May 25, 2022

Swamp Azalea

Notes and Changes since last report

• It was 71°F, partly cloudy with light breezes on May 25, 2022.
• The major trails had been freshly mowed.
• Returning butterflies included little wood-satyr, common ringlet and zabulon skipper.
• This week's trail report covers the Cary Pines Trail side of the trail system.

The Trails

• Today's walk started down the Carriage House drive.
• A surprise was an American lady on the creeping Charlie among the nettles.
• With some patience an unobstructed view of the top side was obtained.
• Farther ahead flowering shrubs came into view.
• Only recently did I find out beauty bush is considered invasive.
• Just past it buckeye was blooming.
• It looked like the fothergilla had been blooming for a while and was on the way out.
• Hiding around the corner was rhododendron - that was looking really good.
• A right turn after the Carriage House sent the path down the Scots Pine Allée.
• Overhead, a prarie warbler was calling.
• Below, a little wood-satyr paused in the sun.
• The prairy ringlet seems to bear little resemblance, but in flight, the two can be tricky, having similar shape, size, and behavior.
• A left turn continued along the edge of the Little Bluestem Meadow.
• In the hedgerow nannyberry was blooming.
• A right turn led into the Old Gravel Pit, where a large colony of hay-scented fern seemed to induce vertigo with its strict geometry.
• The trail emerged above the Fern Glen at the Norway Spruce Glade.
• Several Zabulon skippers were interacting.
• Warm sun and cool air ensured views from above as well as below.
• Between some branches, an enormous caddisfly was resting.
• Out in the open, beardtongue was thriving on the hot, dry, sandy hillside.
• Down by the parking area there was color off to the side.
• Invasive dame's rocket has only four petals compared to the five of phlox.
• On the other side of the road, herb-Robert was blooming everywhere.
• False Solomon's seal could be found in a number of locations.
• Some Jack-in-the-pulpits were quite large this year.
• We have one or two patches of common alumroot.
• The flower is like miterwort on steroids.
• On the way back to the fen was a red trillium leaf bigger than a dinner plate.
• Off the boardwalk through the fen, poison sumac was barely beginning to leaf out.
• At the base, royal fern was easy to recognize.
• On the other side of the walkway, Labrador tea was blooming.
• Around the bend, our native limber honeysuckle had opened.
• The main trail continued towards the back of the 'Glen.
• On the downhill side, true Solomon's seal looked like it had been blooming a while already.
• Pink lady's slipper is part of our phenology trail, a national effort to document seasonal behavior of selected plants.
• Wild sarsaparilla looks like ash seedlings or maybe even poison ivy...
• ... except they don't have flowers like these .
• Around the bend, Yellow lady's slipper was looking the best it ever had.
• Nearby, a little day-flying moth, the white-striped black had to have only just emerged: the black background was still iridescent and a metallic silver dusting floated upon it.
• Pink glared through the swamp behind it: Japanese primrose. This invasive crops up every year.
• Around the corner, little native twinflower was out in small numbers.
• Water speedwell doesn't look like much.
• But its tiny flowers do deserve a closer look.
• Near the kiosk, swamp azalea was sparse this year, but always handsome.
• Out at the front of the pond, river birch stood in the sun.
• The exfoliating bark had just the right light.
• Back out on the Cary Pines Trail, Canada mayflower was blooming in such abundance that there was actually a fragrance in the air.
• A gray squirrel had been observing my photography yoga.
• The hemlocks at the Appendix were full of bird activity.
• Several eastern wood-pewees were racing around, only lighting occasionally.
• Just as the trail dropped to the floodplain, narrow-leaved bittercress had been flowering.
• This easy-to-pull invasive can be distinguised from similar species by its clasping auricles where leaves meet stem.
• Next week: the Wappinger Creek Trail the side of the trail system.

Sightings