April 06, 2016

Notes and Changes since last report

• This is the first trail report for 2016 - grounds opened April 1.
• It was 40°F, cloudy and breezy at 2:00 PM on April 6, 2016.
• Snow is not unheard of in April, but after the dry winter two days of snow raised eyebrows...
• ...and flattened a few wild flowers

The Trails

• Though the snow stopped Monday, cold nights and cool days have allowed the several inches to linger even in the open at the Gifford House.
• Grass was barely greening in the front Old Hayfield.
• Honeysuckle bushes were leafing out unbothered by the recent weather.
• Japanese barberry was not far behind.
• Can't forget the multiflora rose.
• Early leaf out is one mechanism that affords invasive plants a double advantage: a head start and shading out of later starting native plants.
• One favorite native keeping up with the competition was trout lily or dogtooth violet.
• Ground ivy or Gill-over-the-ground or my favorite: creeping Charlie, is a European import that I've seen used by some of our earliest butterflies.
• The Sedge Meadow boardwalk was a little slick.
• A nearby pheasant call convinced me the tracks were too small for turkey.
• Off to the side skunk cabbage was flowering and unrolling leaves.
• In the Sedge Meadow itself, tussock sedge was beginning to green.
• An evergreen clubmoss was growing in a good sized patch in the Old Pasture.
• In the flood plain of the Wappinger Creek Trail, toothwort was hard to miss.
• This trooper was ready to flower.
• Above it, spicebush was flowering.
• Farther along the trail, I thought yellow violets were trying to bloom - it was lesser celendine.
• In the Fern Glen, wild ginger was blooming and leafing out.
• Sharp-lobed hepatica was really drooping.
• So too was the nearby bloodroot.
• Dutchman's breeches and corydalis are of course naturally drooping.
• One little spring beauty had an almost erect posture.
• Large-flowered trillium and Jacob's ladder were unphased by the lingering snow.
• I think one mild, sunny day will perk everybody up.
• Somehow one speck of white in the Old Gravel Pit stood out from the rest.
• It was a cabbage white.
• Convinced it was "just resting", I moved it to a sheltered, east facing spot.
• Soon, the "the barn" was in sight.
• A bluebird right in front of me brought me to a halt.
• Just as it was taking off, I noticed another beyond it.
• Approaching the Carriage House, I noticed the Japanese cornelian cherry starting to bloom.
• Leaving the Carriage House, I could see brown on the magnolia.
• Some buds hadn't opened... maybe they survived the cold... we'll see next week.
• Back at the edge of the parking lot, lilacs were getting ready...
• ...Next week.