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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New Bald Eagle Nest A Surprise

 

A pair of Bald Eagles have  fledged two young in a communications tower of some sort behind an industrial building across the street from the preserve.

The nest site, if I recall correctly, was formerly  occupied by Ospreys.

Today when I was checking it out, an Osprey flew by, touching off vocalization by an adult perched near the nest.

I was told by someone who works nearby that this is not one of the nests that is monitored by the EagleWatch program.

 

Lupine Season And More Fire Trash

The Scrub Lupine seedling population remains small so far. I've located only a handful so far. Last year at this time I had located about 80 plants, so I don't know what's happening.
The plants began emerging in late December, but whether their further emergence was  affected by a couple of cold snaps is something I don't know.

I flagged a couple of them today to provide me with some perspective if any more pop up.
I'm wondering whether any will emerge from the path just north of the planting area this year.
That path was heavily impacted by fire vehicles in recent months during the first-ever  prescribed fire for that portion of the preserve.
While I was checking today, I discovered some patches of household garbage I knew existed, but can see better thanks to the fire.
I hauled out a couple of bags and two buckets full of debris.
I also recorded some wildlife while I was there.

I saw an American Robin trailing a small flock of Cedar Waxwings. The two species sometimes flock together while feeding in the winter.

Fire returns to the preserve

FWC fire crew was at the preserve this morning for a first-ever burn in the northwestern section.
This is a series of small, relatively cool burn to clear underbrush.
I was told a crew will come in later with chainsaws to clear some of the oaks to open the area to longleaf pine, which should be the dominant large tree in this part of the property.
On my way to take a look at the fire, I flushed three Wilson's snipes, which sometimes stop here during migration.
I got pictures of Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and Northern Mockingbird, but couldn't get a shot of Blue Jays to expand the iNaturalist list for this site.

Another unsurprising resident species

I was removing cogon grass
 in the southeast corner
of the north tract today.
I spotted a large patch
beneath a sand pine
 that had grown since the last
 fire.
As I was digging, a mourning
dove erupted from the tree.
The fact that it allowed me to get that close without flying off meant it was sitting on a nest with eggs.
My experience with the Breeding Bird Atlas showed me birds will rarely budge from a well-concealed nest unless you are almost on top of them.
A quick check of the tree revealed a nest with two eggs.
This is notable.
Mourning doves are fairly common birds, but I have found few nests here, perhaps because of the amount of disturbance from fire to mechanical clearing that disrupted the natural landscape for a few years.
The last nest I found belonged to an Eastern towhee.
The bird list for this place sits at 60 species, the most recent being an Eastern screech owl that was calling while I was doing some night invertebrate work.
This is not a bad total for scrub site in the middle of a developed area and with no open water.
By comparison, my butterfly list is at 55 species.

Dawn In Summer At The Preserve

I stopped by at dawn today to retrieve some equipment I left behind yesterday afternoon to avoid a lightning storm.

I'm rarely here this early, especially at this time of year.

Towhees and a bobwhite were calling from the underbrush. A Common Nighthawk was making its last foraging run of the evening at bushtop level.

The neighbors; Indian Peafowl was calling  in the distance.

Other than that it was very peaceful. I should come out more often at dawn.

Another Debris Pile

I was scouting for birds for next weekend's Christmas Bird Count--not much there at the moment--when I encountered an old collection of trash that's probably a relic of a homeless camp in the south tract.

I piled everthing together for later collection when I remember to bring  a couple of buckets (bags are impractical in thick woods).

For some reason, various species of sandspurs have become rife in all of the fire lanes. I have to  scrape them from my pants and shoes after each visit. The good news is that Caesar weed is less evident.

 

Killy Hawk Above The Grass

I've been clearing Natal grass from the north-south trail after work when I had time in recent weeks.
It has been pretty uneventful work, but it's necessary.
I'm usually serenaded by an Eastern towhee or a Northern mockingbird during part of my work, but at dusk tonight I had another voice on the sound track.
I heard an American kestrel's "killy, killy" call and looked up to see its silhouette in the westering sky as it hovered over the scrub.
It then headed to its evening roost.
It occurred to me about whether it would be worth the effort to build  a nesting box and find a place to mount it.
Yay! Another project.

Bobwhites

I have seen bobwhites here from time to time over the years, but now it's possible the post-burn landscape may be more attractive than the overgrown conditions in the past.,

In recent months I have occasionally flushed some bobwhites.

Last night I heard two of them calling.

Interesting.

Bugs and bug hunters

As I was surveying the butterfly population and checking on things this afternoon, I suddenly caught movement ahead of me.

A pair of American Kestrels were, well, hawking just above the regrowing low tree line, probably in search of large grasshoppers, of which there are some at the moment.

The Ceraunus Blue numbers are gradually recovering from freeze and drought. Today I saw 57. which is the most in three years and far more than I've seen anywhere else in Florida, particularly in so small an area.

Pulled a few Caesar Weed along the western fire lane before they formed seeds. I may control this weed yet.

Beetles are really back

Went out Tuesday night with Paul Skelley to look for beetles. We found at least 30 as well as a handful of what he calls "rain beetles" because they're only active when it's raining.
Rain was threatening Tuesday night, but only a trace fell in the area, despite the thunder and lightning in the near distance.

It is spring. I saw my first Common Nighthawk of the season soaring and diving overhead and heard a Chuck-will's-widow calling from the south woods, which is a different location from recent years.

I'm planning to go out tonight and try again for beetles in the south woods.

The beetles are back

I had been fruitlessly mon itoring for beetles for a researcher since late March with no luck. Thursday night one finally showed. Now that they're out,we'll see what the population is like. They didn't emerge last year and I was beginning to get worried this year, but we'll see. The Common Nighthawk that kept me companylast year didn't show. So far, no Chuck will's Widow is calling from the pines, though I flushed one the other day.

Eek! It's a Shriek, er Shrike

The open, burned landscape has attracted a new bird species.

Today, I saw the first Loggerhead Shrike I'd ever seen on the property. They aren't a forest bird.

I recently saw an American Kestrel, too,. Actually, I saw two, but the first one appeared to chase away the second one. I have not seen any kestrels since, so it may have been a bird of passage or an opportunist.