I wanted to get out early and beat the heat, but that was not to be...
The banded hairstreak and little glassy-wing were back.
Seeds and berries were forming on some early bloomers.
The Trails
A lap around Gifford House parking lot was in order with all the milkweed blooming. I missed a photo of my first banded hairstreak of the season, but then noticed all the daisy fleabane in bloom.
It was so hot that even a European skipper seemed to be seeking shade of a milkweed leaf in the front Old Hayfield.
What do lightning bugs do during the day? This one was sitting in milkweed shade too.
The yellow goat's-beard, that looked like dandelion on steroids back in May, was continuing the game as it went to seed today.
I finally got a photo of the dogbane tiger moth that's been around for a while; of course it was in the shade.
In the shady tunnel of the Sedge Meadow Trail's board walk, a red admiral was feeding on a truly dead opossum.
A squirrel and I startled each other as I rounded a bend a little farther along.
My first thought was fall webworm, but that's later in the season; I'll have to come back when these caterpillars are a little bigger.
A sunny sand bar along the Wappinger Creek had banded hairstreak, cabbage white and even a very worn zabulon skipper.
One leaf with a little bit of white poking out from underneath was begging me to turn it over; I couldn't resist. It could be a sawfly larva. You truly could not tell head from tail.
What I'd come back here for was a tiny blue flower I'd seen earlier.
A close look revealed the distinctive blossom of a speedwell - this one water speedwell.
Oops, I forgot the swamp candles as I was working my way back out through the fen.
Passing by the pond on my way out, I was stopped in my tracks by unbelievably red leaves on the river birch. How did I miss them before? What were they - a fungus? A look on the web, later, indicated it was the work of the velvet erineum gall mite and that, as with most galls, it didn't really bother the tree.
With the parking lot in sight and a swimming pool then 10 minutes away, I still had to stop for one more tiny gem today: a plume moth was dangling under a milkweed leaf in the Little Bluestem Meadow.
Even as I was loading the car, a different shade of orange was moving along the parking lot edge. Always keeping a few feet ahead of me, it was a painted lady seemingly trying to lure me away from the car to stay a little longer and get a better photo. Mediocre is better than poor; but pool is better than either; I left.
