One Path Clear, More To Go

I finally finished work yesterday on removing the mass of Natal grass from the central trail through the preserve.

I now have a relatively easy task of clearing  branches away from this and other paths, which will involve loppers and shouldn't take more than a single visit.

The fire lane still lies unmowed despite pledges to get the work done. It remains an eyesore, an exotic weed sink and a fire hazard.  Also, when it's mowed it's easier to find the trash the neighbors have tossed over the fence.

Meanwhile, my next major project is to work on the trail on the south tract in preparation for Nature Fest and to make it easier for me to get around the property.

They Only Come Out At Night

This large millipede species (Narceus gordanus, if you want to be formal) is quite common here.
I find them curled up under leaf litter when I'm doing various kinds of management work.
I've seen their tracks in the sand, but rarely seen them on the move.
At dusk today I spotted one in the open after I had been photographing some moths nearby.[

Moths & Milkweed

I made an interesting discovery this week.
While I was wrapping up some exotics control around dusk, I saw a  couple of Harlequin Moths on Curtiss' Milkweed.

I had seen these moths in the preserve before,, but I had never seen moths of this species nectaring before.

Typically, sphinxes and flower moths do this, but from what I've read, most other moths do not. In fact, many moths do not feed much in their adult stage.