The Trails
- Last week was a little crazier than usual. I didn't get on the trails till Friday.
- I found that two patches of yellow lady's-slipper had been blooming in the Fern Glen. With one in the sun and one in the shade our viewing time will be a little longer.
- Wild sasparilla had started blooming along the back corner of the Glen. If not for the bloom it could easily be dismissed for a young ash.
- Herb-robert is a little geranium with a big smell - in the leaves - rub one and see... er, smell.
- The larger wild geranium had already been blooming along the pond edge for a while by then.
- I was back again Saturday for the May bird census and spent some time looking down as well as up.
- I couldn't find it again in the 'Glen but starflower was common along the Cary Pines Trail.
- Gaywings and Canada mayflower were also on Cary Pines as well as other places along the trails.
- Of the several cherry species choke cherry I have learned to recognize by its blossom.
- Pausing at the bench in the Old Hayfield I detected a funky odor in the air. Maybe one can attract more flies with honey, but this apparently works for common barberry.
- For several walks now a moth has been on the wing. Out of the corner of one's eye it has a deceivingly familiar color, size and flight habit - except it never lands. I always think it's "something", then see it's just that little moth again. This day there were enough in the meadow above the Fern Glen that I figured one whould HAVE to land eventually so I could get a decent look. So where does the wise guy land? Yes, my leg. And allowing a perfect photo to ID it as the yellow-washed metarranthis.
- More fun with insects occured along the Little Bluestem Meadow. Something dropped out of the honesuckle in front of my face and went into the tall grass. Of course, the deeper I dug, the deeper it burrowed. With patience I was able to coax out the little gem: an 'Olive' juniper hairstreak.
- Just around the corner I thought I'd look for leaves of the pink lady's-slipper. They were already blooming!
- Near the bench in the back Old Hayfield something rose off the path in front of me. It settled down again in the weak sun and I managed to get one shot for later study: a female Juvinal's duskywing.
- Which finally brings us to this week when I actually got out on my appointed Wednesday.
- I don't think I'd ever seen the expanse of starflower in the Old Gravel Pit.
- In the Fern Glen last year's new addition of rose twisted-stalk was in bloom.
- I got a better shot than last week's of golden ragwort and tried again for columbine. The close up was better.
- The sessile trillium came out much better.
- New at the pond was golden alexanders.
- In the back Old Hayfield it looked as if the dogbane had been bit by a frost. The state of the sensitive fern in the neighboring field was further evidence for frost. The dogbanes are good nectar sources; I hope they come back.
- There are more Blue-eyed grasses than I realized. I'll have to go back for another look...
- Cow vetch is pretty straight forward.
- And with that I headed straight home.
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Butterflies
- 4 Cabbage White
- 1 Clouded Sulphur
- 2 American Copper
- 4 Spring Azure
- 2 Meadow Fritillary
- 10 Pearl Crescent
- 1 Eastern Comma
Moths
Birds
- 1 Ring-necked Pheasant
- 1 Great Blue Heron
- 1 Chimney Swift
- 1 Belted Kingfisher
- 1 Eastern Wood-Pewee
- 1 Eastern Phoebe
- 1 Eastern Kingbird
- 1 Warbling Vireo
- 2 Red-eyed Vireo
- 1 Blue Jay
- 2 American Crow
- 4 Black-capped Chickadee
- 1 House Wren
- 1 Veery
- 1 Wood Thrush
- 4 American Robin
- 1 Gray Catbird
- 1 Yellow Warbler
- 1 Prairie Warbler
- 1 Black-and-white Warbler
- 3 Ovenbird
- 1 Louisiana Waterthrush
- 1 Scarlet Tanager
- 5 Eastern Towhee
- 2 Chipping Sparrow
- 1 Field Sparrow
- 1 Song Sparrow
- 2 Northern Cardinal
- 1 Rose-breasted Grosbeak
- 2 Indigo Bunting
- 1 Red-winged Blackbird
- 1 Brown-headed Cowbird
- 3 Baltimore Oriole
Plants
- 1 Cow Vetch
- 1 Rose Twisted-stalk
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