July 12, 2017

Notes and Changes since last report

• It was 80°F, cloudy, calm, and humid at 1:00 PM on July 12, 2017.
• This week's trail report covers the Wappinger Creek Trail side of the trail system.
• In spite of it being a gray day, it was warm and butterflies were out and about.
• New butterflies included question mark, mulberry wing and black dash.

The Trails

• It was a cloudy but steamy July day in the Gifford hayfields.
• The warmth was good enough to bring out plenty of skippers to study, like a female dun skipper.
• The warm background color and bright yellow "airplane" make the mulberry wing easy. The low, slow, fluttery flight helps confirm the ID.
• Similar to the female dun is the female northern broken-dash but the spots are bigger and there is a touch of orange along the edge of the wing near the base.
• The male broken-dash has much more orange above but shares with the female the thick, pale hindwing spot band below.
• An easy moth was a relief: the dogbane tiger moth.
• All kinds of insects cause galls. The goldenrod ball gall is from the larva of the Goldenrod Gall Fly.
• It looked a little big for a comma; indeed it was a question mark.
• Common wood-nymphs were in constant motion today. One finally perched along the Sedge Meadow Trail.
• Orange and electric blue help ID the Virginia ctneucha in the back Old Hayfield.
• A constant "Chip!" in the weeds of the back Old Hayfield was from a common yellowthroat.
• I always wonder if the bench gets much use.
• Today a common whitetail was using it.
• In the back, the Canada lily was hiding under the honeysuckle berries.
• Dogbane beetles were out in the dogbane.
• The elusive coral hairstreak made a special appearance on milkweed.
• Just one more less common skipper today was the black dash.
• Northern pearly-eyes were hanging out on big trees on the Wappinger Creek Trail.
• Invasive Japanese spiraea was blooming.
• Finally a female Gypsy moth - they don't fly well, but the dark brown males have been flying around for a week or two.
• Next week: the Cary Pines Trail side of the trail system.