July 19, 2017

Notes and Changes since last report

• It was 83°F, partly cloudy, breezy, and not quite as humid as yesterday at 11:30 AM on July 19, 2017.
• This week's trail report covers the Cary Pines Trail side of the trail system.
• Invasive black swallowwort was forming seed pods.
• As for butterflies: northern broken-dash was out in numbers today; black swallowtail was new.

The Trails

• It was pretty warm, but not too humid as I headed towards the Carriage House.
• In the trees straight ahead an eastern bluebird was calling.
• Right next to the Carriage House, green-headed coneflower was blooming.
• A monarch glided through the Scots Pine Aleé and paused a while in the sun. Their numbers are better this year than last, but still down some 80% over 20 years.
• Just off the edge of the field was bee balm, so favored by hummingbirds.
• Butterfly weed, a milkweed species, was not far away.
• A dark shape in the tall grass caught my eye: a black swallowtail.
• Something else dark caught my eye in the Little Bluestem Meadow: black swallowwort all in a tangle. Monarchs recognize that it is related to milkweed and will lay their eggs on it, but it is fatal to the caterpillars.
• The almost black flowers resemble those of milkweed, although they're not in ball.
• Also similar are the swallow-tail-like pairs of pods. At this point they will mature even if removed.
• Up ahead, another milkweed relative, spreading dogbane, was popular among great spangled fritillaries.
• Silver-spotted skippers were in roughly equal numbers.
• Less obvious were the smaller skippers, mostly dun and northern broken-dash - two of the three difficult to tell apart "witches".
• In the Fern Glen, tall bellflower was being visited by a little green bee.
• Spikenard was just beginning to bloom.
• Wood nettle had a similar leaf, but one encounter is often enough to make the distinction.
• It was just beginning to form its male flowers.
• Back in the fens, swamp milkweed was blooming and being attended by "witches", mostly dun skippers.
• Fall webworm was in the elderberry off the board walk's observation area.
• Right next to it was a single blossom of square-stemmed monkey flower.
• On one of the quieter paths, water parsnip, a recent arrival, was getting ready to bloom.
• Below the deck over the creek was a pale blue flutter: a spring azure laying eggs on horsebalm.
• A red admiral barged in and claimed a leaf in the sun.
• By the little foot bridge, an ebony jewelwing was more refined in achieving the same.
• At the front of the pond, lizard's tail was sweetening the air.
• Wild mint you could smell when it was brushed against.
• Around the corner, long awaited Turk's-cap lily had opened.
• The cool, quiet Cary Pines trail lead to the "Appendix", where a blue jay had become a meal for perhaps a hawk.
• All around in front of the bench, little volcanos had errupted. They were the homes of little burrowing bees.
• Next week: the Wappinger Creek Trail side of the trail system.