April 30th. (Continued from…) I started to walk again
at Fort Yargo State Park in Winder, Georgia. One of my favorite walks is from
the Group Shelter A to the Old Fort and back.This
is a rewarding walk for viewing wildflowers and I’ve been trying to walk it
weekly and document the wildflowers I see.
As I started into the Rock Garden a Great Blue
Heron (Ardea herodias) flew in to the lake shore just ahead of where I was. My
walk through the Rock Garden was going to be distracted as I tried to
photograph the heron while paying attention to plants. The bird was going to
win for as long as it was there.
I could catch a glimpse of the herons head; it was
fishing. I wasn’t sure how much attention it was paying to me because it was
catching fish, but I was sure it was keeping an eye on me and I wasn’t going to
get too close.
I spotted a cluster of Solomon’s Seal (Polygonatum
biflorum) plants that were blooming. This was the biggest cluster of plants
that I’d seen here; most plants were isolated rather than in clusters.
A closer view of the flowers. I wonder if the ant
was fertilizing the flowers.
A view from underneath the flowers.
Some Wild Yam (Discorea villosa) plants were
developing flower buds.
one flower stem was swelling. Hope for another
seedpod?
Somewhere, up high in the trees, Crossvine
(Bignonia capreolata) vines were blooming but all I was going to see were
fallen flowers.
Another view of the heron. It would spot a fish
and pounce. Having disturbed the fish in the area it had just pounced on, it
would return to shore a little further away from me.
The Perfoliate Bellwort (Uvularia perfoliata)
plant was still healthy although there was no sign of the flower stem
enlarging. Time will tell.
The last photos of the heron. It did get a rather
large fish, possibly five to six inches long. Soon after, however, some
kayakers paddled by and the heron decided to try a new, quiet location and flew
off down the lake.
Netted Chain Fern (Woodwardia areolata) fronds.
There is a patch of these plants at the end of the Rock Garden trail just as
the trail goes uphill back to the main trail.
The fruit were still on the Smallflower Pawpaw
(Asimina trifolia) plant just past the end of the Rock Garden trail.
Looking back along the lake shore from the end of
the Rock Garden trail.
The trail from the end of the Rock Garden to the
Old Fort, and…
back towards the Fishing Area on the main trail.
The small Woolsower gall on the White Oak (Quercus
alba) near the trail were drying up and would now be hard to find if you didn’t
know where they were. The larger galls were also harder to spot now that the
red spots had turned brown.
As I approached the bridge at the Fishing Area, I
spotted a small Yellow-bellied Slider (Trachemys scripta) turtle – its
shell was probably only about three inches long - basking on a small, floating
log. For some reason it didn’t slide off into the water so I was able to get
quite close for some photos.
Approaching the cliff, where I was able to look
back to the…
Fishing Area, then back down the trail and…
up the final hill to the parking lot.
A fallen Tulip Poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera)
flower near the end of the trail. Usually, this is the only way we see these
flowers in old woods where the Tulip Poplar trees are so tall.
Identification resources:
- The University
of Georgia Cooperative Extension: Native Plants for Georgia, Part II: Ferns
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