May 27, 2020

Red-spotted Purple Caterpillar

Notes and Changes since last report

• It was 82°F, partly cloudy with light winds at 1:30 PM on May 27, 2020.
• This week's trail report covers the Wappinger Creek Trail side of the trail system.
• Our first temperatures in the 80s made the shade more appealing than the sun today.
• But it did bring out more new butterflies. See the list below.

The Trails

• The oaks were finally leafing out at the Gifford House trailhead.
• The trails were being mowed this day.
• Spittle bugs were back in the bedstraws.
• Off the side of the path, dame's rocket, an invasive imitator of phlox, was blooming from white to purple.
• Lower to the ground, wild geranium was blooming but with a more uniform color.
• In the back corner, the viburnum, nannyberry, was in flower.
• Out in the sun, common milkweed was about knee high. This is famous as monarch baby food.
• Things were getting taller in the Sedge Meadow.
• And the namesake fertile fronds of cinnamon fern were appearing now.
• In the back Old Hayfield, invasive olive was white with blossoms.
• A sniff of one cluster will verify it's the source of the sweet smell in the air.
• Scanning across the field revealed something low and yellow.
• Zooming in proved it to be golden Alexanders.
• In the back of the field was a funky smell. It was common barberry, another invasive barberry but from Europe.
• There was a white sprinkle in the leaves across the field in the other corner.
• Our native flowering dogwood was flowering.
• The heat had everything on the move today. A yellow-bellied sapsucker was the only bird that would allow a photo.
• Fortunately the clouds were slow enough to photo.
• The Wappinger Creek Trail promised shade for the rest of the walk.
• Near the Watershed kiosk, false Soloman's seal was starting to bloom.
• Louisianna waterthrush was playing hide and seek along the creek banks.
• Aniseroot wasn't moving too fast... when the wind died down.
• Parsely family was as far as I could get for a while given the typical leaf and flower.
• Invasive narrow-leaved bittercress is relatively new to our area.
• The clasping auricle at the base of the leaf stem distinguishes it from similar species. It is very satisfying to pull.
• At the beginning of the Cary Pines Trail, a little beech was missing a few leaves. Instead, there was a caterpillar of the red-spotted purple (butterfly). It is known as a bird dropping mimic, but could that be a fake snake face at the end of the abdomen?
• Next week: The Cary Pines Trail side of the trail system.

Sightings