September 26, 2018

Notes and Changes since last report

• It was 80°F, mostly cloudy and windy at 1:30 PM on September 26, 2018.
• Two inches of rain yesterday kept things damp.
• Katydids were still calling today.
• With the Fern Glen still closed, this week's trail report again covers the Wappinger Creek Trail side of the trail system.

The Trails

• With rain again the day before, I should have expected the sulphurs to be all over the dirt road again too.
• The forecast was not great for today but there was blue in the sky over Gifford House.
• At the Old Hayfield trail head, milkweed pods were getting brown.
• Something was looking back at me - a monarch.
• The goldenrods were getting dull, but there was zero color developing in the trees.
• A little purple remained near ground level as spotted knappweed.
• Something dangled from the milkweed in the back corner of the field.
• It was a monarch chrysalis - and turning dark meant it would hatch in a couple days.
• In better light, wings and veins could be made out.
• A caddisfly passed by during the inspection.
• Dragonflies were numerous.
• The back Old Hayfield had been mowed.
• Candy-striped leafhoppers were mating along the field edge.
• Goldenrod was the big attraction, first for little green bees.
• The next plant over bore both a honey bee and a fly.
• A bumble bee was hard to miss.
• Easy to miss was a tiny wasp with a long ovapositor.
• She would fold it under to place eggs in the flowers.
• There was that white thing again. It must be a larva that covers itself with debris.
• Ants - we know ants.
• A colorful, but shy beetle was working through clusters.
• Another kind of small wasp was almost invisible.
• The familiar paper wasp was accompanied by another beetle.
• Soldier beetles are similar to fireflies but produce no light.
• One last character hanging out in the goldenrod was a sharpshooter - a larger one of the leaf hoppers.
• The Wappinger Creek could again be heard before being seen.
• And the fungus at the water's edge was still growing.
• Next week: probably the Wappinger Creek Trail side of the trail system again.