A damp breeze from the east kept me cool this morning as I headed straight into it on the way down the pipeline. Heavy clouds swung past overhead with occasional thinning to show brighter splotches of white instead of gray, and occasional spits of rain forced me to hide my journal under the sweatshirt I carried. I also had my pack, binoculars to scare the birds away (that's what seems to happen when I remember to take them - no birds), and my rolled up sit-upon cut from an old yoga mat (handy, comfortable, lightweight). Daisy bounced along beside me. Butterflies wobbled past as they flew west with the damp wind - Great Spangled Fritillaries, Spring Azures, a Silver Spotted Skipper, and a Checkerspot - and here and there a cricket buzzed in the trees. Tracks showed deep and clear in the rainwet red clay, displaying the various sized deer that roam around Middlewood in the night. Fox scat and some unknown scat proved that other critters roam, as well.
From trees all around, Indigo Buntings were singing their hearts out. Thank goodness for my binoculars! Since Indigo Buntings like to sit on top of dead wood, it was easy to guess where to find one of the beautiful songsters - he was perched on the highest limb of a dead pine tree that fell onto the pipeline during winter. I was very close to this indigo bunting. His song was beautiful! (listen)
When we came to a section of the trail filled with Pasture Roses, I stopped and closed my eyes and let the scent waft over me. Oh, so rich and sweet! The soft pink petals held drops of rainwater that glistened, even under gray skies. Last Friday I saw the season's first few roses blooming and had cut two for the tiny bouquet I put in my guest room for my brother-in-law's visit. Just two had been enough to scent the room, and today there is a whole field of them! You can imagine it smelled divine. Think of standing in a Cotswold rose garden in mid-June...
There's more! Coreopsis are still blooming, and Daisy Fleabane, Spotted Cat's Ear, Butterfly Weed, and Green and Gold. Just opened: New Jersey Tea, tiny Flowering Spurge, distinctive round pink flowers of Sensitive Brier, and white Wild Quinine.
At the base of many plants were the tell-tale sign of Spittlebug nymphs... white frothy "spit" that they cover themselves with for protection. The nymphs hide in the spittle while sucking plant juices. Sound gross? It looks kind of gross too. Adult spittlebugs look like and hop around like tiny leaf hoppers.
After moving twice to get away from gnats, my drawing location today was chosen specifically to stay in the wind, which kept the gnats at bay. Once settled on top of the far hill on a fairly clear spot, I drew what was around me (and that which stayed un-mashed by curious Daisy). The clouds spit on me occasionally, but no serious rain fell.
I know I have forgotten to write about everything, so here's the list I made of flowers I saw while hiking:
New Jersey Tea
Wild Quinine
Flowering Spurge
Spotted Cat's Ear
Sensitive Brier
Self Heal
Daisy Fleabane (white and purple)
Coreopsis
Horse Nettle
Green & Gold
Pasture Rose
Crown Beard
Milkweed about to open
Butterfly Weed
