And Then There Were Two

 I went out to check the site today after a strong storm came through the other day, but did not see anything concerning in the section I visited.

While I was there, I checked on the Scrub Lupine seedlings.

Only two have survived. One in the first planting area and one in the second planting area.

The rainy season has arrived and the fire lane vegetation is rank in some places.

Also, the Ear Tree growing in the right of way just outside the fence near the walk-through entrance in the north tract is dropping seed pods in the fire lane. Hard to say if any of them will germinate, but certainly don't want to repeat the spread of what I guess are Poinciana trees on the north fire lane.

Because of some health issues.I did not hike the entire perimeter so I cannot comment on what is happening in the rest of the property,

While I was there I did collect a small amount of trash exposed in the sand from recent rains. That seems to be a neverending task.

  

Lupines Begin To Bloom

 

While I was checking for and finding additional seedlings at the preserve today, I walked by the only mature plant near the first planting area and noticed it was beginning to bloom.

I did not check the plants in the third planting area, but assume they will begin blooming soon.

I left some extra flags to use in the next survey.

After I left that area. I went out to check the north fence line,

I noticed one of the neighbors had a hog pen, complete with hog.

I noticed some hog damage in the fire land nearby, but for now the animal appeared to be securely confined. 

 

Lupines Still Popping Up; Cogon Grass Even More So

 

This afternoon I found more Scrub Lupine seedlings, all of the new ones in and around the first planting area.

I also found a second plant from last year's crop whose flag had faded so much I had not noticed it earlier.

One of the seedlings appeared to have died already, which is not unusual. The test will be to see how may survive until the summer rainy season.

Meanwhile the Cogon Grass patch at the southeastern corner of the northern tract continues to spread untreated. At last check it seemed to be spreading toward the eastern fire lane rather than westward toward a small patch of Clitoria fragrans that only inhabits that part of the preserve.

Many years ago there was a small patch of Cogon Grass in that section of the fire lane. I duck it up and bagged and then brought in some Natal Grass from elsewhere in the preserve to outcompete, which it did for many years.

This is no longer a small patch and if my friends from FWC are reading this, you might want to check out the situation.

  

Hog Damage Is More Extensive

 

While I was out checking trails today, I found a patch of extensive hog rooting along a section of the western fire lane.

The mystery is how the animals are getting in since the new fencing installed a few years ago seems to be a better barrier than strands of barbed wire.

In addition to this, in fire lanes in the scrub areas. there are a lot small excavations that look like maybe exploratory though whether hogs or some other animal is responsible is a mystery. I have never seen anything like it.

One more thing to discuss at next week's meeting with FWC folks.

   

Fall Discovery, Hogs & Orchids

 I was walking the trails today to discover traces of litter such as pieces of broken glass, metal and plastic from the site's heritage as a dump site.

I  also found some abandoned shell  casings from earlier hunting expeditions and fresher evidence of the need for a hunt.

Most of it was in the small bayhead in the southwest corner of the north tract.

There was obvious hog damage among the Cinnamon Ferns.

But there was more. The orchids are beginning to emerge and  I found a previously undiscovered  fruiting Dahoon Holly after all of  these years here. 

It was a successful expedition.

 

Cogon Grass Infestation Spreads

 

An infestation of Cogon Grass in a sandhill area at the southeast corner of the north tract seems to be expanding and may reach the eastern fire lane soon unless treatment begins.

Another section of this small sandhill patch contains the only population of Clitoria fragrans  on this site.

I once tried to occasionally dig up the grass to control it, but learned at a webinar I watched a couple of years ago that such an approach was futile and might encourage the spread. 

Wild Boars Arrive Again

 It has been never clear why there has been so little wild hog activity at the preserve.

This is not a complaint, just an observation.

It may be that the property is surrounded by so many residents and their barking dogs, which may be a deterrent.

The site also appears to be visited by coyotes, so that may take care of the problem.

I have not found any evidence of rooting. All I've seen are tracks.

ADDENDUM: Spoke with a neighboring property owner and learned the tracks belong to some Pot-bellied Pigs that someone released recently.

Yikes! Lygodium arrives; attack plan under way

 I peeked into the small bayhead in one corner of the preserve to see whether the Habenaria floribunda were coming up. They were..

However, when I turned around to look at the fence line I spotted what I hope is only the beginning of a Lydodium  infestation.  I have plans to go back with some bags to see if I can collect it before it takes over.

This is the first time I've seen this pest plant here, though a couple of years ago I did observe a Lygodium Defoliator Moth  at my light in another section of the preserve and was wondering how far it had flown from its host plant.

Hog Arrives Again; No Major Damage Seen Yet

 I confirmed the earlier report from a neighbor that there was at least on feral hog in the area.

I found tracks in the fire lane of the south tract earlier this week and a place where the hog may have settled in to rest.

I have not seen any sign of major damage. There may not be much here that the animal finds edible since no palmetto berries are available now.

I will have to continue monitoring the area.

. 

Pepperless Corner Finally

I had discovered a Brazilian Pepper growing along the fire lane on the southwest corner and had trimmed it some time ago, but never remembered to come back and remove it.
Yesterday while I was conducting some light trash cleanup I noticed and remembered I needed to finish the job.
I went out today and dug it out and also mostly removed another exotic tree,, which I think is some species of Poinciana.
I also dug out some metal wire mesh that was half buried, but too deeply into the ground to remove manually.
On the way back to my truck I detoured onto Holton Road from the fire land and discovered several piles of demolition debris that appear to be from a bathroom remodeling project.
This is the first serious dumping I'd seen along the road in awhile. Mostly it's just the neighbors dumping their yard waste and other debris into the woods on their side of the fence.
I reported this to the county.

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.

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.

Post-Irma Report From Preserve

I'm still finding some effects from Hurricane Irma, though there was no serious damage.
I found a couple of downed pine trees in the north tract.
The disturbance of the vegetation also exposed a tire lodged in some palmettos that I had never found before. I removed it.
I have made a few checks of the south tract and have found no damage so far.
I also saw some flagged areas that may indicate the boundaries of the next burn units.
Another observation is that for some reason fall wildflowers are only slowly appearing.
One plant that is notable by its absence is Scrub Blazing Star, which is usually common along the north-south path in the middle of the preserve. This year I have seen only two.
The only thing that has changed is that there was some bush-hogging that may have been preparation for a future burn by preparing a wider gap in the vegetation. The effect, as usual with this kind of mechanical work, has been to encourage the proliferation of Natal grass.
It is possible the Natal grass has outcompeted the Liatris.

Herbiciding The Fenceline

I had reported a patch of Cogon Grass in the northwest corner of the site and a Chinese
Tallow Tree along the west fenceline

The reaction appears to have been to spray herbicide along the entire fenceline, browning a bunch of native species ranging from dog fennel and winged sumac to scrub bay and sand pine.

I guess there was a special at Nozzles R Us last week.

New Exotic Wildflower Has Benefits

(From top to bottom: Great Purple Hairstreak, Zebra Longwing, Black-dotted Spragueia, Gulf Fritillary)

There has been a lot of heavy breathing in the native plant community during the last few years about the appearance of another tropical exotic.
This one is Praxelis clematidea. It vaguely resembles some native wildflowers, but has a telltale scent of cat urine that clinches the identification.
It thrives in disturbed areas and is likely spread by mowing equipment because fire lanes are where I'm finding it here.
What I'm also finding is a lot of butterflies and other pollinators on it.
Today I found 13 species of butterflies, two species of moths and two species of wasps nectaring on this plant in the fire lane during a brief visit.
Interestingly, this was only my second sighting of Great Purple Hairstreak.

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.

Bad grass among the good grass

I began tackling a patch of cogon grass that I reported a couple of years ago but was apparently never treated.
I flagged the area so long ago that my original flag has faded from sunlight exposure.
Another flag at the former edge of the fire lane was recently mowed after a member in good standing of the Confederate Bushhog Operators Association.
The only plants that have died appear to have died of old age rather than herbicide.
The grass has been spreading slowly among the wiregrass and other native grasses, saw palmetto and sand pine.
The  walk into the cogon grass area began auspiciously.
A great purple hairstreak alit on a saw palmetto leaf. This was the first one I've seen here and one of the few I've seen in Polk. Despite the fact that its host plant is mistletoe, which is common, these butterflies are not that common.

Garberia begins blooming; tree trash remains

I took a walk to check on things this afternoon.
Most of the fall flowers such as Liatris and Balduinia are mostly past their prime. Carphephorous is still  coming in. Garberia is just beginning to bloom in scattered spots.
Lopsided Indian Grass has dropped most of its colorful seeds.
The  large pile of tree debris from the north fence line remains. No evidence the site has been visited by FWC.
I found one Chinese tallow tree along west fence line. I need to get out and clip it. The trunk is on the other side of the fence on CSX property.    

Blooms everywhere in the preserve

Spring is gradually becoming more colorful at the preserve.

Prickly Pear, Britton's Beargrass, Gallberry and more are blooming now.
I also have found the earlier infestation of Praxelis clematidea  that has arrived perhaps via the fire lane mowing. I have not seen the species outside of the fire lane.
Cogon Grass is spreading in the northwest fire lane from off site and a portion of the site outside the fence.

More Brazilian Pepper Work Ahead

When I was checking on the Lupine seedlings recently, I noticed a new Brazilian Pepper tree had sprouted near one entrance.
Fortunately it is not fruiting yet so I have time to remove it.