Rediscovering Oklahoma in the Woods

I returned to the SW Gate this morning at 9. The Lonicera Japanese honeysuckle bloom is just about gone. The Cornus dogwood bloom is coming in to peak.

All through the southwestern corner, the Woods are draining and drying. I located some deeper pools along the trails where a water depth gauge stick might be usefully placed to start keeping records of the extent and length of inundation.

Up on the west Dune top a brilliant black blue pompilid fidgeted over the ground looking for spider prey. I cut the Cnidoscolus bull nettle leaves away from the Opuntia.. and wondered how many of my ecology students would know the trees, common plants and animals along this trail. Young scientists today could launch themselves into days of discovery just as Arthur Ortenburger did 1920-1930. In the process they could create an identity and much happiness for themselves. Students arriving at university as freshmen could be exposed to the natural history and diversity here locally in the county by visits to the Woods and Canadian River.

The state has changed. In many cases what could be documented are the flora and fauna of reserves, like Oliver's Woods now surrounded by highways that did not exist 90 years ago. Invasives have arrived, climate is shifting, successional processes have acted on abandoned farm fields, habitat has been fragmented, converted, exurbanized and reduced. The basic natural history of the state needs re-documenting. We have the population to do it now.. 3.7 million.

Across the Dune trail 3 whitetail deer splash and dash away. By the odd burial pit(?) like feature, a box turtle wanders south.