May 30, 2018

Notes and Changes since last report

• It was 80°F, partly cloudy and breezy at 2:00 PM on May 30, 2018.
• This week's trail report covers the Cary Pines Trail side of the trail system.
• My favorite plant to hate, black swallowwort, was sporting flower buds.
• Returning butterflies included little wood-satyr and common ringlet.

The Trails

• The lilacs at Gifford House parking lot were starting to look tired.
• From the trail head, it looked - and felt - like summer.
• On the apporach to the Carriage House, color could be seen in the bushes.
• That was beauty bush.
• A "chip!" high in the Scots Pine Alée came from an indigo bunting.
• Along the edge of the Little Bluestem Meadow, nannyberry was catching up with others on the trails that were blooming last week.
• The view back towards Gifford House is always refreshing.
• Invasive Asiatic bittersweet was blooming along the trail through the Old Gravel Pit.
• The obscure, small green flower does not hint at the familiar orange fruit.
• On the hillside approaching the Fern Glen, black swallowwort was getting flower buds. Monarchs will lay eggs on this invasive plant, but it is lethal to the caterpillars.
• At the back of the pond was another plant considered invasive: yellow iris.
• On the other side of bridge, a gypsy moth caterpillar was dangling on a strand of silk.
• Along the side heading back, maple-leaved viburnum was building buds.
• Coltsfoot was at the other extreme with seeds ready to disperse.
• In the poor fen, the strange flowers of the pitcher plant were up.
• Down at the base, were the equally strange leaves.
• In some of the little channels draining the fen, water speedwell was being utilize by various creatures, judging by the webs and holes among the leaves.
• Near the stone bridge, Indian cucumber root was suddenly in bloom.
• the leaf and tiny flower make sense when one thinks "lily".
• Near the kiosk, Bowman's root was budding up.
• Just past it, swamp azalea was not having a good year.
• Out near the road, the native honeysuckle realtive, diervilla would soon be blooming.
• Back on the trails near the "Appendix", a fungus seemed to be getting eaten down as fast as it was growing up.
• Next week: the Wappinger Creek Trail side of the trail system.