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.

  

Still Few Lupine Seedlings; No Blooms On Possibly Declining Sole Mature Plant

 I visited the preserve today to see if there was any progress on this year's McFarlin's Lupine seedling season.

There was not. Two more in the second planting area and no more in the first planting area and only two more in the second planting area. There were none in the third planting area and the lone mature plant had a gray branch, making we wonder whether it will survive in time to bloom.

The bloom times have varied so I will just have to monitor. The issue through is that even if it blooms, it is growing in an overgrown area that is not optimal for seedling dispersal and emergence.

I have no control over that; it is up to FWC land managers to fix.

On the way out I checked the area where I usually find  Clitoria fragrans and found none. Not sure what that means.

I also collected a few pounds of broken glass and other debris.

 

Some Lupines Survived The Storms

 I made a brief visit to the north tract today to check on the lupines and see what detritus had emerged from the sand.

Four seedlings from this year's crop are still alive and appear to be healthy.

Some of the flags were missing for some reason. I replaced them with the flags next to the plants that did not make it. There is no sense in having a flag present when the plant no longer is.

I will be checking for new seedlings in a couple of months.

After checking on the lupines, I spent about half an hour with a grabber and a bucket plucking pieces of glass, metal and plastic from the trails.

I also noticed someone appears to have chopped down a Scrub Bay next to the fire lane. Very mysterious.

More Lupines And A Bucketful of Debris

 I revisited the site this morning and put down six more flags, five in the first planting area and one in the second planting area.

One interesting change was I found the westernmost seedling just west of the westermost mature plant that has flowered for the past two years.

I visited the volunteer sites and still find no seedlings. Maybe a future burn will change that. 

The mature plants are still blooming, but one looked close to being done.

While I was doing this I walked the trail system and picked some pieces of broken beer and soda bottles and other debris that rain and wind exposed.

I also noticed a vehicle had been on site recently. but had not entered the path full of seedlings next to the first planting area, which made me glad that my friends at FWC have put the word out to avoid that area.

  

Old Milwaukee Old Trash

 

While I was wondering through the southern tract earlier this week in a fruitless search for the emergence of Ghost Pipes, I found something else.

\It was a faded aluminum beer can that bore the Old Milwaukee logo.

I find odd single cans like that occasionally.

I also found the head of doll. I have no idea of its origin or provenance.

Later on, I discovered someone had cut the fence on the northern boundary where land has been cleared but never developed a year or so ago.

I came out later to repair the fence and to put the FWC boundary sign on the right side of  the fence and picked some additional trash.

I will check again on the Ghost Pipes later. A wet winter is predicted and that seems to bring them out.

 

What Lurks In The Bushes Outside The Fence?

 

Ancient Islands Group of Florida Sierra wanted to organize a Great American Cleanup event Saturday /

I suggested we take a crack at the area around Lake Blue Scrub. I knew there was some trash, but wasn't prepared for the amount that was present. 

We found tires, a mattress and box spring, an aquarium and bags and bags of beer bottles and similar debris.

There was also several hundred pounds of concrete debris that we left behind.

Later in the day I returned to see if the pile had been removed. I ran into one of the neighbors at the other end of Holton Road  and told me there had been dumping the night before of several bags of trash. One landed inside the fence and I retrieved it.

Cleaning Small Debris After The Storm

 I went out this week after a heavy rainstorm--5 inches at my house a mile away--to see what had emerged from the sand.

It was, as I expected, mostly broken glass.

I found one iron chain and a few remnants of aluminum cans.

Fall wildflowers are mostly past their prime.

The next survey will occur in mid-winter to see this year's crop of Scrub Lupine.

  

Work days inside and outside

 Saturday I participated in a Ridge Ranger work day to thin oaks around the main Scrub Lupine planting area to allow for additional plantings this year.

As I was clearing small oak trees I noticed a significant amount of broken glass in the sand.

I returned Sunday afternoon to remove as much as I could get.

I also noticed a double recliner and other debris that had been dumped along Hobbs Road and decided to attack that problem over the following days.

I collected three five-gallon buckets of cans, bottles and other debris from the roadside on Sunday. I returned on Monday and Tuesday to dismantle the recliner so I could salvage the iron infrastructure that makes it work for recycling.

This will also make for lighter load when Polk County Roads & Drainage gets around to mowing and, I hope, removes the debris from the roadside. 

There has been noticeable increase in roadside dumping  in the neighborhood on road sections that do not run in front of houses. It consists of a variety of furniture, household debris and construction debris.

It is becoming a real eyesore.

 

Drought takes toll on lupines

The hot, windy and mostly rainless spring this year has taken a toll on what looked like a promising batch of Scrub Lupine seedlings that emerged earlier this year.
Everyone expects mortality because of a combination of the hostile spring weather and the fragility of this plant, but this year was particularly harsh.
Out of more than 100 seedlings, if I remember the count correctly, only a handful have survived so far and I don't expect much rain for another month or two.
Another setback. 

History In the Windrows

In recent weeks I've made some interesting discoveries as I've excavated the windrows next to the fire lane, that have all kinds of accumulated detritus from past dumping episodes.
The latest was a 1965 Polk County license plate.
Earlier I had found an old vehicle inspection station sign that was discarded from the nearby county barn where the inspection station was housed. 

Removing Remodeling Trash

Today I removed a truckload of construction debris from the north fire lane woods.
There was a door, some cabinet doors and miscellaneous material.
The gate combo has been changed, so I couldn't use a wheelbarrow to haul the material out. so I had to carry it out.
It was windy and so it was more difficult to move the larger items.
Anyway, it's out now. 

A Collectible Among The Castoffs

During my recent Indian Pipes quest--I found about 25 plants--I also found some trash piles from previous encampments.

Among the debris was a Teem bottle. I could tell it was old because it mentioned that you could turn it in for a deposit, which has not been possible in Florida for decades, despite attempts by environmentalists and others to return to the practice.

I finally got the majority of debris hauled out this morning, thought there's still a mattress frame I have to extract when I bring in the tools to do it.

I flagged more Indian Pipes this morning. They're popping up like winter mushrooms. I wonder if this year's high rainfall was a factor.
 

Lupines, Trash and a Sun Snake

I stopped by this morning to check on the lupines, retrieve my flags and pick up a little trash.
I found some beer bottle pieces and other debris, discovered about half a dozen lupine seedlings.
Interestingly, some are sprouting in the middle of dense patches of Natal grass, which seems surprising.
On the way to check on the volunteer lupine areas--nothing new there, but it doesn't hurt to check--I found a
Black Racer coiled in the sun in an opening near the trail. I took a quick photo and let the snake resume its basking.

Innocence, Lupines & Trash

I stopped by the preserve today twice to weed and to check on progress of Scrub Lupine seedlings. I only visited the older site and the volunteer sites. I found additional seedlings following the recent winter rains. The challenge will be how many survive the spring drought.

Mushrooms are emerging now in scrub.

Also Innocence (Houstponia precumbens) is blooming now, providing a little color to the landscape.

I found scattered trash that was brought up by the recent rain. I also found a new area where trash was buried. I'll dig it up later.

Removing Trash, Meeting New Neighbors

I've been working on some small piles of household trash that the recent rains have exposed in some of  the windrows along the northern fire lane.

It's mostly the usual mix of household garbage, most of it old. There has been a few new entries from some neighbors launching their detritus over the fence.

I did meet a new neighbor named Juan who said he has purchased the double lot in the middle of the block and is not only  cleaning up his property, but wants to clean up the debris between the fences. He also wanted to know if he could come inside the preserve fence to do some tree work to prevent damage to his new homes, which I told him would be perfectly OK.

There's a  poinciana tree that has seen better days, which is his main target.

It's good to have at  least one good neighbor.

Recleaning The Fire Lane

I went out over the weekend two check on things.
I found a few new lupine sprouts.
I spent most of the time in the fire lane.
The FWC folks finally came in for the promised fire lane mowing work.
That exposed a fair amount of trash from my dear neighbors.
I hauled out about three bags.
I'l go back and get the rest when I have more time or more daylight.

Another Preserve, Another Cleanup

I'd been doing wildlife surveys for several years in portions of Lake Wales Ridge State Forest in east Polk. One of the things that has bugged me for some time  was the accumulation of what appeared to be a lot of household trash in the woods next to the Lake Walk in the Water boat ramp, which is part of the forest property.

Two hours and six bags or so later the area looks much better.

There was a great amount of plastic waste, some of which was probably dumped there and some of which may have washed in from the lake during extreme high water, but there were many bottles. They were recycled.

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.

 

Moving The Dumped Trash Anyway

I changed my mind and went out today and retrieved all of the dumped bags I found recently in the fire lane as well as some other material that had been dumped earlier.

The bags appear to contain some old blue tarps, perhaps dumped by a roofing contractor.

This section of the fire lane opposite an empty lot remains the main problem. I also found a tire that was freshly dumped. I put it against the fence in a less visible section. I'll have to wait for an opportunity to dispose of it for free.

In an unrelated note, this has been a good season for sandspurs. I need to clear the main entry path in case I get hikers from Trek Ten or someone else.
 

The Path Is Clear

I finally made a clear path through the north-south path by clearing a way through the Natal grass.
I will return to widen the path once the winds subside.
I also carried out a load of trash.
In addition, I noticed that the north fire lane is solid Natal grass instead of Guinea grass.
I will investigate the rest of the fire lane later.