Fall Arrives, But Some Wildflowers Waiting

 

Today was the first day of fall and I went out in the midday heat to find out what was blooming.

It was mostly an early purple affair. The Chapman's Blazing Star were rife in their usual spots on the preserve's west side.

In the center were an impressive array of Scrub Blazing Star. 

I saw one blooming Scrub Morning Glory and the Scrub Holly berries are emerging, but are still green.

I noticed a handful of the McFarlin's Lupin have survived their first summer, which is a sign they may survive to adulthood, but there is another summer between now and then.

Still holding off from flowering here are the Carphephorous and the Balduina, both of which are still in the bud stage.

I noticed the recent rains have turned up more broken glass and I found an intact beer bottle and wine bottle that re likely courtesy of the generosity of the neighbors.

I guess will have to return with a grabber and a bucket to remove them from the landscape.

Concrete & Glass

I went to the preserve over the weekend with a goal of culling some of the Ceasarweed, but got distracted with the work next to the fire lane near the First Avenue gate.
I ended up digging up a large amount of concrete debris as well as some carpet and other household trash and related debris.
I did pile up some Ceasarweed and found another batch of Corona beer bottles.
While I was tossing the bottles into the edge of the fire lane I was approached by one of the neighbors.
He told me the bottles were coming from weekend parties held by his neighbors.
Meanwhile, while I was excavating the debris I encountered another Eastern Glass
Snake Lizard, minus part of its tail tip, which will generate. It stayed for a few moments before disappearing into the surrounding habitat.  

More dumping followup

I went out again this week and moved more of the dumped tree debris to the pile next to the fence.

I have heard nothing further from FWC about any enforcement or debris removal.

I also cut some tree limbs to reopen some paths in the north tract.

I plan to come in and gradually conduct some trash removal along the fire lanes. 

Tree clearing and tree piles

If you want to get an idea of how much tree work occurred in the adjacent lot, compare this 2014 aerial of the lot with what  it looked like this week.
Blue line denotes adjacent lots boundary.
I spent some time yesterday hauling all of the tree limbs consisting primarily of Cherry Laurel and Brazilian Pepper from inside the wooded area south of the fire lane to a spot near the fence where some of the neighbor's tree removal occurred.
I plan to pursue this issue with FWC next week.  This is obviously criminal dumping. 

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. 

Finally Fixing The Rail Crossing

CSX is finally going to fix that bumpy rail crossing on Hobbs Road near the preserve.
That project was first announced a couple of years ago and I 've been waiting  for the work to begin.
I'm sure the neighbors have been, too.
This has got to be one of the bumpiest rail crossings in Polk County.

Brazilian Pepper At The Gate

I spent an hour searching for exotics I recently found. I came away with a bag containing some Lygodium and Cogon Grass, but most of the action was around the First Avenue gate.

Brazilian pepper has sprouted. I dug up all four bushes and one near the gate outside. I also clipped the shrubbery and cut the grass the make that entrance somewhat presentable.

I noticed despite the County Commission's recent vote to prohibit truck parking on this street, there are no signs and no signs of enforcement. In a richer neighborhood, things might be different.

The end of the street is still crumbling.

Getting Rid Of Truck Problem

This week the County Commission approved a measure to ban truck parking on First Avenue.

That might  eliminate some of the problems that have been occurring.

There was the recent problem with our gate, but these vehicles have also damaged the pavement.

More Than Lock Missing At Gate

Yesterday's discovery of tire ruts and an open gate at the end of First Avenue was the result of hasty inventory. My truck was parked on the other side of the preserve and a thunderstorm was bearing down on me.
It was sunny this afternoon and I went out to take another look.
Someone had also removed the small FWC boundary sign from the gate post.
I took a few photos and nailed a replacement sign to a gate post at the entrance.
This is the first problem I've had with the neighbors on this side other than beer bottles over the fence in awhile.
This incident may merit more attention.

An Open Gate; Natal Grass Work Continues

I was out on a thunderstorm-abbreviated walk though the preserve today when I ran into a wide-open gate at the end of First Avenue. There were wheel ruts in the fire lane. It looks as though someone backed a truck in. The chain and lock on the gate were missing. I hadn't been to that entrance recently, so I'm not sure what happened.

Later in the afternoon, I resumed work clearing Natal grass from fire lane from the north-south path to the eastern fire lane near one of the Lupine planting area.

I have two more days of work, I think. Then I will see how long it lasts.

The Corona Fan Next Door

I went out after work today to resume working small trash collections in the windrows on the north side.
After filling one bag, I took a second bag and walked the fence line to see what was going on.
There was nothing but a few tossed CDs until I got near the end and found a couple of six packs worth of Corona beer bottles that had been tossed over the fence into the preserve, presumably by the people in the trailer on the other side of the fence.
There was some other debris, more than I had room for in the bag.
I spoke to a kid who lived there and asking him to tell anyone who was throwing  the bottles not to do it.
He, of course, acted as though he didn't know what I was talking about.
I'll be back soon with more bags..

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.

Lake Blue Makes Nature Fest

I was pleased today to be invited to give a tour of Lake Blue as part of next fall's Polk County Nature Fest.
I'll have to do some planning to make this worthwhile.
This place is still relatively unknown to most people even though it's an island of preservation in a sea of development.
It's still mapped for industrial park on the county growth map. Go figure. State didn't want to change it when I asked a few years ago.
Anyway, some of the rare plants will be blooming still in early October, which should be cool for photogs. The lupines will not be among them, unfortunately.
The big educational opportunity will be to talk about the management challenges here, between vandalism and smoke management.
It should be fun.
Hope someone shows up.

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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.
 

Dumping Problems Resume

I checked a problem area along the north fire lane and found relatively fresh (I had last checked the location a couple of weeks ago) instance of illegal dumping. It consisted of some plastic bags full of sonme light material, perhaps more plastic.
I didn't disturb them because I don't have any way to legally dispose of that much trash.

The trash appears to coming from over the fence of a vacant lot at 4711 !st Ave (shaded on aerial above) There's a pile of tires in one corner of the lot next to the fence and some of them have been through over the fence and kindly returned. That's a code enforcement violation, but I try not to concern myself with what the neighbors are doing as long as they don't do it to the preserve.

This also the lot where there was a series of fence cuts a while ago.

Oh, yeah, the fire lane needs maintenance.

Fence cuts and firewood

Things have gotten strange again.

I talked to a kid who wanted some wood for a back yard fire. so I said OK. That was yesterday, But today when I checked back I discovered there had been some wholesale wood removal next to the northern fire lane and there was fence damage from people climbing the fence at another location across a vacant lot where some other problems had occurred.

This may require some law enforcement intervention is this continues.

On the plus side, the wood gathering did reveal some trash piles. I removed three bags of trash and some other debris.

Also, yesterday I found some 4x4s that some of the neighborhood kids had brought in to make a fort. I told one of the other kids that this was not allowed,

I'll need to keep an eye on things.

Meeting a neighbor

Sometimes it takes awhile to make contact with the neighbors.
Today I met a man named Mike, who said he had been watching me out there for years and wondered what was happening.
I explained a little bit of what going on.
We also talked about the recent tire dumping. He said he knew who did it and was glad I threw the tires back over the fence.
He also said he knew which kids were responsible for vandalizing the lupine patch in the early days.
I picked up a bucketload of trash and a couple of larger items.
I also checked the lupines for recent sprouts, but didn't notice any. It may take awhile to build up the seed

No holiday from fence repairs

I stopped by Christmas afternoon to check 0n things and discovered another fence cut had occurred.

It was in back of the vacant lot where the old woman had lived. This time instead of cutting the bottom strands of the barbed wire and the new fence, they cut the top half.

I went out this morning and did a quick fix. I'm beginning to wonder about the wisdom of the double fencing from a maintenance standpoint.It doesn't appear to have kept the dogs out, either.

The older lupine planting appeared to be OK.

I hauled out another bag or so of trash from inside the preserve and the right of way along Hobbs Road. It was starting to look trashy.

Buried trash, lots of trash

This was somewhat llike the case of pulling on a loose string and unraveling a piece of clothing, only worse.
One the way back to the gate from the fence repair work, I noticed what appeared to be a piece of orange extension cord poking out of the sand. I pulled it. Nothing happened.
The only digging tools I had with me were my hands and hte posthole digger I'd used to make the fence repair, neither of which was suitable

I returned today with a shovel. Two hours later I was able to free the cord along with three bagfuls of garbage and a couple of wheelbarrows full of recyclables.

This reminds me of the incident a year or two ago when an attempt to unearth a stray piece of metal ended up with the exhumation of a long-buried lawnmower.

I also picked up some stuff thrown over the fence, including some pieces from a mobile home someone across the fence was demolishing.

There's more trash along the edge. It gives me something to do.

I also need to fill in the hole when my back muscles recover from digging it.

Fire.Yes!

I received news this week that a landscape and pile burn will be permitted by our friends at the Florida Division of Forestry. I guess the prep work paid off.

I was rereading parts of the paper Eric Menges and Doria Gordon wrote on fire management and its various artificial substitutes today. I think the evidence is clear fire has no real substitute in the long run.

The gyrotracking probably had to happen because of the thickness of the forest and the proximity of the residences, though I might have suggested a little more restraint to leave habitat islands and snags for local wildlife.

Anyway, the burn is tentatively scheduled sometime in October, depending on weather. The wind has to be right to keep the smoke away from the neighbors as much as possible.

The residents will receive letters, but I'm trying to make personal contact to make sure everyone knows about it.