A Good New Year For Lupine

Sprout Is In Upper Left


There are encouraging signs in the original planted Scrub Lupine patch.
Today I counted about 20 small lupines sprouting in the bare white sand.
There has been no significant recruitment up until now and having some is vital to the establishment of a sustainable population here to fulfill the goals of the recovery plan.
The other unknown is how many of these tiny sprouts will make it to maturity.
I guess we'll know in 2014 or 2015.
I say this because the initial planting in December 2008 involved somewhat larger plants. They bloomed for the first time in the spring of 2010.
I checked the newer planting area to the south cursorily. I found one sprout, but the Natal grass is so rife in parts of that planting area, it's difficult to tell. I didn't realize that planting area had not been weeded earlier or I would have tackled the problem.
The problem is aggravated by the fact that there's plenty of seed source for the Natal grass nearby because of the additional openings. It's too late to worry about that now. The damage has been done.

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.
 

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.

More Ridge Color

Thle Garberia, which also has a whitish form, is a lovely flower even when nothing's nectaring on it.

As Garberia blossom,  the sumac is fruiting and its leaves are changing color.

And, of course the Blue Curls are as lovely and delicate as ever.  

Fall Color On My Ridge

It takes a month or so into fall before the colors really become brilliant here.
In addition to the colors, the flowering grasses are striking against the sun.

There are colorful insects to match the foliage, like the Scarlet Skimmer dragonfly.

Meanwhile, Garberia is starting to bloom and attracting insects because little else is bloming.

 The violet flowers contrast with a orange Gulf Fritillary. It also attracted Ocola, Fiery and Long-tailed Skippers.

 Enjoy the photos.