End of Summer 2016 ~ I guess the end of summer was actually in September but it hasn’t cooled down much. There have been a lot fewer interesting bugs in the St. Augustine Road Fish Management Area and only a few birds. Doug gave us a lotus plant that pupped from one in his water garden. We celebrated when several large yellow blooms appeared and it was fun to watch the seed pods develop from the lovely yellow centers. One of the seeds looked like it had a little face peeping out at me:
Lotus seed pods
The ladybug population in the bamboo peaked in July and by September, quite a few spiders had moved in. With fewer ladybugs to watch, I had stopped wedging myself between the bamboo stalks, which is probably why the spiders flourished. While I was looking around, I saw an ant fall from above and drop onto a web. The spider moved in pretty quickly to dispatch the ant:
A small woodpecker has been visiting the bamboo regularly. We can hear it tap-tapping around, and once in a while it emerges enough for us to get a quick look:
There were quite a few butterflies in the park at the St. Augustine Road Fish Management Area. They seem to like the damp gravel near the entrance – maybe they are after minerals in it. I think this is a Spicebush Swallowtail but it looks a little different from the one on the Florida Museum of Natural History site: http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/wildflower/searchButterflyComprehensive.asp
On the walk along the road, lots of spider webs:
And a hawk in a tree:
A lot a rain brought the re-emergence of a vernal pool. Last year it was full of tiny, red tubifex worms. This year it was frog eggs. Let’s hope they all hatch before the pool dries up:
A different species of ladybug than the ones in the bamboo landed on me while I was trudging through the heavy brush. I think it is one of the non-native species:
We haven’t been back into the woods since Hurricane Mathew. We were out of town during the storm and haven’t had time to check it out. Here’s hoping for cooler weather and lots of nice fall walks – we’ll venture out soon!
