jrusan's Identifications

A solo visit to check on the Sparkleberry bushes. They're just starting to bloom, so the next 1-3 weeks should be great for hairstreaks. There were lots of lupines, pawpaws, and especially Lyreleaf Sages blooming. Butterflies were scarce but I photographed four species of moths. Variable Dancers were common; I quit photographing them after the 4th one encountered. I walked the usual trails in clockwise order, since I wanted to visit the main Sparkleberry patch first. I used my camera to take macro photographs, and after about 15 minutes of last using it, I realized that my phone was not in my pocket. I remembered where I last used it and back-tracked my path right to the phone.

Surprisingly, there were few vehicles in the parking lot at my arrival, and no mother truckers on the mound. (Did somebody from FWC or SWFWMD finally tell the mother truckers that a state preserve is not appropriate for them to run their r/c vehicles over the area?). Several people were crossing Aripeka Road to go swimming in the pond to the south.

The weather at my arrival was sunny and 79 degrees ("feels like" 82) -- both temperatures seemed low -- with a light breeze. The weather when I left was one degree warmer, which again seemed too low. I left at 1717 after exactly 3 hours and headed home.

A solo visit to check on the Sparkleberry bushes. They're just starting to bloom, so the next 1-3 weeks should be great for hairstreaks. There were lots of lupines, pawpaws, and especially Lyreleaf Sages blooming. Butterflies were scarce but I photographed four species of moths. Variable Dancers were common; I quit photographing them after the 4th one encountered. I walked the usual trails in clockwise order, since I wanted to visit the main Sparkleberry patch first. I used my camera to take macro photographs, and after about 15 minutes of last using it, I realized that my phone was not in my pocket. I remembered where I last used it and back-tracked my path right to the phone.

Surprisingly, there were few vehicles in the parking lot at my arrival, and no mother truckers on the mound. (Did somebody from FWC or SWFWMD finally tell the mother truckers that a state preserve is not appropriate for them to run their r/c vehicles over the area?). Several people were crossing Aripeka Road to go swimming in the pond to the south.

The weather at my arrival was sunny and 79 degrees ("feels like" 82) -- both temperatures seemed low -- with a light breeze. The weather when I left was one degree warmer, which again seemed too low. I left at 1717 after exactly 3 hours and headed home.

A solo visit to check on the Sparkleberry bushes. They're just starting to bloom, so the next 1-3 weeks should be great for hairstreaks. There were lots of lupines, pawpaws, and especially Lyreleaf Sages blooming. Butterflies were scarce but I photographed four species of moths. Variable Dancers were common; I quit photographing them after the 4th one encountered. I walked the usual trails in clockwise order, since I wanted to visit the main Sparkleberry patch first. I used my camera to take macro photographs, and after about 15 minutes of last using it, I realized that my phone was not in my pocket. I remembered where I last used it and back-tracked my path right to the phone.

Surprisingly, there were few vehicles in the parking lot at my arrival, and no mother truckers on the mound. (Did somebody from FWC or SWFWMD finally tell the mother truckers that a state preserve is not appropriate for them to run their r/c vehicles over the area?). Several people were crossing Aripeka Road to go swimming in the pond to the south.

The weather at my arrival was sunny and 79 degrees ("feels like" 82) -- both temperatures seemed low -- with a light breeze. The weather when I left was one degree warmer, which again seemed too low. I left at 1717 after exactly 3 hours and headed home.

A solo visit to check on the Sparkleberry bushes. They're just starting to bloom, so the next 1-3 weeks should be great for hairstreaks. There were lots of lupines, pawpaws, and especially Lyreleaf Sages blooming. Butterflies were scarce but I photographed four species of moths. Variable Dancers were common; I quit photographing them after the 4th one encountered. I walked the usual trails in clockwise order, since I wanted to visit the main Sparkleberry patch first. I used my camera to take macro photographs, and after about 15 minutes of last using it, I realized that my phone was not in my pocket. I remembered where I last used it and back-tracked my path right to the phone.

Surprisingly, there were few vehicles in the parking lot at my arrival, and no mother truckers on the mound. (Did somebody from FWC or SWFWMD finally tell the mother truckers that a state preserve is not appropriate for them to run their r/c vehicles over the area?). Several people were crossing Aripeka Road to go swimming in the pond to the south.

The weather at my arrival was sunny and 79 degrees ("feels like" 82) -- both temperatures seemed low -- with a light breeze. The weather when I left was one degree warmer, which again seemed too low. I left at 1717 after exactly 3 hours and headed home.