On the Trails of IES

Trails

• In the Gifford Gardens a hermit sphinx caterpillar on penstemon was spared the shears by a gardener's sharp eye.
• Nearby, a female black swallowtail nectared on butterfly bush.
• The back Old Hayfield had a red-tailed hawk sunning itself.
• After it departed we worked our way around and found some active birds including Canada and chestnut-sided warblers.
• The Sedge Meadow Trail held magnolia and more chestnut-sided warblers for the group's pleasure.
• "Bird of the Day" was in the Old Gravel Pit: a molting scarlet tanager, his breast with brilliant yellow bursting through the expiring red of summer.
• We were still getting birds through lunch, indeed the first turkey vulture of the day was over the parking lot as we departed.

In the Fern Glen

• A new feature in the Glen was the Frog Fence added below the railing along the pond. Butterflies, moths and other small insects like to take up moisture from the gravel paths. Frogs from the pond like to take them up... It was thought up as an experiment in attempt to limit frog predation in this area.
• Another attraction was at the deck by the creek. It was originally hoped that a tray of fruit would attract fruit eating birds, but instead, it attracted butterflies, moths and other insects... and then insect eating birds. "Birderfly Feeder" was the name that stuck.

Butterflies

• 1 Black Swallowtail
• 1 Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
• 16 Cabbage White
• 4 Eastern Tailed-Blue
• 1 Great Spangled Fritillary
• 4 Pearl Crescent
• 1 Common Wood-Nymph
• 1 Monarch

Birds

• 1 Turkey Vulture
• 1 Red-tailed Hawk
• 3 Mourning Dove
• 2 Red-bellied Woodpecker
• 1 Downy Woodpecker
• 1 Northern Flicker
• 1 Pileated Woodpecker
• 2 Eastern Wood-Pewee
• 1 Eastern Phoebe
• 4 Red-eyed Vireo
• 4 Blue Jay
• 2 American Crow
• 1 Tree Swallow
• 14 Black-capped Chickadee
• 2 Tufted Titmouse
• 3 White-breasted Nuthatch
• 1 Eastern Bluebird
• 2 Veery
• 1 Wood Thrush
• 5 American Robin
• 5 Gray Catbird
• 2 Cedar Waxwing
• 5 Chestnut-sided Warbler
• 1 Canada Warbler
• 1 Scarlet Tanager
• 4 Eastern Towhee
• 2 Song Sparrow
• 4 Northern Cardinal
• 6 American Goldfinch
• 4 House Sparrow

Moths

• 1 Hermit sphinx caterpillar