A Cool Beetle And More Brush Cutting

 I visited the preserve today to check out mid-fall wildflowers,

The Chapman's Blazing Star has already gone to seed., but the Small-leafed Liatris was just getting started. The Carphephoruous was in full bloom and was attracting several Gulf Fritillary butters. 

The Balduina will be declining in a month or so, but still shows plenty of bright yellow along the trails.

 I found a lone still blooming Bonamia.

The Bridges and Orzell's Blue Curls still has some blossoms. On the stem of some of the plants was the find of the day, It was a beetle called a Freckle-necked Kuschelina (Kuschelina thoracica) and it was only the second time I had recorded it here in 20 years or so of surveying. Lake Blue Scrub is the only place this species had been reported on iNaturalist at a Lake Wales Ridge WEA as far as I can determine.

In addition to the flowers, I noticed that brush had been cut and left lying on the ground at one of the gates on the south side of the preserve's northern section. I may come in and remove it when I have time because it is a place I like to. park sometimes when I am doing blacklighting.

The alleged management of this place still mystifies me, but I have no say in it.

A Cruel Summer Drought Doomed Lupine Seedlings But Liatris Glorious

I went out this weekend to check on what seedlings I had flagged and found no survivors. I also had trouble finding one of the flags.

It had been a brutally hot summer with relatively little rain and heat indexes exceeding 100 F, so I was not surprised.

However, a short distance away the Scrub Lupine were in full bloom and some still budding, perhaps in response to recent rainfall and milder daytime temperatures.

This is an El Nino year. which normally means a wet winter. That may mean good conditions for seedling emergence in late winter and early spring. However,

survival as usual depends on what happens the rest of the year. I have not seen any predictions.

Fuel "Reduction" Indeed

I finally got a response of sorts from the person in charge of managing the preserve regarding the massive chainsaw operations around the Scrub Lupine planting areas.

The answer and promise not to laugh. was that they were conducting a "fuels reduction" operation. As you can see from these photos nothing has been reduced: except the height of the fuels.

Now there is a mass of dead vegetation lying on the ground, and in some cases seeming to block any chance for lupine seedlings to sprout beneath the dense piles of chainsawed foliage. I searched what open areas still remained in the first planting area and did not find any sign of seedling emergence.

There has been a mild drought this year and that was probably a factor, too.

Nevertheless, I suspect this work is done by unsupervised contractors, My original suggestion that they clear around the planting areas to reduce shade and leaf litter was somehow misinterpreted to mean to cut down a bunch of trees and leave the debris lying across the landscape.  

Meanwhile, summer is coming. Maybe a lucky lightning strike or two will deal with the situation.

The visit did have some highlights. Scrub blazing star, scrub morning glory and Curtiss' milkweed are blooming along with some more common plant species. Also, I flushed a Common Nighhawk from  its spot along one of the trails on my way and out of the preserve, which leads ne to believe it may be nesting. I left quickly to avoid stressing it.further.

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The Lake Blue Chainsaw Massacre

 I went to the preserve yesterday to check on McFarlin's Lupine seedlings that had emerged this year..

It did not go well.

My first stop was the second planting area.

I was greeted with a wall of downed trees, but was finally able to find a way through by moving a couple of small trees that had been chainsawed. I found two seedlings.

I went to the third planting area and saw no entry point.

Finally, I headed to the east-west path and found it was blocked, too.

I found a way in farther west from the northern fire lane. but encountered another blockade.

I worked my way though it but there was so much chain sawed trees and brush it seemed the seedling areas I normally survey were covered in brush, so I left. 

I sent an email to the FWC volunteer coordinator  this morning to find out what was going on.

If I find out anything, I will provide an update.