On the Trails of IES

Trail Report for Aug 22, 2007

65°F, overcast, calm and a little humid at 4:30 PM.
Late, even for me, this walk took me through fields and woods settling down for the evening.

The air in the Gifford Gardens was still - perfect for sitting and watching a moonflower shudder and sway as it unfurls.
Last week it was too blustery to even try a photo of the Angelica.
Only a foraging white-faced hornet disturbed it today.
Goldfish followed be back and forth as I sought the right view of the corkscrew rush.
In the Old Hayfield, I followed a female dun skipper as she left her perch on Queen Anne's lace and settled on a plantain for the evening.
A few steps farther along and I found the first moth mullein I'd seen in a while.
There are never too many of its flower at one time.
The back Old Hayfield was really looking like Autumn.
A lone common wood-nymph rose from the grass and fluttered lazily towards me; it lit momentarily on the pinky of my out held hand, then ascended to hang under a black walnut leaf.
A riot of color and colliding textures stopped me in my tracks. I'd never appreciated the combination of goldenrod and wild bergamot.
But, it was business as usual for a galium sphinx working the late afternoon split shift as they are wont.
The woods were very quiet and so I paused when finally there was some activity in the Old Gravel Pit's trees. Among the chickadees was an ovenbird - the first I'd encountered in quite some time.
As I exited the trails through the Scotch Pine Alleé, I spotted the exuviae, - baby clothes, if you will - of cicadas which had recently done the same.

At the call of a belted kingfisher, I paused at the stone bridge in hopes of a glimpse of the creature, but found instead that I'd been resting my elbows on an elevated highway of moss.
Something had been eating the leaves of turtlehead - Baltimore checkerspot, I hopefully wondered?
Spotted jewelweed is good for soothing poison ivy. Later came the opportunity to test it on stinging nettle...