On the Trails of
The Cary Institute

Last Week

• Last week I joined the Waterman Bird Club to tour the trails.
• Next to the creek-side kiosk along the Wappinger Creek Trail, shinleaf was just beginning to bloom.
• Farther downstream tall meadow-rue was definitely blooming.
• Close up, it's quite different than the little victorian lampshades of early meadow-rue.
• Nearby, already going to seed was toothwort, a contemporary of early meadow-rue.
• Under the end of the big log by the bench at the Appendix, as I like to call the area around Trail Marker 10, was an interesting fungus.
• Partridgeberry was in bloom not much farther along Cary Pines Trail.
• Lounging in the depths of the Fern Glen Pond was a spotted newt.
• Above the limestone cobble, red baneberry was being, well, red.
• On the opposite side of the road, winterberry was preparing for similar redness later in the fall.
• Yet more red was behind the Carriage House in the more common form of sweet shrub. The yellow form was pictured in the Trail Report of June 3.

This Week

• Heading into the Scots Pine Alleé, I was conscious of an incessant 4-note chip coming from a nearby shrub and being answered from somewhere afar.
• The source, I determined, was a professorial looking young Baltimore oriole.
• The reply was from a dutiful parent.
• "With all the rain we've been having where are the mushrooms?", I wondered as I wandered through the Old Gravel Pit. Right in front of me, of course.
• At the edge of the Fern Glen Pond, lizard's-tail was beginning to do what it considers blooming.
• Next to it were the swelling seed pods of the iris, blue flag.
• Off to the left among the cattails, was the unrelated sweet flag. Looking more like lizard's-tail, sweet flag is in the same family as jack-in-the-pulpits; lizard's-tail is in a family of its own.
• On the hunt for seeds, I found Jacob's ladder at the entrance to the limestone cobble.
• Panicled hawkweed could be found blooming in several locations in the Glen.
• Still going strong since last week was flowering raspberry, a thornless raspberry.
• As I left the Glen, I was focusing the binoculars on a great spangled fritillary taking nectar from wild basil when another frit' came flying in from the left knocking the first one off to the right.
• Red efts, the terrestrial form of the spotted newt, were all along the Cary Pines (and Wappinger Creek) Trail.
• More seeds on Cary Pines: maple-leaved viburnum, star flower, and Canada mayflower.
• More fungi on Cary Pines: some looking like insect eggs, and one clearly a mushroom.
• At the Appendix I paused for the steet lamp berries of spotted wintergreen then continued on to seek out the finger-like fungus from last week.
• Right above it was a frothy fungus that, on closer inspection, appeared to either capture or exude beads of liquid.
• On the Wappinger Creek Trail a pair of mushrooms were enjoying a view of the creek.
• And just on the other side of the trail, last week's shinleaf were in full bloom.
• In the Old Pasture bush honeysuckles were full of berries both red and orange to yellow.
• Nearby, gray dogwood was just forming the berries that would later become the soft and white ammunition favored by school kids waiting at the bus stop.
• A new butterfly species was added to the Trails' checklist today: the common buckeye. And we just got new lists printed...
• The spreading dogbane in the first Old Hayfield survived the late frost this spring. They were now attended by the amazingly metalic dogbane beetle.
• Wise to me, a dogbane tiger moth lurked under a leaf.
• It wasn't until I was editing photos that I discovered it hadn't been alone - some kind of beetle was hiding there with it.
• This week I leave you with a possible explanation of why there are so many japanese beetles.

Butterflies

• 1 Spicebush Swallowtail
• 22 Cabbage White
• 2 Clouded Sulphur
• 1 Spring Azure
• 27 Great Spangled Fritillary
• 10 Meadow Fritillary
• 1 Pearl Crescent
• 2 Eastern Comma
• 1 Red Admiral
• 1 Common Buckeye
• 4 Appalachian Brown
• 8 Little Wood-Satyr
• 2 Common Wood-Nymph
• 11 Silver-spotted Skipper
• 4 Least Skipper
• 8 European Skipper
• 5 Little Glassywing

Birds

• 1 Great Blue Heron
• 1 Ruby-throated Hummingbird
• 1 Eastern Wood-Pewee
• 3 Eastern Phoebe
• 3 Red-eyed Vireo
• 3 Blue Jay
• 2 American Crow
• 4 Tree Swallow
• 6 Black-capped Chickadee
• 1 House Wren
• 1 Winter Wren
• 1 Eastern Bluebird
• 3 Veery
• 3 Wood Thrush
• 6 American Robin
• 4 Gray Catbird
• 1 Northern Mockingbird
• 4 Cedar Waxwing
• 3 Prairie Warbler
• 2 Ovenbird
• 1 Common Yellowthroat
• 2 Scarlet Tanager
• 6 Eastern Towhee
• 2 Chipping Sparrow
• 1 Field Sparrow
• 4 Song Sparrow
• 2 Northern Cardinal
• 4 Indigo Bunting
• 1 Red-winged Blackbird
• 1 Brown-headed Cowbird
• 2 Baltimore Oriole

Plants

• 1 Partridgeberry
• 1 Panicled hawkweed
• 1 Spreading dogbane

Moths

• 1 Dogbane Tiger Moth
• 2 Virginia Ctenucha

Last Week

• Last week diervilla was blooming behind the railing by the big Fern Glen sign.
• The blossoms as well as the leaves show the family resemblance to the honesuckles.
• At the pond's edge was the white form of blue flag in bloom.
• Along the path around the pond carrion flower was about to bloom.
• By the dam marsh marigold, long done blooming, was now offering ripe seeds.
• While examining the fruit of goldseal I noticed the curiously curled abdomen of a damselfly poking out from under the leaf.
• As I suspected preditor had become prey.
• Out in the Old Gravel Pit section of the Cary Pines Trail a common spring moth allowed me to admire its uncommon beauty.

This Week

• Starting in the Fern Glen this week I found common sorrel in bloom in the Roeller Bed along the road.
• The diminutive dogwood, bunchberry, was right next to it.
• By the bench in the limestone cobble mystery plant was blooming.
• In the poor fen the little shrub, sheep laurel was showing off.
• On the other side of the boardwalk, the rich fen, was the easy to miss marsh cinquefoil.
• Proceeding through the shrubby section I encountered highbush blueberry in blossom and elderberry just about to be.
• Several of the alien orchid, helleborine, were along the road near the stone bridge.
• Along the creek side of the Cary Pines Trail an empty cocoon of the huge, green luna moth was uncharacteristicly visible in the leaf litter.
• The sour tasting leaves of sheep sorrel were recognizable in the Olp Pasture.
• It's tiny blossoms were less noticable.
• Something dug quite a hole farther along the path.
• It looked like an ant nest was the target.
• Gray dogwood was blooming in the Old Pasture.
• Foxglove was in the back of the Old Hayfields again this year.
• At the entrance to the Sedge Meadow Trail a male common whitetail perched alternately on the trail marker post and my hat.
• The front Old Hayfield held a pink, rather than white, yarrow.

Butterflies

• 1 Pearl Crescent
• 16 Little Wood-Satyr
• 1 Common Ringlet
• 18 European Skipper
• 1 Peck's Skipper

Birds

• 1 Pileated Woodpecker
• 1 Great Crested Flycatcher
• 1 Red-eyed Vireo
• 1 Blue Jay
• 1 Veery
• 1 Wood Thrush
• 2 American Robin
• 1 Gray Catbird
• 1 Cedar Waxwing
• 1 Yellow Warbler
• 1 Prairie Warbler
• 1 Scarlet Tanager
• 3 Eastern Towhee
• 1 Field Sparrow
• 1 Brown-headed Cowbird

Plants

• 1 Bunchberry
• 1 Common wood sorrel
• 1 Foxglove
• 1 Gray Dogwood
• 1 Helleborine
• 1 High Bush Blueberry
• 1 Marsh cinquefoil
• 1 Sheep laurel
• 1 Sheep sorrel