On the Trails of
The Cary Institute

This week...

• They were crossing the roads; they greeted me in the Gifford parking lot; they were covering the honeysuckles; the red admirals could be found on every trail today.
• I knew the wild geranium would be blooming in the Fern Glen but here it was in the first Old Hayfield being visited by flys and beetles so tiny as to be unnoticed til now.
• A viburnum was blooming by the Old Pumphouse.
• One of the larger speedwells was carpeting one area.
• The patch of nettles at the corner of the drive to the Carriage House was a good place to observe butterfly behavior. The R.A. is but one of a number of butterflies that use nettles as a host for their caterpillars.
• Moving along to the Sedge Meadow Trail, I stopped to take a look at a minute speedwell right in the path.
• Next to it was a not much larger chickweed.
• The Sedge Meadow itself looked serene today.
• Besides the honeysuckles, Russian olive was filling the air with perfume.
• A view of Gifford House from from between the Old Hayfields was almost summery.
• The leaf bud of a young shagbark hickory was huge.
• Across at the other side of the field was flowering dogwood. I wondered if I'd missed it the week before.
• A closer look showed weary blossoms.
• But on the way over there was something lighter then the ubiquitous R.A.: it was an American lady.
• But as I followed it for a possible photo I came across one-flowered cancer-root burried in the grass.
• But as I resumed the hunt I found there were more ladies, and one was a painted lady - we don't see those too often.
• Glad I came over!
• Off to the Old Pasture where, you guessed, more R.A.s were waiting on the bench.
• For birding quiet colors to blend in is the dress code; for butterflying, the brighter the better. The white checklist was an inviting heat reflector on this gray day. I was once fortunate enough to have one of the more difficult species land next to its own picture in the field guide.
• On the way out of the Old Pasture I could see that the eastern tent caterpillars were getting bigger.
• A dark path crossed my own on the Wappinger Creek trail.
• On my hands and knees I verified that it was springtails, a tiny species different than the familiar "snow flea".
• The Cary Pines Trail is carpeted in parts by Canada mayflower with intrusions of starflower and gaywings... not too hard to get all in one photo.
• R.A.s are noted for being pugnatious. One was launching its forays from a stump even out on the dark, usually butterfly-free Cary Pines Trail.
• Here was an unusal growth on a little beech sapling.
• I always look forward to the yellow lady's-slipper in the Fern Glen.
• In a quiet corner the single pink lady's-slipper that first showed up last year was waiting its turn.
• The wild columbine was finally blooming.
• I had feared the swamp azalea had all but perished over the winter, but no, buds had appeared and were ready to burst.
• Pretty, fragrant but invasive, dame's rocket looks a lot like our wild blue phlox (count the petals). Both were adding to the atmosphere when the late afternoon sun poked into the Glen.
• May-apple blossoms were discretely opening around the corner from the kiosk.
• On the other side, by the pond, false Solomon's seal and golden Alexanders were starting to bloom.
• It was getting late; I could hear the first wood thrush of the season. As I headed back through the Old Gravel Pit I admired, but hurried past, the dizzying patch of hay-scented fern...
• ... but I stopped in amazement at another trail of, no - river of springtails.
• Briefly, I considered where they might be coming from, or going to. For me it was clearly dinner; I continued on my own way.

Last week...

• It was a little cool around 60° but overcast and calm at 2:00 PM on May 2.
• Many birds could be heard if not seen from the parking lot at Gifford House. Eastern kingbird and Baltimore oriole had returned since last week.
• In the Old Gravel Pit, with some patience, I spotted pine warbler and heard ovenbird.
• In the Fern Glen, striped maple was beginning to blossom along the road.
• The patch of nodding trillium in the limestone cobble was opening.
• Towards the back end, foamflower was frothing.
• Past the fen in the acid cobble, wild columbine was getting ready to pop.
• Scattered around that area were white Canada violets.
• In the fen one sad bog rosemary was flowering.
• Toward the back of the pond, last week's white trilliums were aging to pink.
• Nearby goldenseal was making an appearance.
• Wild geranium was popping up everywhere.
• Only while editing the photo did I notice the aphids attending this choke cherry.
• Red baneberry is hard to distinguish from white at this stage. The label at the base helped in this case.
• Spraying can deter the deer from eating yellow lady's-slipper, but it won't keep them from trampling them.
• Not much bothers the funky smelling herb-Robert.
• I wouldn't usually consider skunk cabbage an ornamental, but a variegated one by the stone bridge might be considered.
• Cary Pines trail is usually quiet, but starflower is one of the more interesting things that show up in number.
• The pretty but invasive dame's rocket was budding up along the Wappinger Creek Trail.
• In the back Old Hayfield, the sound of claws on bark lead my gaze to fuzzy tail disappearing into a knot hole; a face appeared momentarily.
• Common barberry is less often encountered than Japanese barberry, but it too is alien.
• The dry stretch of the Sedge Meadow Trail had a few cedars with the bizzare fungus caused cedar rust gall.
• Back in Gifford parking lot I realized I'd been seeing purple dead nettle in many open areas. It's common, alien and easily overlooked, but rather interesting when you do look.

Birds

• 1 Ring-necked Pheasant
• 1 Red-tailed Hawk
• 1 Mourning Dove
• 2 Eastern Phoebe
• 1 Eastern Kingbird
• 1 Warbling Vireo
• 2 Red-eyed Vireo
• 4 Blue Jay
• 1 American Crow
• 3 Black-capped Chickadee
• 1 Brown Creeper
• 1 Carolina Wren
• 1 Eastern Bluebird
• 1 Veery
• 2 Wood Thrush
• 8 American Robin
• 3 Gray Catbird
• 2 Black-throated Green Warbler
• 2 Prairie Warbler
• 2 Black-and-white Warbler
• 3 Ovenbird
• 2 Louisiana Waterthrush
• 2 Scarlet Tanager
• 8 Eastern Towhee
• 2 Chipping Sparrow
• 4 Field Sparrow
• 1 Northern Cardinal
• 2 Red-winged Blackbird
• 1 Brown-headed Cowbird
• 7 Baltimore Oriole
• 3 American Goldfinch

Butterflies

• 3 Cabbage White
• 3 Clouded Sulphur
• 1 American Copper
• 3 Pearl Crescent
• 2 Question Mark
• 1 Eastern Comma
• 2 American Lady
• 1 Painted Lady
• 63 Red Admiral

Plants

• 1 Canada mayflower
• 1 Chickweed
• 1 Dame's rocket
• 1 False Soloman's-seal
• 1 Golden Alexanders
• 1 May-apple
• 1 Russian Olive
• 1 One-flowered cancer-root
• 1 Speedwell large
• 1 Speedwell small
• 1 Swamp azalea
• 1 Viburnum
• 1 Wild columbine
• 1 Yellow lady's-slipper

This week...

• Redbud and lilacs, dark and light, were doing well at Gifford House this morning.
• Dwarf cinquefoil and common strawberry were growing together on the high and dry section of the Sedge Meadow Trail.
• With the cool wind I was a bit surprised to find an American Lady nectaring on dandelions in the front Old Hayfield.
• Shortly after that a darker orange zoomed past my knees: a meadow fritillary? Yeah, I thought as I paused and blinked, the first meadow frit of the season has often been on a cool and windy but sunny day.
• Continuing along the SMT, I was stopped again in my tracks by orange. Big and slow for a comma, it had to be a question mark. How slow was it? I had time to change my camera batteries! The silver question mark can be made out above the old grass flower head across the hind wing.
• I was surprised that the bush honeysuckle in the Old Pasture was not much further along than last week.
• The eastern tent caterpillar nest was progressing in size.
• A surprise on the Wappinger Creek Trail was field pussytoes. I don't remember them being here.
• Gaywings near the foot bridge over the little creek were no surprise, but their form always evokes wonder.
• Cut-leaved toothwort was still blooming in the sandy flood plain section of the trail. I just read an article about how special are flood plain forests in Dutchess and Columbia counties. And I always do find this stretch of trail interesting.
• The creek wasn't roaring, but with 2" of rain it was deeper than last week.
• The Japanese barberry that had started last week was almost in full bloom now.
• So common and wide spread is the invasive garlic mustard that I almost failed to note its coming into bloom.
• The Norway Spruce Glade above the Fern Glen was host to domestic daffodils, some more unusual than others.
• There too, the noxious black swallow-wort vines were making their appearance. Very similar to myrtle at this point, the leaves can be distinguished by their milky sap and disagreeable odor. Pulled, the vine breaks off the root signaling even more to follow. The root grows longer each year; all of its length must be dug out. Don't let this go to seed!
• At the edge of the Fern Glen, azalea beckoned for a closer look.
• Jacob's ladder was at the entrance to the limestone cobble.
• Golden ragwort was starting to bloom too.
• Our mystery Solomon's-seal was blooming near by.
• In the cobble itself, maidenhair fern was unfurling and wild blue phlox was well under way.
• Pond-side, ostrich fern was asserting itself.
• Just past the fen, columbine was thinking about buds while mine with more sun at home were in bloom...
• In the fen just a few rhodora were in bloom and the high bush blueberry was opening. All the swamp shrubs seemed to have suffered this past winter.
• Massive fiddle heads of the cinnamon fern might better be called double-bass heads.
• Interestingly, I found Jack-in-the-pulpit just coming up. I always see it fully developed, never just emerging.
• In the stand of may-apple near the kiosk, buds were quietly forming.
• Bluets were not having a spectacular year. That was the entire show so far.
• At the back of the pond, blue cohosh was doing well enough. It always requires a close look to appreciate its flower
• I dodged some showers on the way back to the parking lot, pausing behind the Carriage house to refamiliarize my self with the shrub, fothergilla...
• ...and the tree, buckeye.
• With bulging camera, I headed home.

Last week...

• It was a blustery 60° under hazy skies at 11:00 AM on April 18.
• As I went along the Little Bluestem Meadow, something too dark for a comma errupted from the side. A red admiral!
• My first of the season "Drink your teeeeaaaa!" call of the eastern towhee was in the Old Gravel Pit.
• In the Norway Spruce Glade above the Fern Glen, something kind of large for a comma went up and over the trees. It wasn't until the next day that I could confirm my suspicion: it was a question mark.
• Solomon's seal was budding in the Glen. Get out the deer spray...
• The faithful mystery plant was blooming along the limestone cobble.
• In the fen, high bush blueberry was getting ready to bloom.
• Coming out of the shrub swamp, I noticed everyone's favorite: the eastern tent caterpiller. Where? In a cherry of course.
• Scattered across many places in the Glen was bishop's cap.
• So too was another favorite of mine: the equally strange early meadow-rue.
• Wild blue phlox was just beginning to open in the cobble.
• What do you mean "Card Full"?! I only took 7 photos... there must be something else on this card too.
• Along the Wappinger Creek Trail, Japanese barberry and cut-leaved toothwort were blooming.
• On the Sedge Meadow Trail, I found one bush honeysuckle blossom opening.
• The relentless call of the chipping sparrow has returned to the Old Hayfields.
• Next week I shall have my usual memory card in the camera.

Birds

• 1 Turkey Vulture
• 2 Red-bellied Woodpecker
• 1 Downy Woodpecker
• 1 Northern Flicker
• 1 Pileated Woodpecker
• 5 Eastern Phoebe
• 3 Blue Jay
• 3 American Crow
• 5 Black-capped Chickadee
• 1 Tufted Titmouse
• 1 White-breasted Nuthatch
• 1 House Wren
• 1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
• 2 Eastern Bluebird
• 4 American Robin
• 2 European Starling
• 1 Palm Warbler
• 1 Eastern Towhee
• 1 Chipping Sparrow
• 3 Field Sparrow
• 1 Song Sparrow
• 2 Northern Cardinal
• 6 Red-winged Blackbird
• 2 American Goldfinch

Butterflies

• 2 Cabbage White
• 3 Clouded Sulphur
• 1 Spring Azure
• 1 Meadow Fritillary
• 2 Question Mark
• 1 Eastern Comma
• 2 American Lady

Plants

• 1 Azalea
• 1 Black swallowwort
• 1 Blue cohosh
• 1 Bluets
• 1 Buckeye
• 1 Common strawberry
• 1 Field Pussytoes
• 1 Fothergilla
• 1 Gaywings
• 1 Golden ragwort
• 1 High bush blueberry
• 1 Jack-in-the-pulpit
• 1 Jacob's ladder
• 1 Lilac
• 1 Redbud
• 1 Solomon's-seal (asian?)