Notes and Changes since last report
- It was 53°F, cloudy and breezy at 12:00 PM on May 10, 2017.
- This week's trail report covers the Cary Pines Trail side of the trail system.
- With the cool, wet weather many early bloomers are still doing just that.
The Trails
- Behind the Carriage House, buckeye blossoms had just started to open.
- Along the Scots Pine Alleé Canada mayflower was also just starting.
- While working on honeysuckle identification in the Old Gravel Pit, I noticed a bug.
- Farther along, an eastern tent caterpiller nest had much larger inhabitants than last week.
- At the top of the Fern Glen, striped maple was blossoming.
- A few steps away was our only patch of false rue-anemone.
- By the parking lot, pinxter flower - an azalea - was blooming.
- That called for a closer look.
- One can't get too close the pond's painted turtles.
- In the limestone cobble is one little patch of starry Solomon's-seal.
- On the tip of one leaf was a wasp of some kind.
- Downy yellow violet was around a few places.
- Jacob's ladder had actually started the week before.
- So too the Solomon's-seal...
- ...which the deer enjoy.
- The "other" bellwort was blooming.
- And wild blue phlox was filling the air with fragrance.
- Meanwhile, some of the large-flowered trillium were turning pink with age.
- The colony of nodding trillium was doing well.
- That of blue cohosh always seems fine.
- It had started blooming too.
- I'd never noticed the interrupted fern past the end of the cobble.
- It was the dark, spore bearing or fertile leaflets that caught my eye.
- Farther along was paris, that strange holdover from the early Arboretum days.
- In the acid cobble, wild columbine was blooming.
- Right next to that, wild stonecrop was just starting to bloom.
- On the other side of the path were Canada violets.
- In the poor fen, bog rosemary with its tiny flowers was tricky to spot.
- High bush blueberry was out in full.
- A number of insects were on or near it including and interesting fly (I think) and an unusual bee.
- Way in the back, wild sarsaparilla was up and sporting its obscure flowers.
- And not too far from the deck, yellow lady's-slipper was about a week away from popping.
- On the other side, false Solomon's-seal opening.
- Next week: the Wappinger Creek Trail side of the trail system.
| Mammals | Birds | Butterflies | Moth | Insects | Caterpillars | Arthropods | Fungus | Herp | Plants | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 Mourning Dove | 1 Bellwort | |||||||||
| 3 Chimney Swift | 1 Bluets | |||||||||
| 2 Red-bellied Woodpecker | 1 Bog rosemary | |||||||||
| 1 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker | 1 Buckeye | |||||||||
| 1 Northern Flicker | 1 Canada mayflower | |||||||||
| 1 Great Crested Flycatcher | 1 False Solomon's-seal | |||||||||
| 1 Blue-headed Vireo | 1 False rue-anemone | |||||||||
| 4 Blue Jay | 1 Pinxter flower | |||||||||
| 1 American Crow | 1 Striped maple | |||||||||
| 2 Black-capped Chickadee | 1 Wild blue phlox | |||||||||
| 1 House Wren | 1 Wild columbine | |||||||||
| 3 American Robin | 1 Wild sarsaparilla | |||||||||
| 1 Pine Warbler | 1 Wild stonecrop | |||||||||
| 1 Prairie Warbler | ||||||||||
| 4 Ovenbird | ||||||||||
| 1 Scarlet Tanager | ||||||||||
| 2 Eastern Towhee | ||||||||||
| 3 Chipping Sparrow | ||||||||||
| 1 Field Sparrow | ||||||||||
| 1 Northern Cardinal | ||||||||||
| 1 Rose-breasted Grosbeak | ||||||||||
| 6 Red-winged Blackbird | ||||||||||
| 2 Baltimore Oriole | ||||||||||
| 1 American Goldfinch | ||||||||||