September 15, 2021

Mushroom

Notes and Changes since last report

• It was 80°F, mostly cloudy, and breezy at 12:00 PM on September 15, 2021.
• Birds and butterflies were few, but mushrooms were plenty today.
• And mosquitos were too plentiful...
• This week's trail report covers the Cary Pines Trail side of the trail system.

The Trails

• A family of Carolina wrens broke the quiet at trail marker 10, our starting point today.
• What's the green thing in it's beak? A closer look suggests it's the fruit of ironwood dangling overhead.
• More noise and fluttering: a "confusing fall warbler". Immatures, and adults out of breeding plumage can be a challenge. Often it's a detail (a brown belly stripe below the wing) that clinches an ID (chestnut-sided warbler).
• Mushrooms are slow. These Old Man of the Woods (I think) were right where I left them last week.
• They were starting to look tired, but there were at least a dozen new ones.
• One like a WWI helmet was not far away.
• Bright red fruit of partridgeberry was all along both sides of the Cary Pines Trail.
• Slowing down was an invitation to mosquitos for lunch, pausing for a photo called for reservations. The white hind leg tips suggest Psorophora ferox. There are some 70 species in NY.
• This may be just a flatter individual of an earlier mushroom.
• It had pores rather than gills.
• This salmon colored mushroom has been becoming familiar .
• These tiny ones seemed to be waiting in line as if for a ride.
• Mushrooms kept coming today, now a puffball rising like bread dough amongst the partridgeberry.
• It's hard to recognize Indian pipe when it's finished flowering and going to seed.
• With a buzz and a clunk, an assassin bug landed on an oak leave in the path down to the Fern Glen.
• On a neighboring sapling was a little green bee.
• The mosquitos weren't too bad at the front of the Fern Glen.
• Back in the fen, there was non-goldenrod yellow.
• Zooming in produced tickseed sunflower, a new plant for here!
• Swamp milkweed was an old plant here, and it was showing its age.
• Some pods were ripening with seeds even falling off their parachutes.
• In places, turtlehead was still putting out a flower here and there.
• Spotted jewelweed was forming seed pods now.
• The other name, "touch-me-not" comes from the exploding seed pods. And a blue jewel may be found under the skin of the seed.
• There have been some changes by the stone bridge...
• New steps.
• That's all locust timber, so it should be around for a while.
• Right below, Indian cucumber root was showing off its ripe fruit with bright red leaf bases.
• The Wappinger Creek was looking normal now from the deck.
• Near the deck, great lobelia was still flowering.
• And green-headed coneflower was still putting out a few blossoms.
• Wreath goldenrod was blooming. Next to zigzag, it's our other easy woodland goldenrod.
• After the 'Glen and through the Old Gravel Pit, there was the Little Bluestem Meadow.
• And it was starting to go to seed.
• Next week: the Wappinger Creek Trail the side of the trail system.

Sightings