement ahead of me.

A pair of American Kestrels were, well, hawking just above the regrowing low tree line, probably in search of large grasshoppers, of which there are some at the moment.

The Ceraunus Blue numbers are gradually recovering from freeze and drought. Today I saw 57. which is the most in three years and far more than I've seen anywhere else in Florida, particularly in so small an area.

Pulled a few Caesar Weed along the western fire lane before they formed seeds. I may control this weed yet.

Surprise in the palmettos

2011-07-10T12:47:00.000-07:00

I was checking on the Ceasar weed patch I' ve been clearing and encountered a series of barely buried trash piles. Then I found more under a patch of palmettos nearby.
By the time I was done, I had uncovered enough to fill two trash bags.
This was a bit of surprise because I thought I had already checked this area for trash, but the palmettos have turned out to be a frequent dump site. I recall finding some transmissions in this general area in the palmettos.

Ceasar weed roundup

2011-07-06T04:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday afternoon I finished uprooting/.bagging a dense patch of Ceasar Weed not far from the fire lane where it had been rife in the past.e

I will have to monitor the section, but it seemed easier to do it now while the new plants were emerging and most had not formed seedheads than to wait.

Wish me luck with this experiment.

Trash, overgrown fire lane

2011-06-24T14:58:00.000-07:00

I spent a couple hours today in may attempt to rid the fire lane of Ceasar weed only to find a big patch near the fire lane and a new trash pile. I will come back with bags in hopes of dealing with
it.

I did haul out one garbage bag of small stuff and two wheelbarrowfuls of larger stuff.

Meanwhile, the fire lane itself is becoming overgrown again, primarly Guinea grass and the tallest ragweed I've ever seen.

Some maintenanace might be in order.

Going afield to cleanup

2011-06-05T15:19:00.000-07:00

I've been doing some trash cleanup this weekend, but a little more afield than normal.

I hauled two bags opf trash fr0m various entry points at Hilochee-Osprey along I-4 and a couple of more bags and then some at Saddle Creek Park. I removed an old fish barrier put up by commercial fishermen, I guess, and some debris in the dry creek bed.

Droughts have some upsides.

Ranging all over Florida

2011-05-22T15:45:00.000-07:00

I'm afraid my Ridge Ranger impulses don't end when I'm on vacation.

This week I spent a couple of days helping with butterfly surveys in the Homestead/Key Largo area.

We found plenty of butterflies, including the rare and endangered Schaus Swallowtail, but also found some natural areas had been trashed.

When I left Sunday morning, I collected what I could, but on the way home I noticed one of the Sun Ray tracts had been burned and figured it was a good time to patrol for trash. As you can see from the photo, I found a lot of bottles etc. on top of the stuff I had collected in South Florida preserves, which had included a car door.

Actually, there's plenty of trash in preservation areas in Key Largo, some of it brought in by the tide and some dumped there before it was conservation land. That would make a heck of a cleanup; project and would require a vehicle larger than my truck, much larger.

Blues vs. Buckeyes

2011-05-08T18:23:00.000-07:00

I went out Saturday for one of the periodic butterfly counts in the north tract.

Numbers have been down everywhere as the result of the last year's freeze and the current drought, perhaps.

The predominant species in this habitat are Ceraunus Blue and Common Buckeye. The question at the moment is which one will be more numerous.
The Blues won 35 to 32.
Other species were Gulf Fritillary, Variegated Fritillary, Barred Yellow, Cloudless Sulfur, Zebra Swallowtail and Zarucco.

I also found some trash while I was wandering around.

The burn and the Bonamia

2011-04-30T04:08:00.000-07:00

I took a walk through the scrub during the past two afternoons in search of stray piles of trash (broken glass, etc.) that might be visible after some post-burn weathering of the soil.

During the walk I saw Bonamia beginning to bloom practically everywhere . It responded well to an accidental fire several years ago before the Natal grass came in.

That is still the unanswered question is whether Natal grass will become rife in more sections of the preserve as it has at the sites of the burn piles on the east side. Also, it's unknown whether it will persist or eventually be crowded out by native plants, as some claim. I don't know. Otherwise, we'll have to live with it. Treating it or pulling it on a landscape scale is impractical.

Beetles are really back

2011-04-21T13:13:00.000-07:00

Went out Tuesday night with Paul Skelley to look for beetles. We found at least 30 as well as a handful of what he calls "rain beetles" because they're only active when it's raining.
Rain was threatening Tuesday night, but only a trace fell in the area, despite the thunder and lightning in the near distance.

It is spring. I saw my first Common Nighthawk of the season soaring and diving overhead and heard a Chuck-will's-widow calling from the south woods, which is a different location from recent years.

I'm planning to go out tonight and try again for beetles in the south woods.

The beetles are back

2011-04-15T04:28:00.000-07:00

I had been fruitlessly mon itoring for beetles for a researcher since late March with no luck. Thursday night one finally showed. Now that they're out,we'll see what the population is like. They didn't emerge last year and I was beginning to get worried this year, but we'll see. The Common Nighthawk that kept me companylast year didn't show. So far, no Chuck will's Widow is calling from the pines, though I flushed one the other day.

Trash and sandspurs

2011-04-11T18:54:00.000-07:00

Things are settling down for the warm post-winter season. I've been catching up on some low-key maintenance, consisting of removing a few small trash piles I've found and trying to rid the northern fire lane of sandspurs and Ceasar weed. I'll let you know how it turns out. Another sign of warm weather. I flushed a goatsucker, probably a Chuck will's widow by now. I'll listen for the call when I do my next night bug patrol, which is coming up this weekend.

Another wild lupine

2011-04-01T17:47:00.000-07:00

I went out today to check on storm damage. The damage I saw was the utilities problems, not ours. While I was there, I decided to check on any change in the Lupine population. \ I found one near the younger Lupines I found last October. Perhaps more will emerge later.

Monitoring the blooming lupines

2011-03-29T17:24:00.000-07:00

A crew from Bok Tower was out today to begin the monitoring of the blooming Scrub Lupine to gather some data on what's happening in the patch.

They were counting flower stalks and branches, measuring plants and counting seedlings.

Most of the 30 or so seedlings are in the road at least 100 feet from where the plants bloomed and put out seeds last year, so their origin is undetermined.

Nevertheless, they're a welcome addition to the population.

The older patch is pretty impressive this year. There are many large plants and all of them are in full bloom.

I've never seen a display like this, though I've heard of some following ground disturbance.

There's more monitoring scheduled in a couple of weeks to measure the other patch, which was planted later and has younger plants.

A bloom in every lupine patch

2011-03-19T18:33:00.000-07:00

On the cusp of spring, lupines in all three patches in the preserve are blooming.

This is progress.

Not only are lupines blooming in the two planted patches. They are also blooming on both mature plants in one of the volunteer patches in another section of the preserve that was activated from the earlier pre-fire disturbance.

It will be interesting to see what kind of activity, if any, results from the burn.

The other lupine in the sandhill took a year to respond, but that was an accidental winter burn.

Meanwhile, there are about 20 seedlings around the older patch, which is encouraging because the thought is that they may all be the result of seeding from the first bloom there last spring.

I know the seeds are ejected from the flower clusters, but I don't how far or whether they may be carried by the wind or insects.

Blueberries high and low

2011-03-10T16:25:00.000-08:00

The lupines aren't the only plants in bloom at the preserve.

A week or so ago I ventured into the flatwoods/bayhead area to check on things and found low-bush and high-bush blueberries in bloom.

That's the first time I had noticed the high-bush species. A new, but unsurprising addition to the plant list is always welcome.

By the way, the fruit ripen around June, though they're small.

I came, I saw, I hoed

2011-03-10T13:33:00.000-08:00

This year I'm trying again to get ahead of the Ceasar weed along th section of the fire land near the First Avenue gate.

My strategy is to look for seedlings and hoe them up or pull them up so that they don't mature and produce more seeds. I'm not sure how long this will take or whether it's feasible, but it's worth a try.
We got a head start during last Saturday's work day when some were removed.

Lupines begin blooming

2011-03-10T13:25:00.000-08:00

I saw the first lupine blooms today. Last year they started blooming a week or so later so it's about right for the location, I guess. This is only the second year the plants have been old enough to bloom.

I also found a few more seedlings near the older planting area today and flagged them. I checked the older plants and now see its going to be a lot pinker spring this year than last. Two of the plants I discovered have buds, too, and should be in full bloom by the end of the month or so.

Keeping the pepper at bay

2011-03-06T06:04:00.000-08:00

We had a great Ridge Rangers work day Saturday. We removed a bunch of Brazilian pepper that had sprouted along the fence line.

I asked for the work day because what pepper was inside the preserve has been gone for some time and I wanted to do what I could to reduce the chance of its reinvading.

I also persuaded Bill Parken, our Ridge Ranger coordinator, who cut the oak tree that blocked one of the haul paths.

We also got some trash picked up. It was a good day.

More on lupine seedlings

2011-03-06T05:56:00.000-08:00

Sometimes a mundane explanation doesn't immediately come to you.

It occurred to me that the source of the new seedlings could be partly my own doing.

It occurred to me that the source could have been me or others picking up seeds in the soles of our shoes, which scarified them enough to make them sprout after they rubbed off our shoes and went into the soil.

I asked whether that was possible and was told it was. I guess more investigation could tell us more.

Some thoughts on new lupines

2011-02-27T17:48:00.000-08:00

I went to the preserve today to look at the seedling

lupines and see if more had appeared. There appeared to several, including what looked

like seedlings in the planted area.

The assumption is that the lupines in the path

are from an old seed bank because of their distance from the planted patch. They're perhaps 100 feet away.

I've been told the lupines broadcast their seeds, but I don't recall reading how far.

What's interesting is that if these seedlings are the result of an old seed bank, that it is occurring so close to anintentional planting site.

It's going to be interesting to see if any more lupines pop up.
The goal, of course, is to have a self-sustaining population, which will I suppose take years.

I was thinking about that as I was driving along I-4 this morning east of U.S. 27 on the sandhills near County 54 and noticing the expanse of sky blue lupine, the scrub lupine's common relative.

The blue lupine appeared to be blooming already.Scrub lupine's still a few weeks off.

I'll continue to help to monitor. It could be an interesting year.

Volunteer lupines increase

2011-02-26T16:41:00.000-08:00

This week I got a note from Juliet Rynear from Bok, who makes regular checks of the lupine plantings.
She found some volunteer seedlings in the east-west path west of the first plantings.
I went out today to take a look and found two more farther west and marked them.
I wonder if we need to get some volunteers together and do a broader search.

Meeting a neighbor

2011-02-22T18:42:00.000-08:00

Sometimes it takes awhile to make contact with the neighbors.
Today I met a man named Mike, who said he had been watching me out there for years and wondered what was happening.
I explained a little bit of what going on.
We also talked about the recent tire dumping. He said he knew who did it and was glad I threw the tires back over the fence.
He also said he knew which kids were responsible for vandalizing the lupine patch in the early days.
I picked up a bucketload of trash and a couple of larger items.
I also checked the lupines for recent sprouts, but didn't notice any. It may take awhile to build up the seed

Waiting for new lupines

2011-02-01T04:34:00.000-08:00

The unknown timing of the next step of the lupine recovery effort occupies my thoughts.
Last spring's bloom resulted in seeds.but the question is whether any will germinate and produce new plants this year.
I've been looking, but so far haven't seen anything that looks like sprouting lupines.
The unexpected January rains have improved the prospects, perhaps.
Other than that, the lupine appear healthy, but I'd love to see a patch of scrub lupine that looks like the sky blue lupine along I-4 near the Polk-Osceola line, which was growing very lushly as I drove by Sunday.

Meanwhile, the one section of fence continues to be vandalized. I'll get to it this weekend.

An old fence cut again

2011-01-15T17:17:00.000-08:00

During a check this afternoon and a search for some trash, I found the fence had been cut in the back area near the TECO substation. This section hadn't been cut in a couple of years. I can't figure out the purpose other than simple vandalism.
I did find an electric meter wrapped in an old towlel near the fencel cut. I made a partial fix. I'll come back with extra wire to finish the job.
The biggest trash today was an old car engine head.

Finally, some rain

2011-01-07T12:33:00.000-08:00

The December cold fronts were fairly dry. The first front in January dropped 0.8 of an inch, which was welcome because it may aid the germination of seeds put out last year from the first lupine bloom.

The planted areas appear to be in good shape. I checked one of the volunteer lupine sites where the larger plants are located. Both now appear to be in decline. I've seen that with the L. diffusus in the southeast corner, but the cycle seems to be that they come up and either bloom or don't and die, but eventually resprout. That may be the case here.

I checked the fences. They're mostly intact, though bent from being climbed over, it seems. I'm still not sure whether the new fencing solved a problem or created a problem.

No holiday from fence repairs

2010-12-26T14:53:00.000-08:00

I stopped by Christmas afternoon to check 0n things and discovered another fence cut had occurred.

It was in back of the vacant lot where the old woman had lived. This time instead of cutting the bottom strands of the barbed wire and the new fence, they cut the top half.

I went out this morning and did a quick fix. I'm beginning to wonder about the wisdom of the double fencing from a maintenance standpoint.It doesn't appear to have kept the dogs out, either.

The older lupine planting appeared to be OK.

I hauled out another bag or so of trash from inside the preserve and the right of way along Hobbs Road. It was starting to look trashy.

Crosstown lupine planting

2010-12-16T18:16:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow the usual suspects will be at Mackay Gardens in Lake Alfred to plant some more Scrub Lupine seedlings.

There will be an educational sign, too, I've heard, which is good because that is a more public site and there are more possibilities there.

The city is assisting the effort, so it's a good deal all around.

Post-fire cleanup continues

2010-12-05T05:15:00.000-08:00

I continued working my way along the south fire lane to level the remnant piles and removing trash. I took out four bags of trash and a couple of buckets of recyclables while the ground is still clear and the trash is visible.
A freeze is forecast for Tuesday morning.

Collecting the trash, filling the hole

2010-11-25T09:11:00.000-08:00

I went out today to finish picking up the trash I had unearthed in the fire lane.

I filled five small garbage bags and a bucket full of recyclables.

I then filled the hole as well as I could. There's always a volume deficit when you haul out that much. It will equalize over time.

Buried trash, lots of trash

2010-11-21T13:00:00.000-08:00

This was somewhat llike the case of pulling on a loose string and unraveling a piece of clothing, only worse.
One the way back to the gate from the fence repair work, I noticed what appeared to be a piece of orange extension cord poking out of the sand. I pulled it. Nothing happened.
The only digging tools I had with me were my hands and hte posthole digger I'd used to make the fence repair, neither of which was suitable

I returned today with a shovel. Two hours later I was able to free the cord along with three bagfuls of garbage and a couple of wheelbarrows full of recyclables.

This reminds me of the incident a year or two ago when an attempt to unearth a stray piece of metal ended up with the exhumation of a long-buried lawnmower.

I also picked up some stuff thrown over the fence, including some pieces from a mobile home someone across the fence was demolishing.

There's more trash along the edge. It gives me something to do.

I also need to fill in the hole when my back muscles recover from digging it.

New fence, new cut

2010-11-20T15:33:00.000-08:00

I had been wondering how long it would be before someone would cut the new double fence around the north tract.

I discovered the cut today behind a lot where someone had been demolishing an old mobile home, which is the dominant housing type on the north boundary.
I'm not sure what the purpose was other than to let dogs in, judging by the partial cut of barbed wire and new fence, which somewhat resembles hogwire.
Anyway, fixed the cut with a couple of fence posts, some fence staples and some concrete debris.

I discovered the fence during a periodic check for litter popping up form the sand. On the way out from the fence repair, I stumbled onto a new subterranean pile. The only clue was a piece of extension cord. I don't know how much of a pile there is. It was getting dark and I left after excavating part of it, but it may be extensive.
I'll know more tomorrow.

One more pile

2010-11-13T20:18:00.000-08:00

While I was fixing the one bench that was burned, I discovered one more pile that needs to be leveled. I had thought there was another, but couldn't recall where it was.

There was, of course, some more trash, there. Between that and another pile I found recently, I left with another truckload.

Eek! It's a Shriek, er Shrike

2010-11-12T13:51:00.000-08:00

The open, burned landscape has attracted a new bird species.

Today, I saw the first Loggerhead Shrike I'd ever seen on the property. They aren't a forest bird.

I recently saw an American Kestrel, too,. Actually, I saw two, but the first one appeared to chase away the second one. I have not seen any kestrels since, so it may have been a bird of passage or an opportunist.

Leveling the piles

2010-11-11T18:35:00.000-08:00

Now that a few weeks have passed and it has rained, I've decided to level the burn piles.

I've also found some trash and carried it offsite.

I've also found a few other pieces of trash as I' ve been walking through the burned areas, but not a lot, which I feel good about.

Another thing. Even after this time and some rain, one pile still had a small hot spot.

Rain and regrowth

2010-11-07T16:45:00.000-08:00

After a rainless October, ww had .0.80 inch this week.

Following the burn, a few sprigs of grass are emerging. So are saw palmettos.
Garberia is blooming now, which is especially noticeable in the othewise charred landscape.

I'm still finding some trash.

The ash heaps at the burn piles should be leveled. I'll deal with in soon.

A more pleasant journey north

2010-11-01T13:47:00.000-07:00

I just learned today that CSX Corp. is finally planning to repair that horrid railroad crossing just north of the preserve on Hobbs Road.

Happy days. I travel that way sometimes, but I don't like it.

Smoke in the ashes

2010-10-29T20:14:00.000-07:00

I went out to finish collecting some trash I'd found the other day.
A burn pile was nearby and so I began to level it with my rake.
That was mistake. The embers were stil live beneath and it started smoking.
I reburied it.
We may get some rain next week, which will extinguish it.

The lupine are OK after fire

2010-10-24T17:13:00.000-07:00

Just a followup from Friday's controlled burn. All of the lupine patches, two planted and two wild, came out OK.

The intriguing question is whether more will sprout this winter.

Just when you think you have things down at this place, a surprise appears. I still can't get over it.

Prescribed fire followup

2010-10-23T16:45:00.000-07:00

Prescribed fire turns out not to be a one-day affair.

Today Mike Perry was back on the site checking on hot spots to make sure there were no unexpected restarts of the fire. There were a few smokers, mostly stumps and an odd log, though he found one spot where buried carpet had ignited.

I meanwhile, was cruising the boundary with buckets and wheelbarrow in search of exposed debris that had previously been missed, I found about two truckloads worth.

Some other observations. The burn was pretty spotty in places. The western section, which frankly needed fire the least because some of it had burned a few years ago, was burned well. The eastern section, which had been heavily forested before the gyrochopping, was spottier.

Mike said one problem was that FWC may have waited too long after gyrochopping and the canopy, such as it is, was too far from the ground to carry the fire very well.

It was a good day to burn

2010-10-22T15:48:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day Lake Blue had been burned in a planned way--ever.

I was an observer, watching the professionals at work..

I learned that the first thing you need to do is to burn a "black line," a line of burned area next to the fire lane that will help to contain the overall burn so that it doesn't jump the fire lane as easily.

Today's burn was sligthly complicated by my discovery last weekend of two spots where Scrub Lupine had sprouted for the first time ever documented by anyone to our knowledge. As a result of the fire more lupine may sprout. We just don't know.

The idea was to protect the plants we know about from fire until they've had a chance to bloom and produce seeds.

The other thing I learned a little more about is why wind matters. I knew wind direction mattered because you plan who the wind will affect. In this case, the plan was to make sure most of the smoke avoided the nearby residences as much as possible. The results were mixed. In the afternoon the wind shifted and was coming from the north, which meant it was pretty smoky for awhile in one of the adjacent neighborhoods.

The other factor is wind speed. You like it to have a little speed, 10 mph or so, I was told, to move the fire quickly through the landscape.

In addition, you want the fire mostly out by dark so smoke doesn't settle and become a major nuisance or safety hazard.

There was another interestsing effect. At various times of the day all of his had insects land on us. They varied. There were treehoppers, mantises, grasshoppers, beetles and true bugs.

Finally, I will obviously and not unexpectedly have more tash to cleanup now that I can see it more clearly on the bare, burned ground.

I've been waiting and hoping for this for years. It was a good day. Thanks, everyone.

Veni, Vidi, Ignis

2010-10-22T14:41:00.000-07:00

The fire crew led by Mike Perry and Shane Belson arrived as advertised today. The burn was still going on as of late afternoon. I'll post photos and provide more details tonight.

Preparing for the fire

2010-10-21T20:04:00.000-07:00

I learned this morning that the planned fire will happen tomorrow.
I helped Juliet tape off the area where I discovered the Scrub Lupine last weekend.
It will not be burned because the plants have not bloomed yet and put out seeds.
No one knows what kind of seed bank is out there.
By spring we'll have a better idea.

Sandspurs, trash, birds

2010-10-17T21:03:00.000-07:00

Interesting day.
It began with a routine work errand to remove sandspurs from the main path.
Along the way I watched a pair of American Kestrels seeming to have a dispute over the open territory that's probably a grasshopper bonanza for one of them.
When I reached the pines, I heard the Great Horned Owl calling. Breeding season is approaching for owls.
I looked down and saw a mound under the pine needles, I discovered a long-ago abandoned tire still on its rusty rim.
Nearby, I found more discarded stuff in a patch of saw palmetto .
It was quite a morning.

See you on the lopside of the moon

2010-10-16T17:25:00.000-07:00

Lopsided Indian Grass, one of our showier local native grasses, is flowering at the moment in scrub and flatwoods habitats.

It's the host plant of one of Florida's rarest butterflies, the Arogos Skipper, by the way, though you'll see a lot more grass than skippers in these parts.

Today I photographed some of the grass with the rising late afternoon moon far in the background.

New bird, new plant

2010-10-16T14:55:00.000-07:00

While I was looking for butterflies today, I flushed a Wilson's Snipe, which is usually a bird you see near water, though not always. I'll add it to the vert list.

More interesting was the discovery of what appears to be a couple of small groups of scrub lupine, far from the introduced populations that are the result of seedlings propagated at Bok Tower.

If this proves out, it will be another previously undocumented population, one that has happily sprouted on protected land.

I guess the question is how the discovery will affect the boundaries of the planned burn since none of the plants has bloomed and the extent of the seed bank is unknown. I'll leave that discussion to the experts.

Making the walk-through gate more walkable

2010-10-03T19:35:00.000-07:00

Ever since the walk-through entrance has been moved to one corner of the site, access has been mostly uninviting.
That's because tall grass has been growing in that area of the right way.
This weekend I launched an experiment.
I dug up the grass along a path to the entrance and laid down large pieces of concrete that had been dumped nearby to form a path.
Now the test is to see how it holds up and remains open .

Good and bad in the pines

2010-09-30T18:39:00.000-07:00

I was checking one of the longleaf pine areas and discovered we still have a small area where cogon grass persists. I've been pulling it, but proably not getting the entire root. I also haven't visited recently. There were 15 or 20 plants. I bagged them and carried it home.

However, the check also led me to the discovery of an owl pellet at the base of one of the pines. It's probably from the Great Horned Owl I see hunting occasionally at dusk.

I recently saw a spot in the sand where some raptor had come down on something.

The place still has fun things to see. I'm happy.

Fire.Yes!

2010-09-30T18:28:00.000-07:00

I received news this week that a landscape and pile burn will be permitted by our friends at the Florida Division of Forestry. I guess the prep work paid off.

I was rereading parts of the paper Eric Menges and Doria Gordon wrote on fire management and its various artificial substitutes today. I think the evidence is clear fire has no real substitute in the long run.

The gyrotracking probably had to happen because of the thickness of the forest and the proximity of the residences, though I might have suggested a little more restraint to leave habitat islands and snags for local wildlife.

Anyway, the burn is tentatively scheduled sometime in October, depending on weather. The wind has to be right to keep the smoke away from the neighbors as much as possible.

The residents will receive letters, but I'm trying to make personal contact to make sure everyone knows about it.

Cleaning and clearing habitat

2010-09-26T17:33:00.000-07:00

We had a good work day Saturday. A handful of Ridge Rangers were reinforced by a group of Girl Scouts. the area around the lupine patches were cleared of trees, shrubs and weeds.

We also continued with the removal of sandspurs and Natal grass.

Later in the day I came back to attack the buried trash that's becoming visible along the north fire lane. I hauled out two bags of trash and a couple of buckets of recyclables.

I went out again Sunday. I'll have more on that visit later.

Dulling the sandspurs

2010-09-21T15:22:00.000-07:00

I don't like sandspurs, even though they're a beach sedge that you'd expect here. Today I went ona my annual eradication campaign along the main path between the gate and the first lupine patch.

We've got a work day Saturday and it seemed an opportune time to do something about them so noone else had to deal with them, either. I filled three bags.

Yesterday I did some spot trash pickup in some old piles I found around the lupine patch and in the fire lane.

There are a number of small piles of garbage, much of it composed of broken glass and various household debris that I know about but never dealt with because they were a minor problem compared to the larger piles. Now I can work on them as I get to them.

It's nice to walk through a natural area without having to see the glint of pieces of broken beer bottles, I think.

The fire some time

2010-09-13T21:34:00.000-07:00

I received a call today about a meeting this week between FWC and DOF folks about a possible landscape burn in parts of the north tract.

The wet late summer is a plus. We have a La Nina system building, I've heard, which could mean a dryer-than-normal winter and spring. Snoooze and you lose. It would be instructive to see the result and get rid of the piles, too.

It may requre some PR with the neighbors to keep them informed and to make sure no one has any respiratory problems.

Nevertheless, it will be exciting to see if any dormant seed banks are revived. It might help the beetle survey next year or in some future year.

Finally, I wonder if there's really much undiscovered trash out there.

Lake Blue nature tour in 2011

2010-08-26T18:05:00.000-07:00

During a preliminary brainstorming session today about a planned multi-day nature festival in Polk County next year, one of the possible field trips that was discussed was bringing people to Lake Blue.

It is one of the few Winter Haven Ridge preserves there are.

It was on the vanguard of the Scrub Lupine recovery effort and by next year it will be clearer how that's going.

It demonstrates the challenge of managing scrub in an urban environment. The mechanical treatment is still controversial it seems, since I was told last weekend that there are no plans to repeat that in the south tract. There are still rumors of fire for the cleared sections of the north tract.

It also will present a chance to see some scrub plants and familiarize people wioth scrub in general in a quick and convenient way.

Nothing's committed yet, but it's an interesting idea.

Gleaning among the glass

2010-08-26T17:59:00.000-07:00

Now that the fire lane has been disked again and it has rained for a few days, I took advantage of the two to attend to a chore I have ignored mostly up until now on any scale.

That involves going down a section of fire lane and picking up all of pieces of glass and any other debris I can spot. Late afternoon is good because the light shows up on the glass that's sticking out and makes it easier to see.

In addition, in one spot it was obvoious there was a lot of debris just below the ground's surface, so I gently dug around and unearthed quite a bit.

After I was done, I filled a five-gallon bucket twice with debris from along the site of Hobbs Road in front of the preserve, but didn't get everything.

I'll be back.

Fire lane open again

2010-08-19T17:53:00.000-07:00

I stopped by this afternoon for the first time in a week or so to find the fire lanes had been disked again.

I spent about an hour picking up exposed trash along the first 100 yards or so. I filled three trash bags and two 5-gallon buckets.

i was thinking of coming through with a strong rake and seeing what other trash near the surface I could churn up to clean up the area while it is still open.

The fact that the work was done so quickly after I mentioned it to Bill Parken at FWC was also encouraging. This site really needsa good fire lane because the homes are so close and most of them are mobile homes that would go up pretty quick if the flames reached them.

Lupine program Saturday will include Lake Blue

2010-08-16T19:29:00.000-07:00

I'm looking forward to a program Saturday at Bok Tower that will provide an update on the Scrub Lupine project.

The plantings at Lake Blue, which were the pioneer effort, will be included in the discussion. I'm told more plantings are planned elsewhere in Polk and in Orange County and perhaps in Lake County.

This is an important element of the recovery plan, which envisions establishing several populations.

We're still early in this. For instance, one thing to watch will be whether any recruitment occurs. We'll be looking next spring.

Checking the south fence

2010-07-14T18:38:00.000-07:00

I visited the neglected south tract this afternoon and found an ear tree had fallen on the fence. There was no other damage. I fixed it by removing the tree and renailing one piece of fence that was down.

In the open areas on the northeast corner, Paronychea was common. This area remains open for some reason, which is good, because it's the only place in the fire lane where I've seen Polygonella basiramia.

There were a few beer b0ttles and cans near the employment office.

The dominant plant in the fire lane appears to be ragweed, though there is Natal grass on the edges and sand spurs, partridge pea and various grasses.

Still raining, weeding easier

2010-07-05T08:15:00.000-07:00

It has been wet recently, for a change. The rain gauge read 2 inches, so all of the plants, including the naughty ones, are getting plenty to drink.

The upside to all of this is that the moist soil makes weeding easier, so I've been taking advantage of this to remove Natal grass in some key areas to keep it from taking over.

In other places I'll leave it alone because there's simply too much to deal with manually unless I want to nake Natal grass removal a full-time job.

One thing I've noticed is the proliferation on Polanisia tennufolia in numbers I've never noticed before.

A captured feather

2010-06-20T12:46:00.000-07:00

I was trekking across the scrub recently and encountered a feather snagged on a Bumelia.

I'm not totally sure what bird species shed it. It appears to be a larger species, though. A Great Horned Owl hunts here. So do hawks. I'll have to run it by someone who knows more about feather identification.

Usually I find wing or tail feathers, which are a little easier to sort out. This is more of a challenge, but worth sharing.

Tarflowers, not tarballs

2010-06-20T12:09:00.000-07:00

One of the few showy blossoms at the moment in the scrub is the Tarflower, which is pretty widespread in scrub and scrubby flatwoods.

The plant gets its name from the sticky tarlike chemical on the flowers. The adhesive chemical traps some small insects, though I'm not exactly sure how that benefits the plant, which also attracts other pollinators.

They're relatively prominent shrubs in the aftermath of the mechanical clearing.

Roaches

2010-06-13T13:46:00.000-07:00

I'm up to six species of roaches at Lake Blue Scrub.

I found the lastest addition when I was doing some night insect surveys earlier this spring.

The species list is:

Sand cockroach (Arenivaga floridensis)

American cockroach (Periplaneta americana)

Florida woods cockroach (Eurycotis floridana)

Wood roach (Parcoblatta sp.)

Pennsylvania wood roach (Parcoblatta fulvesence)

Green banana cockroach (Panchlora nivea)

Butterflies are returning

2010-06-13T13:32:00.000-07:00

I crisscrossed the north tract today to see what the butterfly situation was now that summer is nearly herel.

Ceraunus Blue was the most numerous. There were 24. Nevertheless, that's far less than the 103 I had around the same date last year.

Tentatively, I'm attribtuing the decline to the severe winter.

I will monitor this summer and fall and see what the changes are.

Note: Common Buckeyes were more numerous this year. It's a mixed year.

Another lupine again

2010-06-13T13:24:00.000-07:00

I was checking out the area where the Clitoria fragrans is found and discovered two lupine plants, one of which had died. This is the same area where Lupinus diffusus popped up after a fire about five years ago. I didn't find any stipules, so I assume these plants are L. diffusus, too. The habitat is right.

Meanwhile, the Natal grass and Guineas grass is becoming rife in and along the fire lane. This calls for more than a Ridge Ranger workday, I'm afraid.

Summertime, and the weeding ain't easy

2010-06-07T04:13:00.000-07:00

Unsurprisingly, grasses, sedges etc have invaded the cleared second planting area and are competing with the lupines for whatever it is they need. Weeding has begun, but it's not a job for mad dogs and Englishmen. It's better to wait until the cooler portion of the day.

This will be an ongoing task. There's a sea of Natal grass along the nearby fire lane so it could be a long summer.

However, I've found that aggressive weeding in small tracts can control the problem pretty well for a time so the work doesn't have to be repeated too often. Obviously, on a landscape scale a different approach is necessary.

Signs of summer's approach

2010-05-20T18:29:00.000-07:00

I walked through the landscape this afternoon.

Ceraunus blue butterflies are finally emerging. A Gulf fritillary was nectaring on the remains of the Nolina blossoms. Yucca is in full bloom, but the recent weather knocked over some of the plants with the tallest flower stalks. I also saw Common buckeye, Barred yellow and possible a Cassius blue.

Asclepias tuberosa and feayi are blooming. Very little Natal grass is blooming except in the fire lanes so far. All of the freeze killed grass is still brown.

The burn piles on the west side are still unburned.

The new hog wire fence has been installed.

Rain arrives in plenty

2010-05-17T18:53:00.000-07:00

It has rained over the past two days. I checked the gauge this evening and it read 2 inches.

The Bonamia is beginning to bloom. The vines are plentiful across the landscape.

Polanisia tennufolia is in bloom, too.

This evening a Great Horned Owl flew across the landscape as I was setting up for night insect work. The sky tonight was lovely. It was that bright early evening blue, perhaps clarified by the rain, which gets rid of haze.

The bug survey was uneventful. Ant lions, a few beetles, moths, leafhoppers and flies, but nothing I was hoping for.

Bugs and benches

2010-05-04T04:10:00.000-07:00

I'm still doing some regular evening bug monitoring to see what the light will attract.

I prepared the bench that was one of the insect observation platforms and installed a second on the north side to replace the one that was vandalized a couple of years ago.

Meanwhile, a Common Nighthawk makes its regular sortie over the open preserve sky, but this week I didn't hear the Chuck-will's-widow. Maybe it moved on.

I'm still slowly mining trash from the windrows along the north fire lane. I want to get some of the work done before the area becomes overgrown again.

Enough rain for now; fire lane getting weedy

2010-04-27T04:22:00.000-07:00

The weekend storm dropped 3 inches of rain on the lupine patch. The plants look good.

Meanwhile, in the fire lane the rain and warmer weather has caused grasses to sprout again, the main concerns being Natal grass and Guinea grass. I've seen no evidence of cogon grass so far this year, though there was a patch nearby.

Late bloomers

2010-04-25T18:01:00.000-07:00

I stopped by the lupine patch today and noticed that the plants that were blooming earlier were wrappping up, but that some other plants were putting out blooms for the first time.

I wasn't surprised because no species does everything at the same time, but it was interesting that the blooming was somewhat asynchrous. It rained pretty hard this evening, so that could provide additional moisture to spur blooming. It has been dry and windy for the past few days, which is less encouraging.

Cleaning up the masonry mess

2010-04-22T19:04:00.000-07:00

Instead of digging up more trash today, I decided to spend a couple of hours hauling out some of the debris I've already unearthed.

The top priority was the pieces of concete that appear to be everywhere from who knows how many construction projects that had leftover materials that needed to be dumped. It was a chore, but the boundary of the driveway is better defined.

Bullbats 2, Beetles O

2010-04-20T20:18:00.000-07:00

I went out this evening to try to attract some beetles. I saw two Common Nighthawks, one of which buzzed my position a couple of times. However, the beetle quest was cut short by raindrops and wind. I got out before it worsened. Maybe later this week.

More rain arrives

2010-04-20T07:43:00.000-07:00

I checked the gauge this morning. It registered 0.90 inch. The new plants looked good.

I walked over to check the older plants and the blooms were impressive.

Nice scarecrow.

Trash mining resumes

2010-04-16T19:28:00.000-07:00

I resumed work mining trash along the fire lane. I filled two trash bags and a wheelbarrow full of miscellaneous debris.

While I was working a wildlife officer stopped by to check on things, which was encouraging. I explained some of the work going on here and thanked him for his efforts. These folks are spread pretty thin, so I always appreciate what they do.

Visitors day at Lake Blue

2010-04-11T12:21:00.001-07:00

Today was another important day to host visitors. I finally had a chance to meet John Beckner, the author of the description of Lupinus aridorum. He personally knew Jim McFarlin in McFarlin's later days living in Bradenton. He was accompanied by Fran Palmeri,, who is recording photographs of scrub plants for something she's working on.

The primary purpose of their visit was to get photos of the lupine, but I was able to show them several other plants, including Nolina britonnia, Persea humilis, Bonamia grandifloria (just sprouting), Lechea cernua, Ceanothus microphylla and several others.

It was great to be there with people who appreciated the wonderful diversity of this small natural area and I was happy to share what I know of it.

John said that Cnidoscolous stimulosus was being split, since there is one variety that is larger and has different leaves and is found here that may warrant description as a separate species. Same goes with one of the Asminias, he said. Frankly, I've never take the trouble to key them out completely. I guess I'll have to pay more attention.

Anyway, it was a pleasant couple of hours. They said they enjoyed it, too.

Lupines in bloom

2010-04-10T14:07:00.000-07:00

The lupines are in full bloom now. There are still a few racemes that haven't flowered, but it looks as though all of the participants are accounted for.

The Linaria is everywhere too and the pawpaws are in bloom, Nolina is budding/blooming and it's becoming prettier in the scrub by the day.

Insects of the night

2010-04-03T19:07:00.000-07:00

I went out this evening to see what was moving in the preserve at night.

I was walking around to see what was flying near dusk.I saw a Sand Roach on a Nolina brittonia bud. Two came to the light, along with what appeared to be an Alabama Underwing as well as common beetles, other unknown moths and some ants and flies.

Maybe things will pick up in a couple of weeks.

Lupines so far

2010-03-31T16:16:00.000-07:00

Slowly, the Scrub Lupines are coming into bloom. As I wrote earlier, I don't have a clear idea how long it will take for those with buds to bloom. that will be part of monitoring.

I've been out for a few days, but when I returned today, I could see slow progress. I guess I'll have to be patient.

More rain overnight

2010-03-26T06:13:00.001-07:00

This morning the rain gauge registered 0.85 inch.

Lupine count, more trash mining

2010-03-26T04:46:00.000-07:00

One lupine flower is now in full bloom, but the rest are still nestled in their buds. I don't have a good idea how long the full flowering will take, but I'm willing to wait and find out.

Juliet from Bok is organizing a work day to tabulate the results in a couple of weeks. She said not only are some of the December 2008 plants blooming, but so is one of the 2009 plants. I guess plants can be eager, too.

Meanwhile, I've been combining plant checks with a renewed effort to dig out garbage along the northern fire lane. It looks as though I'll be busy for a while.

I probably should wait around until dusk to see what's calling. Last night I heard two Whip-poor-wills calling near my yard about a mile away.

Rain, first pink petal

2010-03-22T13:02:00.000-07:00

The rain gauge read 1.45 inches today from Sunday's rain.

When I checked the older plants, I found one pink petal poking from one of the buds observed
Saturday. Photos to come.

Lupines are budding. Hooray!

2010-03-21T09:22:00.000-07:00

I checked the older lupine planting today and noticed that buds were developing on some of the plants. I can't wait to see them in bloom.

This will be a milestone in the experiment. Buds+flowers+seeds=recruitment. At least that's the hope.

There was also light rain today, which helps with all of the plants' survival as spring and warmer temperatures arrive.

Outside the fence is ugly

2010-03-14T18:43:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to do sometehing about the accumulation of trash in the right of way around the preserve through the annual Great American Cleanup.

You'd think I could clean up a roadside along a city block in a day. Wrong!
I spent about 10 hours along Avenue Q, which is on the south side of the southern tract. I got about a third of the way down the street and didn't get it all.

As it was, I filled 48 trash bags, collected 20 tires (some were from the roadside down the street, and a large pile of carpet before I ran out of steam.

Interestingly, I didn't get all of the steel cans and when I returned from a recycling run (20 of those bags were recyclables), there was a guy grabbing up the cans I'd missed, but drug out from the bushes.

I felt like the Little Red Hen, though I knew I'd made sure to get most of the iron by weight earlier. He didn't know it, but he just got the scraps.

The rest of the rain total

2010-03-13T13:56:00.000-08:00

This afternoon I took a break from my Great American Cleanup labors nearby and checked the rain gauge. It read 1.3 inches since yesterday morning.

It was quite windy today, so the extra rain probably helped to protect the plants from the dessication windy days cause. Plants in both areas appeared generally healthy, though there was a dead solider in the northern area.

Some well-watered lupines

2010-03-12T04:32:00.000-08:00

I checked the rain gauge at the planting this morning. It read 2.35 inches, which means no more hand-watering this week.

Plantings looked good and undisturbed. So far, so good.

Planting went well and quickly

2010-03-10T10:55:00.000-08:00

(FWC Photo)

The lupine planting went well today. About 35 volunteers showed up. The work occurred smoothly.

The lupines were planted in rows and GPSed to match the tags with the locations.

Paul from The Natives brought in a portable tank to water the plantings. Rain is forecast for this evening and tomorrow.

Watch this space for rainfall reports either from the Lake Blue gauge or my home gauge about 1 mile to the east.

People on hand today included Jack Stout and Sharon Kane, both of whom have done lupine field research. Scrub lupine is, I believe, one of Stout's specialities.

Lupine planting today

2010-03-10T04:20:00.000-08:00

I'm heading out to the preserve shortly to help with the planting of 700 new lupine plants from Bok Tower.

This is in a new location, but close enough for the two populations to crosspollinate, I've been told.

The other strategy is to move the plantings farther from the residential areas to reduce the likelihood of vandalism, which plagued the first planting.

The big issue is managing the watering. This is going to be a shared task and will be coordinated with rainfall, so we don't overwater or leave the plants susceptible to stress by underwatering.

Spring is a cruel season sometimes for plants because the temperatures (and evapostranspiration) increases, but the rainfall can be sparse. This was supposed to be a wet El Nino winter, but it hasn't turned out that way so far and we can't count on long-term weather predictions.

The big hope is perhaps we'll see some blooms this spring from the first planting.

McFarlin ex Beckner call

2010-03-03T20:17:00.000-08:00

I got a call the other day from John Beckner, author of the Lupinus aridorum description. He was looking for information on blooming lupine. He said it's possible some of the Lake Blue lupine might bloom this year, which would be wonderful.

He's working with a woman who is assembling a photo collection of scrub plants and others.

I hope to be able to meet him. I gather he's rather old, so there may not be a lot of time.

The windrows again

2010-03-02T04:31:00.000-08:00

It looks like it's archeology time again.

The windrows that were pushed up last year when the fire lane was widened, which was badly needed, have weathered enough to expose more trash. As I have time, I'll be going down the line and moving the debris to get at the trash and leveling the mounds.

In a perfect world, I suppose, that debris could be assembled in a burn pile somewhere, but fire-safe locations are tricky on that side, so the bugs will feast instead.

Clearing land for the lupines

2010-02-24T17:07:00.001-08:00

A group of volunteers cleared the ground for the next lupine planting, but ran into some big-rooted trees that will require more than strong backs to remove.

The problem is that we could have gone into a little more open area, but would have run into one of Archbold's study plots and beyond that is a burn pile site that may have altered soil.

The highlights today was the discovery of a Blue-tailed Mole Skink, only the second one I've seen on this site since I started working here in 2002. We also found a Worm Lizard, which many people had not seen. I've run into a few out here, but they're hardly common.

In addition, the large Narceus gordanus millipedes were everywhere.

We got a lot done and the rain held off, which helped.