Fall Favorites

Monarch

There are miles of trails to walk at Sandy Creek Nature Center, a wonderful nature park in Athens, Georgia, where I like to spend a lot of time, and where I also volunteer. I find that each trail there is special for different reasons. Some are just peaceful and beautiful. Others are good for finding certain birds, or flowers or fungi, or to hear the whack of a beaver tail at dusk. Some trails have good logs to roll and look for salamanders, some trails lead to the creek, and others have good loops to walk with school kids. I like them all. But in the fall, my favorite trail is also the shortest, the loop that runs through the restored Piedmont Prairie--a small and sunny, open space, filled with wildflowers and tall grasses. A haven for insects and spiders, birds, snakes, frogs, rabbits and rodents. This trail can take you two minutes or two hours, depending on how much time you want to spend looking and listening. I find that it is a perfect element to include in a hike with 4th Grade classes who have come to learn about the solar system and see a planetarium program. On our trail hike, I like to talk to the kids about the changing seasons and how the living things are preparing for winter. The leaves on the trees are changing color. Fruit on the trees and vines and grasses and flowers are ripening. Birds are feeding on the flowers and grass seeds as they prepare for migration. Spiders that hatched in the spring are now reaching maturity, their webs stretched across paths and loaded with insects. Their egg sacs will appear as the weather cools. There's always a lot to see. I think that the kids have a good time, and hopefully they learn a lot. I try to share my enthusiasm, too, because I love it all. But I also have a special love for butterflies, so I hype that up a lot. And, the Prairie in the fall also happens to be a great place for seeing butterflies, which makes it one of my favorite places to visit and share. 

Leaf footed bugs and nymphs on Passion Vine

Poke Berries

Empty Cicada shell

Green Lynx Spider

Robber Fly

The loop through the Prairie is a different experience every year. One year you will find Praying Mantises hiding in the tops of the tall plants. In another, Bird Grasshoppers pop every which way across the trail and over the tall grasses. Or the Orbweaver Spiders may have staked out stations along the entire trail, hiding behind the zigzags in their webs. This year, Passion Vines grew in profusion, attracting Gulf Fritillary butterflies in large numbers, and growing so robustly that they covered the path. Passion Vine is the host plant for the Gulf Fritillary butterfly, and they come to lay their eggs on this particular plant. The park naturalists closed the loop for a few weeks to give the tiny Fritillary caterpillars a chance to eat and grow and go through their metamorphosis. Left undisturbed, butterflies of all kinds busily fed on the Passion Flowers, Frostflowers, Milkweed, Thistles, and other nectar plants. 

Gulf Fritillary, drinking nectar

Gulf Fritillary caterpillar on Passion Vine tendril

Passion Flower

Mating Fritillaries next to empty Chrysalis

Fruit from Passion Vine

Last week I took 2 groups of energetic 4th graders on a larger loop through the woods that ended with a walk through the Prairie. As we cleared the shady forest and entered into the sunny and grassy area with its tall flowers, I prepped the kids by telling them how that they were about to experience something spectacular. And both times, as we came near, I knew that they were suitably impressed. I could tell by all the squeals and wows! I get it, because I feel the same way, every time. There is something magical about walking into a butterfly meadow.  We saw dozens of yellow and black Eastern Tiger Swallowtails, (the state butterfly of Georgia, by the way) and many, many Gulf Fritillaries, as well as a Monarch, a Viceroy, various Skippers, Satyrs, Azures, Hairstreaks, and a Red Spotted Purple. It was a great show and gave me a chance to fit in my standard message about how important it is to have green spaces--sanctuaries for nature, as well as for people. This is an important lesson for preparing the way for the next generation of environmental stewards. You protect the things you know. And who wouldn't want to protect a magical place like this? 

Silver Spotted Skipper

American Painted Lady and Ailanthus Web Worm Moth

Clouded Skipper

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (female, dark form)

Red-spotted Purple

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (male)

If You Build it, They Will Come. And Then What?

Once an Urban Habitat 

I recently learned that the yard at our old house in Florida is being re-landscaped, a year after we sold it. As is their right, the new owners are making the house their own, including the garden. We are doing the same with our new home. They may have plans for new flower patches, but for now the colorful array of native wildflowers and butterfly host plants that I put in over the span of 10 years has been removed and is being replaced with sod. I feel heartbroken about it, but I can also see that the yard as I left it took a certain amount of specific care (that I was willing to give) or it would quickly get out of hand. It was probably a lot crazier than many people are comfortable with. I was always on the lookout for sprouts from aggressive plants so I could pick them while they were small and easy to control. Because the yard was my baby, I knew what the weeds looked like and when to start yanking out spiderwort, pipevine, blue curls and goldenrod before they took over. The new owners may have initially intended to keep the garden but perhaps it just got to be too much work for them to keep up with. Or maybe they didn't like that kind of yard. I get that. A wildlife habitat yard is not for everyone. And it is their house, to do with what they choose. I wish that they weren't replacing the garden with sod, which is a terrible waste of water and has no wildlife value, but that is another story.

By Mid Summer, it Could Get Crazy

The thing that is nagging at me the most is the loss of habitat. We had created a wildlife sanctuary in an urban neighborhood, and now it is gone. There were a lot of beautiful and interesting native plants in our yard, some rare or endangered that I rescued and propagated. We rarely had to water and never used fertilizers or pesticides. We composted the fallen leaves in place as mulch. What is going to happen to the native bees and butterflies that used the nectar and host plants in the yard? Where will the tiny pinewoods snakes, glass lizards and southern toads hunt and hide? I planted foxtail grasses and berry bushes, and left the seed heads on flowers in the winter for the birds. Will they be expecting to find seeds in that space when they migrate next year? Where will the families of brown thrashers who tossed through the leaf mulch go for their bugs? What happens to wildlife when we create safe spaces for them, but then take it away? This must happen all the time. Homes switch owners. People move. Neighborhoods change. Yards are redone. Empty lots get developed. But what happens to the wildlife? I guess the creatures move on and adapt, if they can. If there are other suitable habitats nearby, which is not always the case, especially in the city. I know of only a handful of wild, native yards in our former neighborhood, so I worry. I tend to anthropomorphize, and I keep imagining bewildered pipevine swallowtails, bees and baltimore orioles trying to find their way back to a home that is no longer there. But short of some sort of homeowner's covenant that requires nature friendly landscapes, you can't force future owners of property to carry on the plans of the past inhabitants. So what can you do? Is creating a backyard nature habitat ultimately futile? I would like to think not. In the end, I would venture that, to mangle Tennyson, "'tis better to have created a garden and lost it than to never have created one at all". We made a difference, if only for a few years. One thing that could help would be to make sure that the wildlife garden you create is not the only one in your vicinity. If you are going to create a backyard nature habitat, encourage your neighbors to plant at least a little patch of sanctuary in their yard, too, so that the loss of one habitat won't be catastrophic.

Brown Thrasher Feeding Chick

Woodland Poppymallow (Callirhoe papaver), Endangered and Rescued

Glass Lizard on the Front Porch

Pipevine Swallowtail Eggs in the Front Yard

But the question remains--what happens to the wild places after they have been preserved? What happens when the next generation does not share the conservation ethic of its predecessors? Can any place be preserved forever? This is playing out all over the country. Our national program of wilderness preservation in National and State Parks and public land, "the best idea America ever had", is being viewed with new sets of eyes. These eyes do not see wild majesty that should be left alone to protect it for the future, as President Theodore Roosevelt did when he dedicated the Grand Canyon as a National Monument, saying "Leave it as it is. You cannot improve on it; not a bit. The ages have been at work on it, and man can only mar it. What you can do is to keep it for your children, your children's children and for all who come after you, as one of the great sights which every American, if he can travel at all, should see. Keep the Grand Canyon as it is." These new eyes don't see the point. They see instead vast tracts of wasted opportunity. Empty land for off-road recreation or new sub-divisions, untapped resources to be exploited, money to be made. Anti-government activists in the West occupied the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon for weeks in a violent takeover, claiming that the land belonged "to the people", not to the government. My beloved Paynes Prairie State Park Preserve, as well as other state parks in Florida, is being seriously examined by the Governor and the aptly named Department of Natural Resources as a potential source of grazing, logging and hunting fees. Oil derricks pump and chug across the beautiful and remote high desert of Utah. It is so discouraging. Personally, I think we should be preserving more, not less of our land, and am intrigued by the idea proposed by biologist E. O. Wilson who believes that we should set aside half of the earth, free from people, to protect our planet's biodiversity. Our fragile interdependent web of life is at risk from human activity and we are all going to suffer if we don't act to protect as many of the earth's biological systems as we can. We humans are not alone on this planet.

Somewhere in Desolation Canyon, Utah

On a happier note, we have a new wildlife garden in the early stages at our new home in Georgia. It is still very new and young, and we had a native plant landscaper start the planting for us this time so it wouldn't take 10 years. Soon it will be humming and buzzing and alive with wildlife. And at least 3 other houses on our street have similar gardens, so we have strength in numbers. But someday someone else will move into our house or our neighbors' houses and they may want a new garden. And then what will happen to the wild places when we are gone?

Starting Again

Morningside

Every time I drive into Morningside Nature Center in East Gainesville, I slow way down, turn off the radio, and if it is not too hot or cold, open the windows so I can listen. There's a sign to remind me to take it slow, but I don't need it. I've been there too often and have seen too many things on that entry road to hurry. If I go too fast, I might miss seeing something interesting. Or, worse, I may run over something interesting! Over the years, I've seen deer, raccoons, numerous gopher tortoises, a large family of Northern Bobwhite Quail, a juvenile black racer, a yellow rat snake, a coachwhip snake, and jillions of yellow-rumped warblers, to name just the most memorable. I've also seen a squashed rough green snake and coral snake. Some people aren't so careful.

Slow Down! There really are tortoises in the road!

I worked as a nature educator at Morningside for several years and one of the special benefits of working there was getting to know the park very well. Yes, sometimes there are changes and surprises. But in general, I know where I am most likely to find certain kinds of plants and wildlife. That kind of familiarity is comforting and reassuring. And it's nice to follow the progress after various restoration projects. I've watched burns and regrowth, beetle infestations and re-planting, floods and drought. And I know that there is something beautiful and interesting to be found on any day, at any time of year. Over the years I taught classes and led groups along the trails and in the some of the special outdoor classroom spaces and learned many of the interesting things to look for. After I'd been working there long enough to learn from staff experts like Gary and Geoff about the wildflowers and ecology, I became one of the Fall Wildflower Walk leaders. It was a great thrill for me to lead these groups because I've always been interested in wildflowers. Although I am not a trained botanist, I know enough to lead a group of interested people. And I'm not ashamed to tell them when I don't know something. I just let them know what I do know, and after many years, it's enough to get by.

So I was really happy when the staff asked me to come back and lead a walk again this fall! But now that I no longer work there every day, it's been necessary for me to take trips there weekly to scope out the trails and chart the beginnings of the fall wildflower display. Not that this is a chore! I should mention for Non-Floridians that here in North Central Florida, our best wildflower displays are in Fall. And one of the best habitats to see wildflowers is the sunny, dry, flat Sandhill. Morningside happens to have wonderful and lovingly managed Sandhill, and the wildflowers are magnificent.

This year the land management staff for the City of Gainesville conducted several summer prescribed fires. This is good and very important to maintain the fire dependent ecosystems of Morningside. The problem is that they burned in some of the places I have come to rely on for easily accessible walks! Some things will grow back in time for the walks later in the month (they will take place every Saturday in October), but mine will be the first Saturday (October 5 at 9am!), and it doesn't appear that the burn areas will have recovered enough for me to lead the walk there. But this is not really a problem. Next year everything will have grown back and the colors will be wonderful. This year, we'll just need to walk a bit further to get to the action!

So this week I made a couple of trips to see how things were progressing. I headed over at noon on Sunday, when my car thermometer said the temperature was 100 Fahrenheit.

Hot

It was sunny and humid. Not the best conditions for hiking, but I had my water, my hat and my cell phone, and I set out. *SPOILER ALERT* This is the part in my blog where I tell you what I saw on my walk. If you're planning on going on my hike on October 5th, you may want to just plug your ears and thumb through the pictures. Or you can read along and be prepared!

From the parking lot I headed towards Sandhill Road (the name itself is promising for good wildflower displays!) As I walked I could hear the racket of the Red Headed Woodpeckers that frequent the picnic area across the road. I could also hear the sounds of the farm animals in the Living History Farm, who were probably getting their Sunday lunch, or maybe they were just calling to me. The woods along the path were still black from the burn, which took place only about a month ago. I could see green peeking from the Saw Palmettos and grasses that were already growing back. The scrub was mostly burned back, making room for the sun and rain to fall on wildflower and grass plants on the forest floor.

Greening Up After the Burn

Open Spaces

At the end of the burned area I came to a sunny, open stretch. This is always a good spot for some specific wildflowers, but it's a little overgrown and the fall display isn't as good here as other spots. Still, this is a place where I know I can find Pale Meadowbeauty and Seedbox early in the fall. It's also a great spot for Rabbit Tobacco. (When I hear Rabbit Tobacco, I think of little juvenile delinquent rabbits with cigarettes hanging off of their snarling lips, or granddaddy rabbits with corncob pipes, and it makes me smile.) Later in October, the False Foxglove usually stands tall with it's pink, hairy blooms that are irresistible to butterflies and bees. It is also a host plant for Buckeye butterflies, and if you look closely, you can often see the caterpillars with their iridescent blue spikes. I couldn't find any hint of the Foxglove yet, so I hope it shows up in a few weeks. Every year is slightly different. The combination of weather conditions and the regrowth and encroachment of the scrub can change the landscape slowly over the year. I walked by the Goldenrod, covered with eager Lovebugs. Goldenrod is an important and attractive nectar source in the early stages of fall, when there are not as many plants in bloom. All around the Goldenrod I could see that the Slender Flattop Goldenrod (not really a goldenrod!) buds were just about ready to pop open. There was just the tiniest hint of yellow in the tops. I passed a Pocket Gopher mound and wished that just for once, I could be there when one popped out. I know they exist because other people have seen and photographed them. But they just seem imaginary or legendary since I've seen no actual Gophers as proof of their existence. They are crepuscular (love that word!), meaning that they come out mostly at dawn and dusk.

Ceraunus Blue Butterfly enjoys Pale Meadowbeauty (Rhexia mariana)

Spent Flowers of Seedbox (Ludwigia maritima) . When the seed capsule dries, it has an interesting geometric shape.
You can tip it over and shake seeds out of it, like a little salt shaker.

Rabbit Tobacco (Pseudognapthalium obtusifolium)

Goldenrod (Solidago sp.) and Lovebugs

I do believe in Pocket Gophers. I do believe in Pocket Gophers.

After the sunny stretch, I reached the beginning of what I think of as the "Good Stuff." The Sandhill namesake of Sandhill Road. This area had a prescribed fire about 4 years ago and the results are glorious. Majestic Longleaf Pines stand tall, with plenty of space for new seedlings to sprout and get the sun and space that they need. There is very little scrub and the ground is instead covered with Wiregrass and Wildflowers and Saw Palmetto. Warblers and Woodpeckers flit from tree to tree and the Gopher tortoises have plenty of clearance to burrow and roam for food. Although I hoped all day that I'd see a Gopher Tortoise, I didn't. But I did see plenty of burrows. And I was lucky to see a rare Florida Pinesnake, another sandhill resident. The scene would be complete if the Red Cockaded Woodpeckers and Sherman's Fox Squirrels that were once so abundant in the park could return. Maybe one day again the Longleaf Pines will be be healthy and mature enough to support a population.

The Good Stuff

Gopher Tortoise Burrow

Florida Pinesnake, either going into its burrow, or chowing down on Pocket Gophers.
Wait--maybe that's why I haven't seen any Gophers!

Looking over the sandhill, I could see that very soon the Blazing Star, Silk Grass, Yellow Buttons  and Paint Brush will be full bloom. Palafoxia, Summer Farewell and White Topped Aster will follow close behind. But for now, there are just the stalks, leaves and buds waving just over the grass and palmettos. Occasionally a bud has popped and there is a spot of purple or yellow, a teasing taste of things to come. There is great potential in those woods! But the plants of the sandhill are interesting even without the blooms. They are adapted to living in a dry and fire dependent ecosystem, so they have features such as hairy leaves, close to the ground to conserve moisture or withstand a quick burn-over. Or needle-like leaves, clasped close to the stem, also to conserve moisture.

The Sandhill, Soon to be in Full Bloom

Hairy leaves of Hieracium (Hawkweed)

Hairy Basal Rosette of Chrysopsis (Goldenaster)--Another late fall bloom

Florida Paintbrush leaves (Carphephorus corymbosus)--well adapted to dry conditions and fire

At Morningside there are 3 species of Gayfeather or Liatris. Two (Liatris tenuifolia and Liatris gracilis) are commonly seen in October, and one (Liatris pauciflora), I have learned, blooms earlier. In the past, when I worked there, September was a very busy time with the cleanup after summer camp and the start of school classes, so I rarely got out exploring in time to see them. But now that I can go looking whenever I want and I have learned that this is a good time to find Few-flowered Gayfeather. This year there seems to be an especially large crop. The flower heads are larger than those of the other Gayfeathers, and grow on only one side of the stem. The flowers seem to weigh down the stems, so they flop or arch all over the sandhill. Interspersed among the brilliant Liatris are stalks of Florida Toothache Grass, with their long, comblike heads. When the seed heads dry, they arch and stretch to disperse the seeds. This endemic and endangered grass is thriving in the well-maintained sandhill. When I was first introduced to the plant there were just a few at Morningside. Now there is a huge swath! It's nice to be able to see the benefits of successful land management.

Fewflower Gayfeather (Liatris pauciflora)

Florida Toothache Grass (Ctenium floridanum)

Shortleaf Gayfeather (Liatris tenuifolia) almost ready to bloom

Another very common flower in the sandhill is Florida Paintbrush (Carphephorus corymbosus). There are 3 species of Carphephorus found at Morningside, but each one grows in a different habitat. Paintbrush prefers the Sandhill. It has fine hairs along the stem and leaves in a basal rosette, close to the ground, that help it conserve moisture. The other two species live in slightly wetter conditions. The Vanilla Leaf (Carphephorus odoratissimus) (so named because its leaves really do have a lovely vanilla smell that wafts across the flatwoods in the late spring) is almost done flowering, but there are a few examples in the flatwoods on the other side of the road. Deertongue (Carphephorus paniculatus) prefers much wetter conditions. I see it blooming later in the fall in flatwoods and wet areas like ditches. I love it when the Paintbrush blooms because it is so pretty, and because lots of critters use its flat-topped blooms as as a perch. Butterflies and bees flock to the blossoms, and smart hunters such as Praying Mantises can often be seen laying in wait. I can always count on finding a big, fat Green Lynx on one of these large purple flowers. Smaller Crab spiders hang around, too. They come in an assortment of colors. I've found white ones on Spanish Needles, Yellow ones on Tickseed and Yellow Buttons, and purplish green ones on Paintbrush. Very adaptive creatures!

Florida Paintbrush (Carphephorus corymbosus)

Crab Spider waiting on Carphephorus bud. 

Continuing down the road, I saw acres of Liatris and Carphephorus, not quite ready, but soon! There were small patches of Fragrant Eryngium and Black Senna (another host plant for Buckeye caterpillars), Partridge Pea and Hedge Hyssop. Along with Elephant's Foot, these few early blooming plants provide important nectar for the hungry insects. Plants that bloomed in the spring are now producing fruits. Gopher Apple, Paw Paw, Gallberry and Palmetto fruits provide food for the larger animals such as birds, raccoons and gopher tortoises. Fall is a time for feasting, and in a week or so there will be a feast for our eyes. I will be at Morningside in the next few weeks, checking and getting ready. I hope to see you in October!

Fragrant Eryngium (Eryngium aromaticum)

Black Senna (Seymeria pectinata)

Elephant's Foot (Elephantopus elatus)

Rough Hedge Hyssop (Gratiola hispida)

Saw Palmetto Berries (Serenoa repens)

Jean Dorney Memorial Fall Wildflower Walks take place at Morningside, every Saturday in October at 9am. Click here for more information.