August 14, 2014

Notes and Changes since last report

• It was cool °F, partly cloudy and breezy at 2:00 PM on August 14, 2014.
• Giant swallowtail made a special guest appearance today.
• The first monarch on the Trails this season was a welcome sight.
• Wednesday's weather was cool and cloudy when not raining, so I opted to walk Thursday.

The Trails

• Goldenrods were taking off in the front Old Hayfield.
• A shadow passed over as I started the Sedge Meadow Trail - a giant swallowtail. This typically southern species has been showing up for several years in a row now.
• As the trail becomes enclosed by shrubs, I found myself surrounded by berries: gray dogwood, alien bush honeysuckle and pokeweed.
• The Gifford Tenant House Barn was visible across more goldenrod and wild bergamot.
• In the back Old Hayfield, the first monarch finally showed up. It was only the 2nd one I've seen anywhere this year.
• A sunny patch on the Sedge Meadow Trail slowed my pace...
• ...an eastern comma came out to investigate my approach, then returned to its perch in the sun.
• A sunny rock on the Wappinger Creek Trail was attractive to yet another comma.
• In the flood plane section of the trail, virgin's bower, a wild clematis, was blooming.
• Out on the Cary Pines Trail, a single Indian pipe seemed to be soaking up the sun at the foot of a hemlock.
• A hemlock looper was at rest out of the sun - what you might expect from a moth...
• On the way to the Fern Glen, a dragonfly was making forays from a perch.
• In the Glen proper, spikenard berries were forming.
• Some mushrooms were picturesque agains a mossy log.
• Off the boardwalk throught the fen, climbing hempweed was just beginning to open.
• Farther along, the horsebalm was further along - it was almost finished blooming.
• Near the deck over the creek, green-headed coneflower was starting up in earnest.
• In a number of places, great lobelia was beginning to bloom.
• Remember the yellow fungus on the pine stump by the welcome sign? It was not yellow any more.
• Even from a distance, the elderberry at the front of the pond could be seen laden with berries.
• Turning around, I saw that the groundnut was blooming. I didn't remember it starting to bud.
• Towards the back of the pond, the sneezeweed was moving right along.
• In a number of places, boneset was starting to bloom.
• The fused leaves of boneset were thought to be an indication of the ability to heal broken bones, according to the Doctrine of Signatures - an old, sort of astrological form of botany.
• I checked the near by mud patch, but I approached too quickly.
• With the cool air and long shadows on it, I didn't expect the mud to harbor any butterflies, but indeed there had been an eastern tailed-blue... which was even more surprising considering there was frog, too.
• In the Old Gravel Pit, it finally registered that white snakeroot was in bloom. Things so common can so easily be overlooked.
• Emerging into the Little Bluestem Meadow, I never grow tired of the view across to the Gifford House.
• I don't think it's just because I can almost see my car in the parking lot.