October 02, 2014

Notes and Changes since last report

• It was 63°F, cloudy and calm at 1:45 PM on October 2, 2014.
• 0.2" of rain yesterday barely greened some of the plants, but it did soften the sound of foot steps and brought smells into the air.
• Fall colors continued to intensify.
• I saw my first junco of the season.

The Trails

• In spite of the forecast, clouds lingered all afternoon, making for some dramatic landscapes.
• On the approach to the Carriage House, pokeweed had berries green, ripe, and eaten.
• At the head of the Scotch Pine Alleé, was a lone bunch of black-eyed-Susans still blooming.
• Off to the side, wild bergamot had finished blooming, but the show was not over.
• Last week's screaming red Virginia creeper was still striking against the conifers.
• The view across the Little Bluestem Meadow was tricky to capture...
• Favoring the trees looses the sky.
• Shiny, dark red leaves drew my attention to a shrub along the side.
• Oh yes, the viburnum - one of several with a thin, edible berry. I wondered if I'd tried it before. I can now say "thin" is the more descriptive term - it's all seed inside.
• In the Old Gravel pit it was other thin things like lichens and mosses that visibly benefitted from the recent showers - they were very green.
• Three small moths fluttered in front of my face to settle in a white pine's needles. Two touched noses momentarily, then... well, the third moth left.
• The sap run on the maple had only one comma today, but bald-faced hornets were numerous.
• At the edge of the Fern Glen, some black swallowwort had turned bright yellow. This will be helpful to those hunting down this invasive.
• I'd received some questions about witch hazel but only started smelling it a day or two ago. In the shrub swamp I finally found it in flower.
• Resting on a leaf below the deck was a hickory tussock moth caterpillar.
• On the other side of the little foot bridge by the deck was sassafras sporting colors I don't think I realized it had.
• The ridge of the Cary Pines Trail looked as if it had weathered a good blow: oak branch tips were all over the ground.
• Empty acorn caps suggested it was not the work of wind but of squirrels.
• The hill by the bench at the Appendix has had holes from solitary bees or wasps before, but the size of this one almost made me nervous.
• A second hole not far away was reassurance that a chipmunk was more likely the engineer.
• A rare moment of sun this day brightened the banks of the Wappinger Creek Trail.
• If we look up stream, we have to look down stream too.
• The competition was lining up in the back Old Hayfield.
• In the front Old Hayfield, an old apple tree actually had some sizable fruit.
• On closer inspection, they probably wouldn't make it to the store shelves - unless they were in a jug.
• Just ahead something floated down in the late afternoon sun - the glide was not that of a leaf... it was the old great spangled fritillary we've been seeing in this corner.
• We were usually finding her on that last stand of wild bergamot.
• Both were looking pretty ragged today. Behind the browning seed heads, black walnuts were swelling on low branches.
• That's what it's about now: seed for next season.