Thursday, September 10: Pepper Ranch Preserve

To paraphrase Robert Burns, the best made plans oft go awry. Three trees needed to be taken down and another severely trimmed in my yard in order for equipment to get to the back yard to replace a drain field. The trees were supposed to be removed on Friday, but while I was at Pepper Ranch Preserve, the tree company called and said they could be there at 11 this morning. So the tour around the preserve was cut short to about two and a half hours so I could be home in time.

That was enough time for a slow drive along Pepper and Sunflower Trace Roads and a short hike through field M. Eleven species of butterflies and moths were identified in the field. Orange-spotted Flower Moths including the one in the above photo were the most common. Only 35 were counted, but those were just in the narrow path I took. Eighteen White Peacocks and 15 Ceraunus Blues were the next most common.

Even with the nice variety of butterflies and moths, the tiny cuckoo wasp (Chrysis conica) at the left was the most colorful insect encountered.

There weren't as many avian species this week as there were last week. Missing were all of the herons, egrets, and night-herons except for one Great Blue Heron and five Cattle Egrets. They may have been somewhere in there, but the vegetation had grown and closed in at the more likely places they would have been so nothing could really be seen.

But some birds that had been missing recently were back, especially Sandhill Cranes. Eleven of them were counted. The two in the above photo are this year's chicks, now adult size and with adult plumage. They were still with their parents as the four of them foraged together.

A little farther down the road, another pair of cranes was active and very vocal. It seems a little early for courtship activity, but one of the cranes seemed to be ready with calling and jumping (video).

After the cranes, 10 Wild Turkeys and six Eastern Meadowlarks were the most seen.

Fall bird migration in the United States is in full swing, so spotting some migrants was one goal. Unfortunately, other than Barn Swallows, none were found.

Herps were just gators in Lake Trafford, some Brown Anoles, and two Red-bellied Turtles in one of the swales. Mammals were White-tailed Deer and one Gray Squirrel.

Friday, September 11: Flint Pen Strand

A start just before sunrise was rewarded with a Barred Owl looking down from the cypress dome by the lakes parking lot. There was too little light for a good photograph, but it was too much for the owl which flew off shortly after.

More pre dawn greeters were four young Wild Turkeys. They trotted in front of my car on OBB Road, turned into the parking lot, and after foraging a bit, headed into the tall grasses to the west.

All of the recent rain plus sheet flow from the north filled up the marsh in an amazingly short amount of time. Water in the western and northern parts of the white trail around the marsh varied from ankle to knee deep. In the deepest part near the northeast corner, large fish swam across the trail.

Frogs and toads included the Green Treefrogs in the photo plus Squirrel Treefrogs, Southern Cricket Frogs, Pig Frogs, and Oak Toads. For the first time in quite a while, no gators were seen. They may be spreading out and moving into the marsh. The grasses and other plants are too tall to see them, so I didn't wander into the marsh where they might have been.

The only mammal spotted was a lone White-tailed Deer that splashed across the marsh and disappeared into a small island of cypress trees.

The Red-shouldered Hawk at the right also seemed happy to see more water. It perched at the top of a cypress and looked intently into the marsh. Spotting prey, it flew down into the water and snagged a large crayfish for breakfast. It flew to the top of a trail marker to enjoy its meal.

In this period of transition from a mostly dry marsh to a mostly wet one, wildlife hasn't completely adjusted. Only 24 species of birds were identified, and the most often seen were just six Northern Cardinals.

The most common of the wading birds were four immature Little Blue Herons and three Great Blue Herons. Only one Tricolored Heron, one Snowy Egret, two Great Egrets, and two Green Herons were present. The prey base hasn't had time yet to expand into all of the areas. When it does, all of those numbers should increase.

Ducks are exploring the areas. Two Black-bellied Whistling Ducks and three Mottled Ducks were in the marsh, but there didn't seem to be enough open water to satisfy them. That will change, too, once the grasses begin to die back.

In addition to the owl and the turkeys, a nice sighting was an Eastern Bluebird that was in the deep vegetation long the southern leg of the white trail. It didn't pop out for a photo but foraged on the interior of the dense shrubs.

Twelve species of butterflies were found. Most were the regulars with a Variegated Fritillary, Black Swallowtail, and Palamedes Swallowtail being the outstanding sightings. The most often seen were 21 Gulf Fritillaries and 10 White Peacocks.

Dragonflies were really scarce. Other than 31 Band-winged Dragonlets, no species had more than three individuals spotted.

My yard

One side of the house has really opened up with the loss of three trees and the trimming of the large oak in the backyard. Plants under the big oak were thankfully unaffected, but the only blooms were on some Monk Orchids

Elsewhere in the yard, a few blooms showed up at the very top of a Royal Poinciana, but other than that and some Firebush, all of the other blooms were very small and low to the ground.

Nighttime wildlife consisted of mostly Virginia Opossums and Cottontail Rabbits. A few Raccoons showed up on the trail cameras, and a few Southern Flying Squirrels, but they weren't numerous.

One semi regular visitor was a Bobcat. It was here last weekend and twice during the week, and although mice, rats and rabbits are in the yard, it didn't catch anything, at least on camera.

Bobcats as well as Florida Panthers are very cautious around the opossums. On Wednesday morning, the Bobcat ignored a young opossum in the front yard and give an adult opossum in the side yard a wide berth as the cat moved to the back yard (video).