29Nov2008

Freezing temperatures and the prospect of foreign landscapes pry me out of my warm farmhouse and nudge me into the Spruce Hill climate once more. I spend the next 5 hours, observing and recording impressions.

It's hunting season; Minnie, Ralph and hunter orange are my shields.
Diagonal patterns at the isthmus---trees all fall in line with the raging winds that sluice up the ravine from Paint Creek Valley.
Frosted patches, brown leaf blankets, pileateds, sea of dried seedheads.
Copse of shrubby trees, deer-colored haunts; four white tails bound across the field, bellies tickled by dried goldenrods.
Plastic ribbons--artificial green; orchid leaves--real green, ferns, too--all on brown palettes with horizons broken by hefty sandstones.
Down the footpath, out to Orchid Point, woods with that unique exposure, oh the orchid leaves, many, many.
To the parking lot--glint of red, silver, metal. What? Hunters? No--gatherers, gathering for a National Park Service tour. I pass by barely noticed, audience enthralled by Hopewellian culture tales.

23Sep2008

A six hour tour, a Tuesday, and it is once again, unseasonably warm for this time of year. My trail on this day started at the SE corner of the isthmus, then led diagonally across the open field to the pond, along the NPS path to the neck, down to the parking lot, back up the pathway, and along the eastern edge of the hilltop field and exited by the way I came. The forest floor is littered with leaves and branches(many the trimmings from the cicada hatch this year) from the winds of the remnants of Hurricane Ike that roared through Paint Valley over the last few days.
I wade through the field of spent glory, angling towards the pond, my path graced by New England asters, monarchs, goldenrod, Queen Anne's lace, mountain mint, false boneset, goldenrod and thistle up to my shoulder, scarlet poison ivy leaves, bursting milkweed pods and white asters. A tree at the pond has been laid over by the winds, and there is a bright yellow, softly convoluted fungus clinging to the newly exposed split wood. Recently, waves of warblers have been moving through the area, and I saw my share of them along the footpath by the old farm pond near the parking lot. I did not have my bird guide with me but am now positive in my identification of a hooded warbler, and somewhat less positive about a prairie warbler. Others gathered with them are tufted titmice and catbirds, and later along the footpath, a pair of eastern wood pewees traded calls.

24Aug2008

Spruce Hill on Sunday, midday, in the middle of August is definitely the place to be to gain an appreciation for its true beauty and strength. Having spent the last week driving several thousand miles, it was such a relief to be able to get out and just walk with little direction or time constraints.
The 500 acre parcel south of Spruce Hill has changed ownership this year. The new owners have drilled in a crop of soybeans in both hilltop fields. I was amazed to see how much butterfly weed was blooming in the midst of the soybeans, and the plants were replete with monarchs, zebras and swallowtails. Cup plant and mist of the meadow remain in bloom as I step from the cool glade of the isthmus to the southern edge of the open field.
Out of habit and the human tendency to turn right, at this juncture, I normally follow the eastern edge of the field path. This time I veered to the northwest and crossed the open field to the western edge. This strip is shaded from the morning sun by the mature trees along the isthmus. As a result, the plants in that shade grow taller than normal. The boneset towers over my head, the tallest I've ever seen. Goldenrod, jewelweed, ironweed, smartweed, ragweed, Queen Anne's lace, horseweed(all those magnificent weeds!!!), fleabane, thistle, susans, agrimony, wingstem, virgin's bower and a profusion of trumpet vine pods decorate the field edges despite the mowing of late last summer. There is a particularly aromatic goldenrod that blooms where the field starts to narrow on the west side, much favored by the butterflies and bees.
Though it remains brutally hot and humid as I walk the field path, there is always a gentle breeze at the crest of the footpath where it meets the field edge at the northern tip-- a perfect place for refreshing green tea and a snack of homemade raisins.

Wildlife sightings: Turkey vulture, white tail deer, goldfinch

2Aug2008

The second day of August was a pleasant but rather warm day. At Spruce Hill, 44 hikers, including donors, former area residents and locals gathered at the foot of the hill along with a National Park Service Ranger for a public hike. This was sort of a celebratory hike in that Spruce Hill is now 'officially' in the joint custody of the Arc of Appalachia Preserve System and the Ross County Park District. Wooohoooo!!!
We walked the footpath to the hilltop, then along the eastern edge of the field halfway to the isthmus, then cut east across the field to the pond where Ranger Bruce gave a detailed presentation about the short, but very convoluted, history of this unique acquisition. All in all, a very pleasant way to spend 5 hours of our day!

25Jun2008

Approaching Spruce Hill from the south on a hot summer day, I enter the dark, damp, green coolness of the line of tall trees at the eastern corner of the isthmus. It is a fleeting but welcome break from the heat of this summer day. That tenacious garlic mustard still lurks at the woods edge along the path. I try to ignore the tall, erect stems, now bulging with seeds, and am almost successful as they blend in quite well with all the other abundant greenery.

I hear the 'witchety, witchety, witch' of the common yellowthroat. Two, healthy butterfly weeds bloom at the first gateway. Male indigo buntings sound their fire alarms from the tops of small shrubs. Butterflies, dragonflies and goldfinch share their space while the white yarrow, trumpet creeper, and yellow and red clover add their silent, but no less vibrant, coloration to the living palette being painted before my eyes as I move through. A turkey vulture glides lazily overhead and lends its unique monotone. I reach the neck of the field and hear the yellow breasted chat calling high in the treetops. I stop and try to locate it. It takes me a while but eventually I see it perched just below a high, over-arching tree branch. It repeatedly calls a 'hoo, hoo, hoo, chip, chat' and proudly exhibits its vivid yellow breast and dark facial mask.

I investigate a trail that has been carved from the northern field perimeter, around the pond, and back towards the east. It meanders south across the field, passing hundreds of intoxicatingly fragrant blossoms of common milkweed, capturing the constant breeze along the low ridgetop, encircling the southwestern edge of the pond, and finally exiting on the east side. I think the way it was designed will discourage motorized traffic and encourage that of those with less ecological impact.

At the west side of the pond, I find a turkey sandbath; feathers, disturbed soil, and a slightly musty poultry smell are a dead giveaway. Standing quietly by the pond, I notice movement in the underbrush---a red fox squirrel is busy with its furtive investigations. Then oddly enough, stretched out atop the remnants of what Arlington Mallery in Lost America once described as 'the winged serpent mound on Spruce Hill', is an eastern garter snake. It strikes a supine, but intensely alert, pose as I snap its photograph. Contemplating that this snake's ancestry could likely be traced back for hundreds of years at this location, I feel the intruder in comparison and respectfully back away, leaving it to continue weaving that living thread.

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.