Sunday, May 31, 2015

Spring Is In The Air: Fort Yargo State Park, Section B To The Dam, May 15th (Part 1)

May 15th. When I visited Fort Yargo State Park in mid-February, there were few signs of Spring. The only wildflower plants that were obvious were the leaves of Cranefly Orchids (Tipularia discolor) that I found in many places.



The route… I’ve described it here, here, here, and here This walk doesn’t have the variety of wildflowers as my other walk from the Group A Shelter to the Old Fort but it does have some gems. One of the Smallflower (Asimina parviflora) had developed fruit and some Green Adder’s-mouth (Malaxis unifolia) Orchids were blooming.




A grass - it may be Orchard Grass (Dactylis glomerata) was starting to bloom, both in the open and in the woods.



The woods were shaded and quite dark on a cloudy day.



Most of the Rattlesnake Ferns (Botrychium virginianum) in the ‘Christmas Fern Grove’ had released their spores.



This fern was about ready to release its spores.



Orange-patched Smoky (Pyromorpha dimidiata) moths were still in the woods.



I was still curious about how the Witch’s Butter (Tremella mesenterica) would age. It was still easy to find on the branch that fell during the heavy wind storms early in the year. It appeared unchanged from the previous week.



I found another two old Blackberry Knot galls, probably from last year. This makes three old galls that I’ve found this year. However, I haven’t seen one from this season. (I had found one near our mailbox last year; this is what they look like when young.)



Looking across the lake from the trail.



The buds on Pipsissewa (Chimaphila maculata) were swelling slightly.



Then on up ‘The Hill’ to see if the…



fruit was still on the Smallflower Pawpaw (Asimina pariviflora) plant at the top. It had swelled noticaebly from the previous week.



The petals had fallen off most of the Tulip Poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) flowers although they remained on one. It would be interesting to watch seed development next.



Harvestman spiders have been plentiful this spring.



And on through the young pine woods to the Outer Trail that took me down to the dam. 

(To be continued…)


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Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, May 11th, 2015 (Part 2)


May 11th. (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.

The route, which I described here, here, and here.


The Wild Yam vines were blooming. The flowers don’t look like much from a distance


One of the Eastern Sweetshrub (Calycanthus floridus) plants had a developing seedpod, as did a…


Perfoliate Bellwort (Uvularia perfoliata) nearby.


Big boulders in these woods gives the area its nickname of Rock Garden.


When I came off the Rock Garden trail, I walked on the main trail down to the Old Fort, and…


back again.


On the main trail back to the Fishing Area, I checked the…


Woolsower galls. They had dried completely. If I hadn’t known where they were, I wouldn’t have noticed them.


The gall on the young Shagbark Hickory was unchanged from the previous week.


I rested briefly in the Fishing Area before…


continuing south on the trail. 

Clouds were passing across the sun. The scenery would alternate between


sunny, and…


cloudy.


As I was heading down towards the first bridge, I spotted…


a couple of Redring Milkweed (Asclepias variegata) plants. I’d been looking for these plants when I saw the others out in the open area. These had been the first Redring Milkweed plants I had found several years ago. I thought they may have been destroyed when the disc golf course was built. They were closer to the trail than I recalled and I was delighted that they were still there.

Then I headed across the bridge and through…


the woods to the open area before heading back past the Strawberry Bush and up the section of trail with…


‘root steps.’


Flowering Spurge (Euphorbia corollata) plants were starting to bloom. These flowers are a little more than one-quarter inch in diameter but they can be spotted from some distance. 

Then I found a single…


Eustis Lake Beardtongue (Penstemon australis) plant blooming beside the trail.


Into the final woods at the end of the trail. 

It was very humid and I sat on a bench watching some Robins hunting insects along the trail. It was then that I noticed that I had…


company. A small Jumping Spider (Hentzia mitrata) was hunting on the bench beside me; it was unfazed by my presence so I took some close-up shots.

As I got up to finish my walk, I noticed some movement on a nearby pine tree. It turned out to be a…


female Eastern Fence Lizard (Sceloporus undulatus). A nice ending to a productive walk.

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Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, May 11th, 2015 (Part 1)


May 11th. 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.


The route, which I described here, here, and here.


The first part of the trail is through woods that are very shady and cool.


The first wildflower of the day was Venus’ Pride (Houstonia purpurea); there were only two plants. This is the first time that I had seen this flower.


The Strawberry Bush (Euonymus americanus) was still blooming.


A Blackgum (Nyssa sylvatica) was setting flower buds.


As I walked past the bench just beyond the Strawberry Bush, I startled a damselfly. It’s a juvenile that I haven’t been able to identify. It was remarkably ‘tame’ and posed for several photos before I left to check on the…


Redring Milkweed (Asclepias variegata) plants. The flower buds were still developing; they would probably be opened by the next time I walked this way.


A Red-spotted Purple (Limenitis arthemis) was sunning itself.


Approaching the first bridge, and…


crossing it.


Pipsissewa (Chimaphila maculata) flower buds were still developing nicely.


Berries were developing on Deerberry (Vaccinium staminium) bushes just beyond the first bridge.


The large seedpod was still developing on the Eastern Sweetshrub (Calycanthus floridus) bush. The second flower stem that looked promising originally, was starting to wither; obviously, it wont develop any further.


Rattlesnakeweeds (Hieracium venosum) were still in full bloom.


Some seed capsuled were definitely developing on the witchhazel. It looked like about nine or ten capsules were developing, a small number compared with the number of flower stalks on the plant.


The gall on the young witch hazel bush had developed further; it was a Witch Hazel Cone Gall caused by the Witch-hazel Cone Gall Aphid (Hormaphis hamamelidis).


The Christmas Ferns (Polystichum acrostichoides) above the cliff were starting to fruit.


Berries were still developing on the Elliott’s Blueberry (Vaccinium elliottii) plant but none were showing signs of ripening yet.


I took some time to check one of the Hazel Alder (Alnus serrulata) bushes by the water. The seed cones, that had remained unchanged for several months, were starting to swell.


A flower on one of the Green Arrow Arum (Peltandra virginica) had opened. It was lying on the soft mud so I couldn’t reach it. It doesn’t look like it had started to release pollen.

The Common (Sisyrinchium angustifloium) and Needle-tipped Blue-eyed Grasses (Sisyrinchium mucronatum) had bloomed. I’d been waiting for another blue-eyed grass, the…


Annual Blue-eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium rosulatum) to bloom. These bloom in the grass at the point in the Fishing Area. 

I had remembered that I’d seen…



Carolina Wild Petunia (Ruellia caroliniensis) blooming close by. I checked and found a plant just starting to bloom at the edge of a patch of Poison Ivy (Toxodendron radicans). This must have been the first flower of the season. It was white; usually these flowers are a light mauve. I expected that later flowers would be mauve.


And then off into the Rock Garden… 
(To be continued…) 

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