April 16, 2014

Notes and Changes since last report

• It was 40°F and clear with light breezes at 12:45 PM on April 16, 2014.
• Last night's inch of snow was still lingering in shady spots.
• New things have been blooming or coming up every day now.
• Winter deer browse damage has been becoming more evident the more I look around.

The Trails

• Sunbathing with the first G & T of the season last weekend seemed like a dream now as I surveyed the snow-spotted landscape at Gifford House.
• There was some satisfaction knowing it couldn't hide long in the shade of the few trees in the front Old Hayfield.
• Honeysuckle bushes along the edge were leafing out with no concern for the snow.
• In the back corner, the Old Pumphouse was picturesque.
• An overwintered woolly bear was soaking up the sun in a sheltered spot along the Sedge Meadow Trail.
• Above, red maple was blooming.
• A gray film floated on the surface of the water in a soil test pit.
• Of course, it was springtails, tiny insects that are usually called primitive - or that I prefer to call successful: they haven't HAD to change.
• The Wappinger Creek was running high under an iron wood.
• Underfoot, the invasive lesser celandine was starting to bloom. It looks a lot like marsh marigold...
• Our native toothwort was getting ready to bloom.
• Myrtle and my first daffodil were blooming in the Norway Spruce Glade, i.e., the hillside approaching the Fern Glen. I don't know if they were planted or if they are garden escapees.
• In the Glen, hepatica seemed a bit put back by the snow.
• Bloodroot was unbothered and the first one was about to bloom.
• Dutchman's-breeches had come up in force in a week's time and was starting to bloom all over.
• Getting ready to bloom was the white large-flowered trillium.
• It would be a little while before early meadow-rue opens.
• At the back of the pond, marsh marigold was picking up speed.
• In the pond, salamander mating season had sped by and egg masses could be seen attached to sticks and vegetation below.
• Back along the edge of the pond, trout-lily was blooming. Recall that last week it was only leaves.
• The leaves of ramps were up in a few spots. Those leaves will disappear before they bloom.
• Spicebush buds were beginning to crack. Their lemony scent can be found in the leaves, bark and fruit as well.
• Things have been happening so fast that when I came through the next day I wasn't sure if I had missed the leatherwood blossoms today or if they popped overnight. They make me think of little furry horse hooves - yeah, Clydesdales.
• There are always chipmunks in the limestone cobble. And they always startle me.
• The chairs were already out on the deck at the 'Glen and the view was fine today.
• Conditions at the bottom of the Old Gravel Pit were predictable after yesterday's rain.
• The path around the bottom had been cleared of that fallen tree trunk.
• At the Carriage House, Japanese cornelian cherry was blooming.
• One last stop before returning to Gifford was the magnolia. Its buds had survived the sleet, snow and cold and were opening.