June 04, 2014

Notes and Changes since last report

  • It was 68°F, partly cloudy and calm at 10:00 AM on June 4, 2014.
  • From there it went into the 70s and clouded over.
  • A lap around the Fern Glen preceeded the usual start at Gifford House.
  • Peck's skipper was the only new butterfly noted. Afternoon clouds may have influenced that.

The Trails

  • It was pretty cool and shady in the Fern Glen at this hour making the maple-leaved viburnum was tricky to photo.
  • On the other hand, that slowed down the white-banded toothed carpet that constantly zooms then hides when out in the open.
  • A stark beam of sunshine illuminated a wild sarsparilla and its swelling fruit.
  • Off the high edge of the limestone cobble, red baneberry too was forming fruit.
  • Right next to it was white baneberry.
  • I can never find a difference in the leaves, but now the just forming fruit is clearly different.
  • Another mystery plant was starting to produce its peculiar rectangular flower head.
  • And behind them all, the curious (and exotic) vancouveria was budding up.
  • Just about to emerge by the kiosk, I stopped and stepped back to look closer at the well hidden Bowman's root; its first blossom was open.
  • On the other side of the little foot bridge, mayapple apples were forming.
  • Behind the railing around the Fern Glen sign lurked the native honeysuckle relative, diervilla. It would blossom soon.
  • It was a short ride to Gifford House where common milkweed was getting ready to blossom.
  • The sound of grackles and starlings drew my attention to a bare tree top. Only one European starling was left when the lens got there.
  • Behind the Carriage House, beautybush was starting to blossom.
  • It would be a while before even buds appear on the dog bane in the Little Bluestem Meadow.
  • I could hear an eastern kingbird in the distance, perhaps at the top of that dead tree.
  • Yup, there it was.
  • Out on the Cary Pines Trail, bracken was a study of threes.
  • Approaching the Appendix, I noted an empty egg shell along the path. Maybe a robin's?
  • On the Wappinger Creek Trail, invasive narrow-leaved bittercress was flowering. Last call to compost this before seeds are too mature.
  • Farther along, after the foot bridge, a dead or dying tree was sprouting a fungus. I've watched this kind grow over an inch in radius per day.
  • As I climbed the bluff, a blur of a great blue heron streaked along the water below. Even at quite a distance and through the trees, if I could see it, it could see me. It left.
  • In the Old Pasture, gray dogwood was budding.
  • Several angelica were starting to bloom in the Sedge Meadow.
  • Near the enormous fallen white oak, a fresh northern eudeilinea rested on a leaf.
  • I don't know how many different galls I came across today. Secretions of a larval insect cause a plant to grow a shelter for it to live in. There's actually a field guide for them.
  • Out along the edge of the back Old Hayfield, a pair of song sparrows was very attentive to me. Their nest must have been near by.
  • Cow vetch was blooming here and there.
  • Even though I scan each one, it's for butterflies, and I can miss other details until they appear in the digital dark room.
  • You can't miss spittle bugs, however. The young froth up excreted plant juices with air to make their nurseries.
  • The posture of this caterpillar suggests something else doomed it and the unhatched parasite eggs. They too are doomed.
  • A perky Peck's skipper was obliging enough to show its wings both above and below.
  • And a common ringlet was actually perching for a moment. It had clouded over; that really slows butterflies down for the photographer.
  • Mated butterflies, like these little wood-satyrs, can be seen flying together, usually the male just hanging in tow.
  • No further comment.
Sightings