Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, 20th March, 2015 (Part 2)


March 20th. (Continued from…) I’ve started to walk at Fort Yargo State Park in Winder, Georgia. One of my walks is from the Group Shelter A to the Old Fort and back. This is a rewarding walks for viewing wildflowers.
 

The route which I described here. It was still early in the season and I didn’t expect to find much in the way of plants but the weather forecast was for fog and I wanted to take some photographs along the lake shore in the fog. 

A small, but striking shield lichen. 


This was one of the most intriguing lichens on the rocks. The fruiting cups were quite shallow, like little dishes rather than deeper cups. 


One of the few boulders covered with Resurrection Fern (Pleopeltis polypodiodes). 


At first glance, this lichen looked more like a mold. I photographed it but… 


it wasn’t until I got home and processed the image, that I could see that it was covered with flat, irregularly shaped gray fruiting bodies. It was clear that I was going to have to come back better prepared to photograph the many lichens on the rocks in this area. 

The challenge will be identifying them. There is a reference text, Lichens of North America, and a website contains illustrations of approximately 1,275 species of lichens. The lichens on the website are organized alphabetically rather than e.g., by whether they grow on wood or rock. Sounds like I will spend many happy or frustrating hours browsing in an attempt to identify the lichens I’m photographing.


I found the patch of Cranefly Orchid (Tipularia discolor) leaves near the end of the Rock Garden trail. The leaves were still in good condition. 


Then on down the trail to the Old Fort. 


Along the way, I found several trees – one in particular – with a lichen with black fruiting bodies. 


One intriguing sighting was a fallen log covered with orange ‘growths’ which may be a lichen. Only one log showed these growths. 


Turning around, I walked back along the upper trail.



I examined the trunks of several trees by the trail that had shield lichens and found one that had fruiting bodies. This was an unusual find. Many trees have lichens but few of these have fruiting bodies. 


Back at the fishing area and looking south. There was still a hint of fog, adding atmosphere to my walk. 


Back in the fishing area, I found Elliott’s Blueberry (Vaccinium elliottii) stems with blooms. 


To my shame, I thought the green color on the water was due to an algal bloom. Only, when I returned a week or so later, did I realize that this was the beginning of the annual pine pollen season. 


Back down to the trail above the cliff, and...


towards the first bridge.



Then I saw these big buds but, since I’m not too familiar with trees, I’d have until my next walk to identify this tree. 


Finally, back to the disc golf course, and...


the final section of trail to the parking lot. 

As expected, I didn’t see too much in the way of wildflowers but the signs of Spring and new life were there. I did find that the Rock Garden is a wonderful source of lichens that I had not appreciated fully previously.

Related posts: 

Monday, March 30, 2015

Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, 20th March, 2015 (Part 1)


March 20th. I’ve started to walk at Fort Yargo State Park in Winder, Georgia.
One of my walks is from the Group Shelter A to the Old Fort and back. This is a rewarding walk for viewing wildflowers 


The route which I described here. It was still early in the season and I didn’t expect to find much in the way of plants but the weather forecast was for fog and I wanted to take some photographs along the lake shore in the fog. 
  

Looking north along the shore. There wasn’t much fog but the atmosphere was quite gloomy. 


Along the trail. The brown colors provided a sense of warmth. 

The lake was full; no sign of the ‘beach’ I saw on my previous walk. 

I crossed the bridge. 

I checked the oak that was still holding onto its leaves.



An acorn was still attached but, when I checked it, I found a tiny hole that indicated that an insect had gotten there first. No wonder it was still attached. No squirrel was interested in it. 


Upon closer examination, I found shoots.
  

Next to the fence above the cliff. 


Rattlesnake weed (Hieracium venosum) plants were starting to grow along the embankment. 


As I came down into the fishing area, I found a Red Maple (Acer rubrum) flower in a branch that had fallen during the recent ice event but which had hung up on another tree branch. 


On checking some small shrubs along the shore in the fishing area, I noticed this mantis egg case. 
  

The fertilized female flowers of the Hazel Alder (Alnus serrulata) were starting to swell. 


Last years cones still clung to some branches. 


Leaves of the Green Arrow Arum (Peltandra virginica) were pushing up in the shallow waters around the fishing area.


Looking along the ‘Rock Garden’ shore north of the fishing area. On my previous visit, I had to shuffle my way through dead leaves. There was no sign of the path. If I hadn’t known that the path was there, I wouldn’t have walked there. On this visit it was apparent that a few people, probably fishermen, had ventured along the path. 
  

Looking back along the shore to the point at the fishing area.


Old Turkey Tail-like bracket fungi that had been colonized by algae. 


More signs of new growth. A leaf bud of the Southern Magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora). 


Some of the larger boulders in the Rock Garden.


A particularly bright green lichen growing on one of the boulders. 


Resurrection Ferns (Pleopeltis polypodiodes) grow on trees and rocks in a very limited area in the Rock Garden. These colonies are at the base of a tree and the rocks nearby. 


A closer view of the smaller colonies on the rocks. The lower colony is just getting started. 


Another colony was growing in the crevice between the split trunk of the tree.
To be continued…

Related posts: 

Friday, March 27, 2015

Falcate Orangetip (Anthocharis midea): First Butterfly Photograph Of The Year




March 18th. Not the first butterfly I’ve seen this year, but the first to stay still long enough for me to photograph. This is a male; the females don’t have the orange on the tip of the wing. The underside of the wing has a gray-black marbled pattern.

Identification resource:

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

White-breasted Nuthatches: Back To The Woods For The Summer


March 25th, 2015. I saw the White-breasted Nuthatches (Sitta carolinensis) in mid-February, 2014. A pair were working a pine snag in the woods beyond the bird feeders. They were shy and ‘sneaked’ in late in the afternoon to get seed from the log feeder or a kernel of corn that had been left by the squirrels on the feeder that held an ear of corn.


What a difference this year. They arrived earlier in the season and, instead of sneaking in late in the day, they would start coming in the morning. I watched one morning and them – probably one or other of them – make a total of 10 visits to the feeders in the space of 30 minutes. They would come throughout the day and feed at the feeders for some time rather than grab some food and leave. On several occasions, they came to the feeders together. 

They are resident in this area year-round and have returned to the woods. I’ve only seen them once, on a cool wet day, recently. I suspect I won’t see them again until next Winter.