February 27th. (Continued from…) We usually make
two to three trips to the Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge each year.
Originally we went to look for Red-cockaded Woodpeckers and, although we’ve
never managed to sight one yet, the refuge is scenic and home to a number of
wildflowers which reward us for the effort of making the trips.
We forded Allisons Creek on Field Pasture Road. On the north side of the ford and
immediately to the right is a large ledge above the creek. It is here that we
find a number of wildflowers. Dimpled Troutlilies (Erythronium umbilicatum)
grow near the trees by the road and along the slope behind the ledge. We didn’t
see any flowers as we approached the area but after wandering around the area,
we found…
some
leaves. And then,
a
bud, in this case not far from blooming. Finally, we were rewarded with…
a
flower.
It
has opened only recently; the anthers haven’t started to release pollen. We finally
found two flowers.
We
wandered about for a little while in search of other treasures. There was no
sign of Little Sweet Betsy (Trillium cuneatum) leaves yet. We did find…
a nice shield lichen, probably a Parmotrema sp., and a…
Witch’s Butter (Tremella mesenterica).
There were signs of wildflowers from last year; Elephant’s
Foot (Elephantopus sp.).
There were leaves of new life - a violet (Viola sp.), and..
another plant, possibly False Garlic (Nothoscordum bivalve)
which is an early bloomer in this area.
After we left this area, we continued along Field Pasture
Road. There are a couple of colonies of Red-Cockaded Woodpeckers
(Leuconotopicus borealis) along this road including some new nests.
Trees with nests are marked with a white ring around the
trunk.
Many of the nests are man-made.
At the intersection of Field Pasture, Sugar Hill, and
Bridge-Out roads, we turned west and drove down to the ford over Stalking Head
Creek. We decided not to ford the creek which has very steep, sandy approaches.
We drove back to Field Pasture Road past some old house
ruins. I’ve not been able to find any record of what the building was; a
private residence or, perhaps, a ‘hotel’ for travelers along this road. All
that remains is the chimney colonized by Resurrection Fern and the stone
foundations of an out-building.
We continued north on Field Pasture Road and west on
Anderson Bottoms Road where pools filled with recent rains were breeding pools in which Southeastern (Upland) Chorus (Pseudacris feriarum)
frogs were calling.
We drove south on Natural Rock Crossing Road to the ford on
Stalking Head Creek and decided, again, not to attempt a crossing on this
hard-to-approach crossing. A note that there's not much traffic
on these roads and it's best to be cautious; help won't be coming any time
soon.
We drove back north to North and Pond 7A roads, past Pond
7A, and back to Starr Road before driving back to Monticello.
It’s always hard to gauge when the Dimpled Troutlilies will
be blooming at the Piedmont NWR but we were lucky enough to be rewarded with a couple
of flowers.
Related
post:
2 comments:
Beautiful pictures and some great finds. I particularly love the lichen photo - such details!
I love these lichens and I'm always on the lookout for such nice specimens. This one was particularly beautiful with the fruiting bodies in different stages of development.
Post a Comment