Plenty To Show For Nature Fest

I was out yesterday afternoon checking on more spots to show visitors Saturday during Central Florida Naturefest and I  wasn't disappointed.

The Habaneria orchids are already beginning to bloom in the bayhead. Octoberflower is everywhere. Lopsided Indian Grass is in bloom. So are Blazing Star species. I even saw some lingering Summer Farewell. It should be a good day.

 

The Fox Again

I stopped by today to check on trails on the South Tract.
As I arrived, a Gray Fox ran across Hobbs Road.
I watched it run down the fire lane in the North Tract before it disappeared into the undergrowth.
This is the first time I had seen a fox in a few years. It's good to know the species is still there.

Lake Blue's Night Life

I had done some night invert surveys during the research on Polyphylla starkae, but last night was the first night I was seriously looking for moths.

My stakeout was a bench in a sandhill hammock. I spent about three hours.
The result was 20 species of moths or so.
I have more heavily into moth observation in the past month.
I'm gradually learning what's common and trying to sort out what I see to remember what is new and what is already on my list.
Here are some of the images.

The August Natal Grass Challenge

I'm  spending any rainless late afternoons I can weeding the newer lupine bed of Natal grass.
The idea is to give the lupine seeds in the ground from this year's flowering season a chance to propagate.
The Natal grass had a head start since it wasn't thinned earlier so I hope I can keep up with it once the initial work is completed.
I've put about seven hours in so far and have finished nearly half of the bed.
The survival rate of this year's seedlings has been low, but that was not unexpected. The weeding at least will give the next batch a fighting chance.
I'd also like to have the site looking presentable for the Central Florida Naturefest tour in early October.
The reason this site is a problem is because of the adjacent fire lane that is covered in Natal grass and will remain so until a canopy is re-established, but that will take years.
Perhaps more aggressive mowing of that section would help to suppress the seed heads. I don't know. This is one fecund, tenacious exotic.

Moth Among The Momordica

I was checking the plants in the sandhill area over the weekend when I saw something fly in the tangle of exotic vegetation that surrounds the preserve's endangered habitat.

It was a small moth, but what kind.

I got a brief look at saw that it was one of a group of moths with a tufted-looking tail  (anal tufts to you lepidopterists out there) , a Melonworm Moth (Diaphania hyalinata).

This common species is found in squash and melon patches, which is why it was thriving in a tangle of Momordica, an exotic vine that produces squash-like fruit.

New species to the invert list, by the way.   .
 

Yelllow Day In Blue

I stopped by to check on things this afternoon.
There was a fair amount of things blooming and flying. Yellow was the dominant color today.


Phoebanthus, Partridge Pea,Pittyopsis and more as well as Cloudless Sulfur, Little Yellow, Barred Yellow and a couple of yellow moths I'm still trying to identify.

There were also the late summer long-tailed Zebra Swallowtails, Spicebush and Pipevine,too, in addition to some other less colorful species.

  

A Weedy Summer Begins

Yesterday I removed four bagfuls of Cogon Grass from an area in the southeast corner.
I hadn't checked this area in a while. There was a small patch that has now expanded and needs to be controlled because it's 50 feet or so from  the only patch of Clitoria fragrans on the site.

By the way, the C. fragrans is doing just fine. My concern earlier that it may have been accidentally sprayed was unfounded.

The other weed problem is keeping Natal grass under control in the Scrub Lupine planting areas. It got out of hand last year in the southern planting. It was a particular issue for recruitment of new sprouts. There were a few this year and many didn't make it through spring, which is the first survival test.

The Natal grass can't always be pulled near the plants,I'm told, because the root disturbance could also be fatal, so better to not have it there in the first place.

The northern planting area has less of a problem and it did well this year so far.