September 01, 2020

Feather-legged Fly

Notes and Changes since last report

• It was 70°F, cloudy and windy at 2:00 PM on September 1, 2020.
• Although it looked like rain, the forecast said tomorrow for that.
• It seemed quiet, but it was an interesting afternoon.
• This week's trail report covers the Wappinger Creek Trail side of the trail system.

The Trails

• A quick look for monarch caterpillars by the Gifford House trailhead turned up something else.
• It was the small milkweed bug and rather than being eat by the pod, it was presumably eating seeds within.
• The sky was more or less threatening all afternoon.
• About a dozen American goldfinch were working on the spotted knapweed at the edge of the field.
• It was a little bit of a surprise to see an eastern tailed-blue on such a dark day.
• Clouded sulphurs drop down and disappear into hollows in the tall grass to get what sun they can. They are easier to see flying or even better feeding.
• The trail along the side of the field was quiet.
• Privet had finished blooming and was forming fruit.
• Finally, an American goldfinch was perched where one could get a good look.
• Below, one of today's few great spangled fritillaries found some of the last remaining wild bergamot.
• It seemed like the big garden spiders should be around soon. This wasn't one but had built a web similar to theirs.
• The head of the Sedge Meadow Trail was missing the tawny emperors and zabulon skippers of last week.
• However, the mock orange was still there, relatively unchanged.
• Closer to ground, jumpseed was reaching out into the trail.
• The seeds can be propelled several feet from the plant, hence the name.
• In the back Old Hayfield, puffballs were coming up in the middle of the path.
• A feather-legged fly was on a goldenrod.
• Those crazy legs remind me of chaps.
• The goldenrod soldier beetle is a common visitor.
• A different kind of gall is the goldenrod bunch gall. Secretions of a midge larva stunt the stem and the leaves develop unseparated, so providing shelter for the larva.
• Another butterfly on this cloudy day was a brand new looking monarch.
• Pearl crescents were as numerous today as on recent clear days.
• Once or twice there was a hole in the clouds. It got real warm real fast.
• In the Old Pasture, a mushroom was growing in the middle of the path.
• Down on the Wappinger Creek Trail was an unusually tall mushroom.
• An interesting gray mushroom seemed to mirror its gills on top of its cap.
• Down along the water, invasive Japanese spirea was still blooming.
• Behind it, on the other side of the creek, invasive Japanese knotweed was also blooming.
• Even without flowers, it is recognizable by the distinctive leaf.
• One more interesting mushroom appeared at the end of the path by trail marker 10.
• Next week: The Cary Pines Trail side of the trail system.

Sightings