September 16, 2020

Handsome Trig

Notes and Changes since last report

• It was 67°F, hazy and windy at 2:30 PM on September 16, 2020.
• Some fields have been mowed.
• Little bits of fall color have been appearing.
• This week's trail report covers the Wappinger Creek Trail side of the trail system.

The Trails

• It has been looking and feeling more like fall, but the sun over the front Old Hayfield was warm today.
• That one little clump of wild bergamot was still going, but few insects were on it.
• Overhead, black walnuts looked ready to drop.
• Out in the open, Queen Anne's lace's was living up to one of its other names: "bird's nest".
• Pearl crescents were still out in fair numbers, but few others were today.
• A turkey vulture rose out of the tree line and slowly spiraled up and away.
• Something long and green flew by and landed in front of me.
• It was a praying mantis.
• A stink bug blended in well with the greenery around an acorn.
• The back Old Hayfield had been mowed to keep it from becoming woods.
• Broad grape leaves might be worth scanning for insects basking in the sun.
• Maybe warmth under the leaves was enough for a pair of Handsome Trigs - bush crickets of the subfamily Trigonidiinae, colorful relatives of our more familiar house and field crickets.
• From the front, it looked like a palp was missing.
• And from the side it was clear that both antennae were gone. This one must have had some stories...
• Threatening ankles on the ground below were hickory nuts.
• Toward the back of the field, invasive burningbush was starting to show off the reason it was brought here.
• What kind of color will the maples over the Wappinger Creek have this year?
• Over the edge of the bluff, common polypody grew in a nice colony.
• They are elegantly simple compared to other busy ferns.
• Wreath goldenrod is easy to recognize: a woodland species with narrow leaves and flowers in the leaf axils.
• Another fan of goldenrods is the flashy caterpillar of the brown-hooded owlet, an unassuming moth.
• Down in the Creek's floodplain, tall white lettuce was posed with an uncluttered backdrop.
• Its crazy flowers could be seen fairly well, too.
• At the "Appendix", as I like to call the area around trail marker 10, wood nettle was beginning to set seed.
• The seeds are surrounded by little spines that mean business.
• It was actually starting to feel warm even in the shade by the time I took a parting look at the Creek.
• Next week: The Cary Pines Trail side of the trail system.

Sightings