It was 75°F, partly cloudy and calm at 12:15 PM on September 10, 2014.
A fairly quiet day, but with its moments.
Black swallowwort pods were ripe and opening.
The Trails
A quick stroll around Gifford parking lot turned up mature common milkweed pods.
Just as I was remarking that butterfly season was ramping down, a pair of mating meadow fritillaries was at my feet in the front Old Hayfield.
The male was clearly smaller and from below more colorful. From above the female's black marks were more pronounced toward the base of the wings - typical of frits.
Calico aster, small and common, has been out for a while already.
Last week had the goldenrod leaf gall, this week a round goldenrod stem gall from another fly. Yet another stem gall is elliptical and from a moth larva.
A great goldenrod stand comes up in the same corner of the field each season.
And there in the thick... yellow underneath, gray head, white eye ring... too quick and it was gone before I could get a picture. A warbler, but Nashville? Young Canada? Or?...
In the back Old Hayfield, two halves of a snake may have been a result of the previous week's mowing.
The downed oak on the Wappinger Creek Trail had been cleared.
The growth rings indicated it was a good 80 years old. I think they will make good trail side seating.
One can't forget those leaves... Flowering looked finished - we'll next look for seeds.
In the Fern Glen, the late season black cohosh was blooming. It's different from the earlier one.
Past the limestone cobble, another goldenrod of dry woods was blooming: wreath goldenrod. The long, narrow leaf and blossoms along the stem contrast those of last week's zigzag goldenrod.
Back near the deck, it was nice to see a regular visitor again: the brown-hooded owlet caterpillar - on goldenrod, as ususal.
And I finally found whorled aster. I'd been wondering where it was.
Judging by the tired looking blossoms I'd say I'd almost missed this flowering period.
Another nearby aster was more blue with small, thin leaves.
That narrows things down but the book says we have about 60 species in the Northeast...
Finishing up the walk through the Scotch Pine Alleé, I spotted dark green... my favorite invasive to hate: black swallowwort.
Almost all the pods had burst. 10 pods this year is 250 plants next year. Trying to gather the seeds that didn't fly was tricky business as they seemed to know my touch and released from their parachutes to drop and hide in the thatch below.
Yes, it's a big field and what can one person do... hope that rant... er, sharing will help others recognize it, prompt them to learn about it. When it shows up in your own yard, dealing with one or two plants is not too hard...
