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Johnston Mill, Orange County NC trip report 4/5/03



This was a Triangle Land Conservancy (http://www.tlc-nc.org/) trip to one of
their reserved which is open to the public--the 296 acre Johnston Mill
Preserve. This is adjacent to New Hope Creek in Orange County, North
Carolina. (From I-40 north of Chapel Hill, take the highway 86 exit, go
north to Mt. Sinai Road, then east a mile or more to the entrance.)
With a 10 a.m. start, we managed to time the trip for the worst of this
morning's showers. We still saw quite a bit, and I spent some time before
and after the trip in good weather. About 25 people showed up for this trip.
We entered from the Mt. Sinai Road exit--the main parking area, and walked
along the New Hope Creek bottomlands. We did not explore much of the more
upland areas of the site.

This is a list of highlights of all biota identified, plants, leps, and
birds.

Herbs--in bloom unless noted:
Monocots:
Trout Lily, Erythronium americanum (presumably) 1 in bloom, many in fruit,
held out above the leaf litter, much larger and more deeply purple-marked
leaves than E. umbilicatum
Erythronium umbilicatum--many in fruit, planted firmly down into the leaf
litter
(my differentiation of those two species is a fairly well-educated guess)
Catesby's Trillium, T. catesbaei--mostly just foliage, a few with fruit,
none flowering
Cranefly Orchid, Tipularia discolor--leaves withering
Rattlesnake Plantain, Goodyera pubescens--just the foliage
Sessile-leaved Bellwort (Wild Oats)--Uvularia sessilifolia--just starting to
bloom
Solomon's Seal, Polygonatum biflorum--in bud

Dicots:
Spring Beauty, Claytonia virginica--abundantly in bloom
Windflower (Rue Anemone), Thalictrum thalictroides--common
Star Chickweed, Stellaria pubera--just a few
Toothwort, Dentaria (Cardamine) sp., probably lacinata (or laciniata?)--just
a few still in bloom
Early Saxifrage, Saxifraga pensylvanica--1
Hepatica americana--about 6 still flowering on one ridge
Bluets, Houstonia caerulea--along creek (the smaller Red-eyed Bluet, H.
pusilla, is still blooming in lawns right now)
Violet, Viola sp. (violet, not yellow flower)
Field Pansy (Johnny Jump-Up), Viola arvensis (?), in power line right-of-way
Small-flowered Crowfoot, Ranunculus abortivus
Foamflower, Tiarella cordifolia
Wild Ginger, Hexastylis arifolia (no flowers noted, but we did not check
closely)

Woody plants:
Bladdernut, Staphylea trifolia--in flower
Southern Sugar Maple--Acer barbatum--some in flower
Redbud, Cercis canadensis--many in flower
Flowering Dogwood, Cornus florida--many in flower, of course
American Elm, Ulmus americana--at least one with abundant fruit leaning over
the trail
  (I checked a tree key--this was americana, not alata or rubra)
Painted Buckeye--Aesculus sylvatica--many in flower

Insects: (few because of rain)
Bee fly, Bombylius
Falcate Orangetip--1 male
Eastern Tailed Blue--1
Tiger Swallowtail--1 male
No odonates seen, unfortunately.

Birds of note:
Louisiana Waterthrush--at least one singing enthusiastically from the
mid-canopy. This site looks very good for observing waterthrushes
Parula Warbler
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
White-throated Sparrow--one friendly flock which seemed very interested in
the leaning elm, perhaps eating the seeds (?)

Patrick Coin
Durham, NC
New Hope Audubon Society http://www.newhopeaudubon.org/
patrick@coinconsult.net