Butterfly list grows

The Garberia is in bloom all over the preserve, offering the main nectar source for pollinators in late fall in scrub.

This week I found a Monk Skipper, which is my first sighting of this species here.
It is the 56th butterfly species I have observed here during the past 17 years of monitoring the site.
That is a respectable number for a small site in the middle of an industrial /commercial/residential area.
Some other recent additions to the butterfly list included Three-spotted Skipper and Polydamas Swallowtail.

I also photographed a Polka Dot Wasp Moth on the Garberia.
This is a fairly common diurnal moth, but I can't recall whether I had seen one here.

Where do those golf balls come from?

I was walking through the south tract yesterday looking for Indian pipes when I found a golf ball.
I have found several of the these balls over the years, but their origin remains a mystery.
There is no golf course nearby. There is no driving range nearby.
The demographics of the surrounding neighborhood doesn't suggest there are any golfers.
I threw it into the fire lane and will pick it up later.
The weather is beginning to moderate and I thnk I will plan to resume work mining the windrows along the fire lane to recover more legacy trash.

Clitoria fragrans expands at last

I've been monitoring a small population of Clitoria fragrans in the southeast corner of the north tract for several years, but haven't seen much evidence of expansion.
That seems to have changed.
Today I saw what appeared to be three patches in the sandhill area.
I still haven't seen it blooming in awhile.

Longleat Pines Suddenly Dying

The mature Longleaf Pine trees in the north tract are suddenly dying. I haven't visited in about a month when they appeared to be healthy.
There had been some pine deaths a couple of years ago after a prescribed burn. There was a second prescribed burn in this area last year, but it was a cool burn and no mature trees were damaged.
That leaves disease or insects. The younger longleafs appear healthy for now. Sand pines are unaffected.

Brazilian Pepper Control Under Way

I found a stand of Brazilian pepper in the northwest corner of the tract and have been attacking it over the past week.
This plant has never been a major problem in the preserve, but with some control it can be kept that way.
I'll get back to recheck the cogon grass spots later on.
If I have time I may be going out to pull and bag Ceasarweed. Spring is the best time to attack it because the burrs have not set yet.

Spring Arrives Colorfully

I was out checking today and was struck by the beginning of some color spring blossoms besides the pawpaws, which had been blooming for a few weeks.

Now milkweeds, greeneyes, piriqueta, helianthemum, Britton's beargrass and snakeherb are blooming and Alicia appears close to blooming.

I also noticed that in response to last year's prescribed fire on the north end of the tract, Clitoria mariana is sprouting in places I had never seen it before.

I checked on the Clitoria fragrans, but haven't seen much change from the minuscule number of plants that have always been in the southeast corner of the north tract.
I'm also seeing some expansion of Praxelis. I'll have to keep an eye on it.
Earlier this week I spent a few hours digging cogon grass in the southeast section.

While I was out today, I saw a lot of insects buzzing around a blooming Hercules club, whose flowers were nearly spent and less fragrant than they area at their prime.
In the same area I noticed some Brazilian pepper have returned.
It will be cooler later this week so I can attack them then.
I also want to restore a narrow path around the bayhead for monitoring purposes.
Ridge Rangers 25th anniversary event is next Saturday. I have been asked to speak. Hope we have a good turnout. It will be good to see my friends.
 

A new plant species appears after fire

I have been searching the area that was burned last year for the emergence of wildflowers that the fire might have encouraged to sprout after some dormancy.
I have seen some species in new places as a result of the fire, but this week found a species I had never recorded here.
It is Early Blue Violet (Viola palmata), a fairly widespread species that I have been seeing occasionally this year, but never in great numbers as the other violet species around the area.

More Cogon Grass Appears

While I was out today collecting some trash and checking on the status of lupine seedlings I noticed a new patch of Cogon Grass.
It was growing at the edge of the scrub along an area that had been bush-hogged earlier this year.
I don't know whether it arrived via the mowing equipment or blew in from a nearby infestation along Recker Highway.
I need to deal with it before it expands.

Lupine Season Slowly Begins

Scrub Lupine seedlings are beginning to appear at the preserve.
I checked today following a rainy weekend to collect more small pieces of trash in the disturbed sand.
I brought flags in case some lupines had emerged.
When I checked last week, there was little to see.

One surprise was to find some seedlings in the area north of the planting area that had been disked a few months ago
I also found two seedlings in the area where I discovered lupines from an old seed bank unrelated to the seedlings from Bok Tower that make up the main body of the lupine population.
Meanwhile, last week additional seedlings and pots containing seeds were brought to the preserve.
There are no mature plants in the preserve now, so there will be no flowers or new seeds this year.

Picking Up The Pieces

The combination of the recent disking of the fire lane in the perimeter and down the middle of the north tract and recent rainfall has created an opportunity to collect small pieces of debris.
I filled two five-gallon buckets  in the initial run of part of this section.
As I expected, most of it consisted of broken glass.
However, I also found some old auto parts.
It's raining again today.
I'll return when the sun returns to see what else I can find.
While I was out there, I noticed one of the benches needed to be repaired.
I took care of that, too.