Anybody Seen My Focus?

Sunday, June 28, 2015

Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, June 8th, 2015 (Part 2)

June 8th. (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 early spring wildflowers have finished blooming; it’s time to watch the developing fruit. A few late spring/summer wildflowers are blooming now.

The flower buds were still developing on the Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis) bushes by the bridge and along the lake shore in the Fishing Area.

In the Fishing Area I found a single Pencil Flower (Stylosanthes biflora) In bloom. Just one.

More Carolina Wild Petunia (Ruellia caroliniensis) plants were blooming in the Fishing Area.

Another Dog’s Vomit/Scrambled Egg (Fuligo septica) slime mold had started to fruit on a fallen log near the…

‘Rock Garden’ woods.

The Perfoliate Bellwort (Uvularia perfoliata) seed capsule was still developing.

I found another Wild Yam (Dioscorea villosa) vine with seed capsules in the Rock Garden woods.

Berries were developing on blackberry canes at the water’s edge. I think the birds eat these berries even before they are ripe. I’ve only seen one blackberry that was starting to darken.

On the leaf litter near the Perfoliate Bellwort plant, I found this twig with Oak Apple Galls from last year.

I didn’t expect to see any slime molds along the trail from the Rock Garden to the Old Fort, but there were some small patches of Coral Slime (Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa) on a couple of logs in the shade. I checked the logs for other slime mold fruiting bodies but couldn’t find any. Further along the…

trail, I found another mysterious fungus.

All that existed on this log were a couple of patches of a polypore fungus with no cap and the pores facing upwards. It took me a while to realize that this log had been rolled over from its original position to expose the fungus which had been pointing downward in the logs original position. This had killed the fungus unfortunately. It was surprising that the fungal structure was in such good shape for having been exposed to the elements.

Blue-fronted Dancers (Argia apicalis) damselflies basking in the sun near patches of scuppernong vines.

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The OldFort, June 8th, 2015 (Part 1

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

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

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The OldFort, May 26th, 2015 (Part 1)

- Redring Milkweed (Asclepias variegata)

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

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, May 18th, 2015 (Part 1)

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

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

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, May 6th, 2015 (Part 2)

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, May 6th, 2015 (Part 1)

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

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, 30th April, 2015 (Part 1)

- 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)

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, 4th April, 2015 (Part 1)

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

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, 26th March, 2015 (Part 1)

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

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

Saturday, June 27, 2015

Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The Old Fort, June 8th, 2015 (Part 1)

June 8th. 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 early spring wildflowers have finshed blooming; it’s time to watch the developing fruit. A few late spring/summer wildflowers are blooming now.

Littleleaf Sensitive Briar (Mimosa microphylla) plants were still blooming in the shade at ground level. It would be easy to miss them. I took a few minutes to stroke the leaves into closing up.

The seed capsules were still developing on this Strawberry Bush (Euonymus americanus). This bush has a lot of fruit.

The Lanceleaf Loosestrife (Lysimachia lanceolata) plants were still blooming.

A lone Carolina Wild Petunia (Ruellia caroliniensis) was blooming in the shade in an open area between the woods. It was one of the most intensely colored petunias I’ve seen.

Virginia Buttonweed (Diodia virginiana) plants were beginning to bloom also.

The berries on the Solomon’s Seal (Polygonatum biflorum) plants just before the first bridge were still developing nicely, as were the…

seed capsules on the Pipsissewa (Chimaphila maculata) plants on the rise just after the bridge.

The berries on the Deerbery (Vaccinium staminium) bushes were still developing. They hadn’t increased in size.

The Eastern Sweetshrub (Calycanthus floridus) fruit was still developing and looked healthy.

I had been looking for seed capsules on Wild Yam (Dioscorea villosa) vines. I had wanted to watch them develop from the tiny flowers – only about ¼ inches in diameter - into the seed capsules that are about 1 inch long. I finally found some capsules but they were already large. It was great to find them but I’m going to have to wait until next year to see them develop.

I had stepped off the trail to photograph the Wild Yam seed capsules and as I stepped back onto the trail, I realized that I was about to step on some…

small mushrooms. They had deeply inverted, scaly caps and,…

similar to chantarelles, poorly developed – more like folds - gills running down their stems. It took a bit of sleuthing to discover that they were Black Chanterelles (Craterellus cornucopioides), also known as Black Trumpets or Horn of Plenty. Apparently they are highly prized as delicious edible mushrooms. I’m so glad that I found them and didn’t step on them. I suspect that most people, including me, wouldn’t see them unless they had some reason to look down at exactly the right time.

It was just a short distance to the…

witchhazel (Hamamelis sp.) bush. The seed capsules on this plant were doing well, as was the…

second Eastern Sweetshrub fruit. From here I made my way along to the Fishing Area.

(To be continued…)

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

- Spring Walk At Fort Yargo State Park: Shelter A To The OldFort, May 26th, 2015 (Part 1)

- Redring Milkweed (Asclepias variegata)

Thursday, June 25, 2015

Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum) Takes A Dust Bath

June 24th. As I was walking down the final section of the trail from the Dam back to the Section B parking lot at Fort Yargo State Park, I saw a bird that looked – at first – in distress. But then I realized it was just a…

Brown Thrasher enjoying a dust bath although the expression on its face seems one more of terror than enjoyment.

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Eastern Worm Snake (Carphophis amoenus)

June 4th. As I was walking up the final slope out of the woods on the Section B – Dam walk, I saw movement beside me on the trail. If it hadn’t been for the movement I would have kept walking. But when I looked down I saw a small snake slithering purposefully across the trail. It wasn’t paying any attention to me; it was as if it didn’t realize I was there.

I wanted a photograph but the snake wasn’t going to stop for me. So…

I pinned it gently with my snake hook. It was only about 9 to 10 inches long.

It was clear that I wasn’t going to get a good shot of it on the ground. If I lifted the hook, it was going to slither away. I figured I was going to have to pick it up if I wanted a better shot of its head. Now, I’ve never picked up a snake in my life but I was alone and it was pick up the snake or not get the shots.

It was a handsome little snake. A dry muscle in motion. I was surprised at how strong it was. It curled its body around my fingers to hang on. It didn’t even think about biting me – not that its mouth was big enough to get a grip on my fingers. It flicked its tongue intermittently to evaluate its surroundings. When I put it down on the edge of the trail, it slithered ‘out of sight’ under the scuppernongs. I could still see it and was fascinated by the fact that it stopped rather than slithering deep into the undergrowth.

Worm Snakes may be found in the eastern United States, from southern New Hampshire to central Georgia and west to the Mississippi River. They are most common in the Piedmont region and in smaller numbers in the mountains or the Coastal Plain in South Carolina and absent from the Coastal Plain in Georgia.

Worm snakes are considered to be ‘secretive’. They live mostly underground and are seldom seen above ground. They are most often encountered hiding beneath logs, rocks, leaf litter, or other debris.

In view of the fact that these snakes are rarely seen, I consider myself very fortunate to have been able to make the acquaintance of this interesting little creature.

Reference:

- Savannah River Ecology Laboratory: Worm Snake (Carphophis amoenus)

- Fairfax County Public Schools. Eastern Worm Snake (Carphophis amoenus amoenus)

- Spring Is In The Air: Fort Yargo State Park, Section B ToThe Dam, June 4th (Part 2)

- Spring Is In The Air: Fort Yargo State Park, Section B ToThe Dam, June 4th (Part 1)

- Spring Is In The Air: Fort Yargo State Park, Section B To The Dam, April 26th (Part 1)