Cogon Grass On The Fringe

There has been a recurring problem with cogon grass, particularly on the west side of the preserve.
It is likely there will be more problems until something is done to treat the increasingly large area between the CSX tracks and Recker Highway.
It's fairly rife in a growing part of that property.
Meanwhile, I checked on any wind damage. There were a couple of sand pines down, one of which had fallen before the storm.
I chopped them in half to clear the main path.
Sandspurs are becoming common again. I plan to remove them from the main paths.
  

The Blues Have It

Ceraunus Blue butterflies have always been fairly common here.
After the habitat in the north tract was opened with mechanical clearing and prescribed fire, they became  abundant. for a time, but declined following a couple of severe winters.
They're back.
Today I counted 141.
It will be interesting to see if that number grows by fall.

Keeping the path clear

I've been working steadily when I have time to remove Natal grass from the north-south path through the heart of the scrub area.

This corridor is a main route for getting around and is also at the center of the main population of Scrub blazing star.

Meanwhile, I also made a temporary fix to the fence that was cut adjacent to the TECO property.

Busting the monoliths

I have known for several years that there were concrete pieces in the pile where the railroad ties had been dumped on the north fire lane by the tracks.

Recently I decided to explore what to do about removing them.

It was obvious that these concrete monoliths were much too heavy to move singlehandedly.
So, what to do?

I'm thinking this calls for a sledge hammer and perhaps some other tools to bust these pieces into smaller, but usable pieces.

It occurs to me the smaller pieces might be ideal for boundaries for a driveway.

It took some time, but several hours and one sledge hammer handle later, the work is done.
Now I have to haul out the debris.

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