July 10, 2013

Notes and Changes since last report

• It was 76°F, and overcast with light breezes at 10:30 AM on July 10, 2013. It would shower several times today.
• Skippers were swarming on the milkweed of the Old Hayfields.
• There was a new butterfly not only for the Trails, but for me as well.
• A new camera was recording images for this report.

The Trails

• Gifford House parking lot had the unobtrusive alien, moth mullein, growing out of the median.
• Goldfinch were out in the middle of the front Old Hayfield.
• It took some stalking and a long shot to get a skittish confused haploa.
• Although the male dun skipper is unmarked, its subtle beauty grows on you.
• The great spangled fritillary, on the other hand, is quite on the other side of the spectrum.
• Another little gem was the dogbane beetle.
• It was time to move on to the Sedge Meadow Trail. Somebody's lost lunch ahead? No, scientific apparatus! Part of a mosquito study, I presume.
• A great patch of milkweed and dogbane in the back Old Hayfield was now host to countless creatures including a dainty female dun skipper.
• I was just getting to the "good part" of the field when I heard the rain coming, pulled on my gear and started for the exit. But it didn't last long and when the sun broke out, so did the butterflies.
• The striking coral hairstreak would be seen several times today.
• A pair of skippers on one milkweed head was not hard to find.
• It was a Peck's skipper with another dun.
• What else was that in there, old twigs? No, that was a spider!. It could not have been hungry; the Peck's was there a long time unmolested.
• Something bigger whizzed by stopping next to me. An American lady? No, an American snout! I had heard local reports last year, but this was the first for the Trails... and for me.
• I had a nectarine for lunch at the bench in the Old Pasture. A spring azure had me.
• Weather was picking up again and I hurried for cover down the Wappinger Creek Trail. It was a hearty rain now.
• It had let by the time I was on the Cary Pines Trail. There the colors of fungus on moss caught my attention.
• Oh there were lichens there too.
• In the Fern Glen, the sun came out again and a swamp milkweed just glistened with rain drops in a close up.
• Near the bench by the limestone cobble, bright yellow was topping the greenery.
• It was great St. Johnswort.
• Closer to the road was tall blue; that was tall bellflower.
• At the front of the pond was a sweet fragrance from lizard's tail.
• Wild mint was just across from it.
• But what was that that landed on the middle tuft? Sure looked like a real nasty mosquito, but I suspect it's actually a cranefly.
• The path by the kiosk had Culver's root just starting to bloom.
• In the Old Gravel Pit, the northern pearly-eyes were back where they belonged. I was worried last week when they didn't show up.
• A surprise awaited me on the dirt road by the Carriage House: a tawny emperor, which was kind enough to give both dorsal and ventral views.
• Another fine rainy day.