Fall arrives; signs abound

It is early November and the signs are everywhere that summer is over. Garberia is blooming. Liatris is in various stages of blooming and seeding, except for ohlingerae, which has already bloomed and is all in dandelion-like tufts of seeds. They had a good year this year; perhaps next year will be better.

The primary butterflies evident, at least in late aftrernoon, were Little Yellows and Long-tailed Skippers. A few faded Gulf Fritiallaries and some Zebra Heliconians were also around.

The fire lanes are in bad need of mowing. I have resigned myself to the fact that the fire lanes are a lost cause to anything but maintenance. I did finish clearing the fire lane and beginningn to cleart the fence line on the west side of the south tract. I also found the remains of a recently dumped air-conditioner that had pretty much cannibalized, except for the fan, base and compressor. It was near the site where I found the cart about a month ago. I wonder if they're connected. The compresssor is too heavy to carry far.

Also, I found a caterpillar on Blue Curls. It was dark brown with a lighter brown ventral stripe.