Summer At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, August 18th, 2015 (Part 2)

August 18th. (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 This is a rewarding walk for viewing wildflowers and I’ve been walking it every week and documenting the wildflowers that I see.

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

The early spring wildflowers have finished blooming; it’s time to watch the developing fruit. Summer wildflowers were still blooming but it was time to turn attention to the fungi in the woods.

The fruit on the Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis) were unchanged from the previous week. But I got a surprise while I was looking at the bush; three surprises to be precise.

A Carolina Anole (Anolis carolinensis), a…

Chinese Mantis (Tenodera sinensis), and a…

Black and Yellow Garden Spider (Argiope aurantia) were all hunting in their own ‘corner’ of the bush.

I was surprised to see a Common Button Lichen (Buellia erubescens) fruiting on a tree near the ‘Rock Garden;’ it seemed a little early for lichens to be fruiting.

The seed capsules on the Wild Yam (Dioscorea villosa) had lightened in color. They weren’t turning brown but it was possible to see the outline of the seeds in the capsule.

The Resurrection Fern (Pleopeltis polypodioides) was still green after the recent rain.

The fruit on the Eastern Sweetshrub (Calycanthus floridus) in the Rock Garden had turned completely brown - finally.

It’s unusual to find Hairy Elephantfoot (Elephantopus tomentosus) in this section of the woods but I found one blooming there.

Periodically, after rains, I had found Snow Fungus (Tremella fuciformis) on several logs between the end of the Rock Garden trail and the open area below the Old Fort.

This was a ‘first.’ I wasn’t used to seeing Witch’s Butter (Tremella mesenterica) on this trail. This was a particularly beautiful specimen. Even more interesting was the ‘powdery’ surface on a section that was indicative of sporing; I’d never seen this before.

I walked down to the Swamp Rosemallow (Hibiscus moscheutos). In the dry weather, the capsules were open. On this visit, the…

 

capsules had ‘closed,’ apparently against the wet weather.

Groundnut (Apios americana) vines were still blooming next to the rosemallow bush.

Along the lake shore between the rosemallow and the woods, I found…

Water Hemlock (Circuta maculata), and…

Bushy Seedbox (Ludwigia alternifolia) blooming.

The final find on this walk was particularly exciting. I had read about these fungi but never thought I’d see one. This is the Golden Reishi (Ganoderma curtisii) – thanks to Matt Schink in the Facebook Mushroom Identification Forum for this identification - that is associated with hardwoods, and distributed mainly in the Southeastern United States.

As with many other walks on this trail; when I think I’ve seen everything, I see something new and exciting.

Related posts 

- Summer At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, August 10th, 2015 (Part 1)

- Summer At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, August 10th, 2015 (Part 2) 

- Summer At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, August 10th, 2015 (Part 1)

- Summer At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, August 3rd, 2015 (Part 2)

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- Orange Sponge Polypore (Pycnoporellus alboluteus)? 

- Summer At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, June 22nd, 2015 (Part 2) 

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- Black Chanterelle (Craterellus cornucopioides)  

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, June 15th, 2015 (Part 2)

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- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, June 3rd, 2015 

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- Redring Milkweed (Asclepias variegata)

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, May 18th, 2015 (Part 2) 

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- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, 30th April, 2015 (Part 2)

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- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, 22nd April, 2015 (Part 2)

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, 22nd April, 2015 (Part 1)

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, 16th April, 2015 (Part 2)

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, 16th April, 2015 (Part 1)

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, 10th April, 2015 (Part 2)

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, 10th April, 2015 (Part 1)

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, 4th April, 2015 (Part 2)  

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- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, 26th March, 2015 (Part 2)  

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First Carolina Anole Sighting Of The Year

April 4th. I stopped to look at the developing Trumpet Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) flower buds. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw some movement. When I looked closer, I saw a large Carolina Anole (Anolis carolinensis). 

It realized it had been seen and flattened itself against the branch. I guess it thought it could merge with the branch and become invisible. 

Gradually it crawled further out on the branch. 

In flattening itself against the branch its body widened, making it look bigger than it was – although it was one of the biggest anoles I’ve every seen. 

  

A really handsome anole and a nice sighting for the first anole of the year.

Identification resource: 

- University of Georgia Museum of Natural History: Green Anole, Anolis carolinensis.

 

Carolina Anole (Anolis carolinensis)

July 25th, 2014. 

Carolina Anole (Anolis carolinensis)  

Walton County, GA

It’s been a while since I’ve seen a Carolina Anole. This big male was climbing up a support post on the porch. He finally got a little irritated with me and displayed his dewlap quite impressively.

 

Related post:  

- And A Good Morning To You Too

And A Good Morning To You Too

We walked out the front door and there he was – a Carolina Anole (Anolis carolinensis). The first one I’ve seen this year.

He was on the rim of a plastic container. He looked very comfortable because the rim was about an inch wide and he didn’t have to exert any energy to balance on it. At first I though he was simply sunning himself.

It was a little strange that he didn’t run off. He was only four to five feet from where we were standing looking down at him. Usually, an anole won’t hang around with a human so close. But he did.

And then he moved. He was looking around below him, not at us. He was ignoring us. Even when he was not moving, his eyes were constantly moving, surveying his surroundings.

And then it became obvious. He was staking out some some prime real estate..

He would raise his head and body.

And then he would do three to four ‘pushups’, bobbing his head up and down, followed by…

Extending his dewlap.

He repeated this display four times while we were watching. We couldn't see any other anoles in the area .He was either threatening another male in the area or trying to attract a female. After all, it is Spring.
Click on an image to view a larger image

Identification and Distribution:
- Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Herpetology Program: Green Anole (Anolis carolinensis)

Related posts:
- Green Anole: Anolis carolinensis

Turning Green While You Wait

I heard a scrambling at the base of a tree beside the trail south from the Fishing area (segment 13) and turned around expecting to see an Eastern Fence lizard (Sceloporus undulates) or a Five Lined Skink (Eumeces sp). Not a Green Anole. But there it was. This was the first time I’d ever seen a Green Anole (Anolis carolinensis) at Fort Yargo State Park.


In the early morning, the temperature was still cool and the anole was quite brown. It had crawled up into the sunlight on the tree trunk to catch some rays.

Within a minute, it started to turn green. I waited for several minutes in the hope that it would turn completely green but it was still to cool and it stayed the same color. So I had to move on.
Click on an image to view a larger image

Identification resources:
- Savannah River Ecology Laboratory: Green Anole (Anolis carolinensis)

Butterfly Bush (Buddleja davidii)

Buddleja davidii is known by the common names Butterfly Bush and Orange Eye Butterflybush. It’s planted widely in gardens and is available in many colors including white, pinks and purples. Although it is probably considered a garden plant, it will be found in abandoned gardens in rural areas. It begins to bloom in late May and provides nectar, pollen, for many insects and prey for spiders, and the occasional anole and frog.

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It begins to bloom in late May. Blooming may discontinue during the heat of Summer to resume in the Fall.

The Butterfly Bush attracts many insects and spiders. Just a few of its visitors:

Among butterflies, the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) and

Gulf Fritillaries (Agraulis vanillae)

Among spiders, the Yellow Garden Spider (Argiope aurantia).

Whitebanded Crab Spider (Misumenoides formosipes) with its prey, and

Green Lynx Spider (Peucetia viridans) with its egg case.

Unusual visitors have included a juvenile Cope’s Gray Treefrog (Hyla chrysoscelis), This little frog was only about an inch long.

A Carolina Anole (Anolis carolinensis), and an

Eastern Amberwing (Perithemis tenera). This young female took charge of the bush for several days, perching on the highest flower head.

At the end of the season, when its leaves have fallen and all of the visitors have let, you can spot seed pods that have opened and shed their seeds.

Buddleja davidii (Butterfly Bush) is native to northwestern China and Japan. In the United States, it grows in many eastern states and the Pacific states.
Click on an image to view a larger image

Distribution Map:
- United States Department of Agriculture Plants Database: Buddleja davidii (Orange Eye Butterflybush)

Identification resources:
- Southeastern Flora: Butterfly Bush (Buddleja davidii)

Related posts:
- 2010: Year Of The Wildflower – Wildflower Index