Georgia’s natural richness never ceases to amaze me. Last weekend, during the Georgia Botanical Society’s Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage, we focused on a variety of Coastal Plain habitats — from pitcher plant bogs to a limestone cavern harboring thousands of bats.
The three-day pilgrimage, held annually in a different part of the state, celebrates the superb beauty and diversity of spring in Georgia. Several field trips take us into surrounding areas to see first-hand the local natural treasures.
This year’s pilgrimage was based in Valdosta, in the heart of the mostly flat Coastal Plain region, which encompasses the bottom half of Georgia. As usual, the pilgrimage provided a chance to explore areas seldom visited by the public because of their remoteness, private ownership or strict protection.
One trip was to a privately owned “sinkhole” limestone cave, Climax Cavern, in Decatur County near the Florida border — described as one of Georgia’s natural wonders. Shortly before 9 p.m., trip participants watched in awe as some 50,000 bats of several species, including the southeastern myotis bat, emerged in a “whoosh” from the cavern’s mouth to feed, as they do almost every evening.
One trip took us to what will become Georgia’s newest wildlife management area in October, the 6,700-acre Lentile Tract in Irwin County.
In addition to its wide array of flora, it harbors one of the state’s largest populations of the gopher tortoise, a state protected species. At a large pond, we used dip nets to scoop up tadpoles and frogs, including the little grass frog, North America’s smallest land vertebrate — only a little larger than a housefly.
And, since the botanical society has declared 2016 as the Year of the Bog, several field trips took us to bogs teeming with pitcher plants (in prime bloom) and other carnivorous flora, including sundews and butterworts.
In the sky: From David Dundee, Tellus Science Museum astronomer: The moon will be last-quarter April 29. Mercury is low in the west at dusk. Venus rises out of the east less than an hour before dawn. Mars rises a few hours after dusk. Jupiter is high in the east, and Saturn rises out of the east, at dusk. The Lyrid meteor shower is visible in the northeast from 2 a.m. until dawn.
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