It was 80°F, and partly cloudy with light breezes at 1:15 PM on September 3, 2014.
Some of the fields had been mowed as part of their regular maintenance.
Some fall colors were starting to appear.
The Trails
There was quite the colony of goldenrod bunch galls at the head of the Scotch Pine Alleé. A midge larva stops stem growth and the bunched up leaves make a nice home.
Japanese barberry was taking on fall colors - a foot in the door for this and many other invasives.
The field in the background had recently been mowed, but to provide refugia for the wildlife, the adjacent one had not .
Another goldenrod that is easy to ID is silverrod - it's our only white goldenrod.
I looked up for the chickadees I heard in the Old Gravel Pit and instead saw butterflies flying around then landing on the side of a tree trunk to lap up sap.
They were eastern commas - at least two of them. And they weren't alone.
In the shrub swamp section, an eastern tent caterpiller egg mass wrapped around a twig of an old apple.
I went to check the "birder-fly feeder" at the deck, but it was gone... both it and its label were lying off the side of the path. If there is ever an issue in the 'Glen, I'd be happy to discuss it...
Parting from the 'Glen, I heard red-breasted nuthatch and reflected that there hadn't been much sign of them this summer until the week before.
In the flood plain of the Wappinger Creek was a magnificent Jack-in-the-pulpit seed head.
A little farther along was the spot where, when the light is right, you can find some nice size fish - presumably trout, although this one seemed to resemble barracuda.
Too often comes that moment when you stop dead in your tracks thinking, gee, I almost completely missed that. This time a tree across the path.
It was easy to step over and continue up the hill into the Old Pasture where an enormous dragonfly settled not far in front of me.
Then along the Sedge Meadow Trail - no feuding northern pearly-eyes today.
Surprise, the back Old Hayfield had been mowed too, so that was a quick tour.
We finished with burning bush, in the far corner of the field, having a story similar to barberry's from the start of the walk.
