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October 24, 2018

Notes and Changes since last report

  • It was 50°F, mostly cloudy and windy at 12:30 PM on October 24, 2018.
  • The grounds close at the end of October and reopen April 1, conditions permitting...
  • Seeds and berries getting ready for winter were balanced by new buds getting ready for spring.
  • This trail report covers the Cary Pines Trail side of the trail system.

The Trails

  • There were no butterflies at the puddles on the road to the Carriage House today.
  • The front Old Hayfield was windswept today.
  • Invasive Oriental bittersweet was ripening behind the Carriage House.
  • The berries make the vine popular in wreaths and among birds.
  • A few berries were remaining of pokeweed.
  • On the other side of the drive, magnolia buds were already formed and would wait out the winter.
  • Farther in the back, rhododendron had employed the same tactic.
  • Below, one goldenrod seemed not to have heard about the changing season.
  • There was a break in the clouds over the Little Bluestem Meadow.
  • At the end of the Scots Pine Allée, silverrod was going to seed.
  • By the split in the trail, hay-scented fern was still green.
  • Now some sun was actually shining down on Gifford House across the meadow.
  • In the Old Gravel Pit, the occasional maple was sporting some red.
  • And once in a while the sun would come through, lighting up red and yellow together.
  • The bottom of the Old Gravel Pit was still flooded.
  • In the Fern Glen, Herb-Robert had not given up yet.
  • Again, the sun would light up a few red leaves over the pond.
  • Faded ostrich fern fronds reminded me of bird wings.
  • Crazy witch hazel was blooming, but the scent was absent from the air.
  • Winterberry was back in the shrub swamp. Its berries are a last resort for the birds and will last late into the winter.
  • Poison sumac had lost all its leave.
  • But its white berries were not all gone.
  • On the Cary Pines Trail, one Gypsy moth egg mass looked pale. It was somebody else's cocoon.
  • Farther along, partridgeberry lined both sides of the trail.
  • Next April: the Wappinger Creek Trail side of the trail system.
Sightings
MammalsBirdsButterfliesMothInsectsCaterpillarsArthropodsFungusHerpPlantsOther
1 Turkey Vulture
1 Red-tailed Hawk
3 Downy Woodpecker
5 Blue Jay
1 American Crow
9 Black-capped Chickadee
2 Tufted Titmouse
1 White-breasted Nuthatch
1 Brown Creeper
1 Golden-crowned Kinglet
1 Hermit Thrush
2 American Robin
3 White-throated Sparrow
6 American Goldfinch