April 17, 2019

Notes and Changes since last report

• It was 59°F, mostly clear and breezy at 12:30 PM on April 17, 2019.
• Last week featured 3 new flowers - this week 12. We are off and running.
• Spring azures and juniper hairstreaks were butterfly returns today.
• This trail report covers the whole of the trail system.

The Trails

• The grass in the front Old Hayfield was greener than last week.
• Yellow-bellied sapsuckers were frequently heard, but seldom seen.
• A number of raptors were soaring overhead. This looked like a juvnile bald eagle.
• The red-tailed hawk that had been calling left the scene.
• On the Sedge Meadow Trail, ground ivy was blooming.
• a couple butterflies were darting around in the cedars.
• Of course, they were juniper hairstreaks.
• Occasionally they seemed attracted to galls on the branches. Likewise for some bees.
• Finally a spring azure settled down in the sun long enough for a photo.
• Out in the Sedge Meadow, a lone cattail from last year was shedding seed.
• The benches came out this week, here in the back Old Hayfied and in the other usual places.
• At the bottom of the big hill on the Wappinger Creek Trail, Pensylvania sedge was blooming.
• Trout-lily was doing well enough this year.
• Invasive lesser celendine was taking over down along the floodplain.
• As the path came out above the Fern Glen, the Norway Spruce Glade stretched parallel to the road.
• In there fat, furry bee flies were attending the myrtle.
• At the Fern Glen proper, wild ginger was blooming in the Roeller Bed along the road.
• Right at the entrance, rue-anemone was creeping out into the path.
• Across in the limestone cobble, spring beauty was staying within the edging.
• Blink and you miss bloodroot - it may be the shortest lasting flower here.
• One of the longer lasting is large-flowered trillium.
• The hepaticas were having a good year.
• Carolina spring beauty has a broader leaf than the other.
• It's easy to walk past leatherwood.
• One has to look for the flower.
• The leaves are the first part of ramps to appear; the flower follows after they are gone.
• Except for the flower, American fly honeysuckle blends in with other small shrubs.
• At the front of the pond, painted turtles were taking advantage of a low lying log.
• On the way out of the Fern Glen, corydalis was blooming.
• At the junction with the Cary Pines Trail, a bit of orange floated in a circle and disappeared into the sunny path.
• It was an eastern comma, in fact there were two, each in its own sunyy spot.
• Just past the commas, a small tree blocked the path.
• It in turn had been felled by a larger tree.
• Back at the Gifford Carriage House, the magnolia was doing very well.
• The dirt road in the background had but one spring azure. Maybe more next week...