TifEagle in Bobcat greens

Below is a photograph of #16 green on the Bobcat course 3-weeks after we stopped all maintenance in preparation for the Bobcat course improvement project.  You may be able to spot some geometric shapes of living grass surrounded by dead turf.  Well....in August 2014 as season was approaching we had some weak areas on the 16th green and decided to plug the areas of struggling Floradwarf with TifEagle from our Bear course nursery.  The living areas you see below are the exact areas we plugged with TifEagle, the grass we are using on the new Bobcat greens.  This is just another example of the inferiority of Floradwarf and further justification for improving the sustainability of our courses with the Bobcat improvement project.

 

 

Bird box success

Last fall The Forest installed 11 bird boxes throughout the Bear course.  Species-specific boxes were put in strategic locations to attract native birds.  We have found some success in the first nesting season and some photos are below:

 

The first photo is a nest of the Great crested fly catcher.  They are known for using snake skin in their nests for safety as a deterrent. 

 

 

 

The next photo is of the 4 baby bluebird chicks living in the nest between #1 and #3.  Great success for year 1 of the bird boxes!