4May2008

Highlands Nature Sanctuary personnel had received a tip that there was illegal hunting occurring on the Spruce Hill Preserve. I set out at 6:30am to assess the situation over the next 3.5 hours. Two turkey hunters---complete with camouflage tent blind, guns, full camo dress, and two wild turkey decoys---had set up on the preserve grounds. They were clearly hunting turkey on preserve property. They were advised to leave, which they did. I then hiked to the neck of the enclosure and back south to the pool and plucked garlic mustard all around it. There is still a small stand at the SE side of the pool but most of it has been pulled now.

1May2008

The purpose of this five hour trek on this very pleasant, partly sunny day was to meet with an elite garlic mustard plucking group with the eventual aim of eradicating garlic mustard from Spruce Hill Preserve. Our team of eight volunteers worked our way up the footpath, weeding as we went. We cleared the end of the north point along the 4w trail near the top of the hill, where the garlic mustard would impact the wildflower population most severely and also worked the upper north end of the hilltop west of the neck and then all along the edge of the field south.

30Apr2008

The purpose of this 2 hour hike around the Spruce Hill field was to assess the garlic mustard. Particular problem areas were marked with trailing pink ribbon at field edges but basically it is all around the hilltop, with a couple of deeper inroads at the parking lot and along the 4W trail that veers north from the hilltop path. The worst stand is along the southwestern side.

20Apr2008

Sunday, the weather was warm, sunny with temperatures in the sixties. We took 2 hours to do a quick hike to the vernal pool and back.

This was the weekend of the Third Annual Wildflower Pilgrimage, sponsored by the Arc of Appalachia Preserve System. After spending 3 days cooking and cleaning for the large crowds, it was refreshing to finally be able to stretch one's legs and rest one's eyes on the wildflowers carpeting the forest floor on either side of the path leading to the hilltop. There were two tours in progress, and we tagged along for a short time before heading up the path at a good clip, destination vernal pool. It was fascinating to witness firsthand how enthralled a group of receptive pilgrims can be while under the spell of a master naturalist.

16Apr2008

I hiked the hill for four hours on 16Apr2008 to collect garbage and find the stone monument that marks the NW corner of the preserve where it approaches the west end of Shoemaker Rd.

Igor and Nanette greeted me while they perched atop the tin roof of the old farmhouse in the parking lot. The white throated sparrows are so plentiful at the farm pond that their dear sweet Canadas were being repeated so often that the individuals' trills often overran each other, ending in an almost constant musical stream. A pair of wild turkeys courted along the footpath.

As I walked up the path, I saw Dutchman's breeches, cutleaf toothwort, yellow trout lily, white trout lily, dandelion, spring beauties, yellow violets, purple violets, rue anemone, tall bellwort, toadshade trillium and serviceberry in bloom. The mayapples are about 4 inches tall, while the bloodroot leaves stand at their vertical posts.

12Apr2008

Spruce Hill Hike of 12Apr2008

The major interest of the group was the archaeological and historical significance of the Spruce Hill stone enclosure but much time was directed towards its botanical wonders as well. The footpath on the upper slopes on either side are covered in ramps, trout lilies, tall bellwort, spring beauties, cutleaf toothwort and trilliums. Serviceberry trees are in bloom, while the red maple has already started dropping its spent blossoms.

27Mar2008

March 27th was an overcast day with a light breeze, temps in the low forties, a great day for birdwatching. There is a brown thrasher and an eastern towhee that frequent the underbrush near the farm pond; they call quite frequently as one walks up the footpath. Trout lily leaves line the path, as do trilliums in bud. Several skeins of ducks and one of Canada geese threaded their way across the gray skies above the vernal pool.

We watched a pair of yellow bellied sapsuckers work a large tree at the western edge of the field. They would fly to their pre-drilled holes, sip, then withdraw their bills to let the hole refill with sap, inserting their bills repeatedly, slowly and silently drinking from their sugary wells.

Wildlife sightings: Brown thrasher, northern cardinal, Carolina chickadee, eastern towhee, northern flicker, Canada goose, yellow-bellied sapsucker.