Back-to-Back Outings at Goose Pond Mountain

Laurel reflects on our two outings at Goose Pond... Continue reading entries for this day to view Kat's pictures...

Back-to-back Audubon hikes, one for the Nature Stroller tykes and the second for the kids of the Middletown chapter 4-H, led to a day of discovery. As soon as I got out of my car my eye was drawn to something new. One of the long oval leaves of the Shagbark Hickory tree near the parking lot was rolled up. Upon closer inspection I could see white caterpillar silk holding the sides together and a green caterpillar nearby. A number of caterpillars roll up leaves to make shelters and at the time I did not know what kind of caterpillar it was. Later I was able to identify it by looking at a list of caterpillars that commonly feed on Shagbark Hickory. A green one that makes rolled leaf shelters is the caterpillar of the Hickory Hairstreak butterfly. We’ll be looking for that one flying around Goose Pond later this summer. Right next door to the Hickory Hairstreak caterpillar’s home was a shrub whose leaves had been decimated by an infestation of tent caterpillars; the empty, white silk tent still remained between several branches, and a large tent caterpillar made its way along the ground underneath the trees. I couldn’t wait for the Nature Strollers and 4-H kids to arrive to see these examples from the world of butterflies and moths.

We brought the Nature Strollers attention to the Northern Oriole’s woven nest, suspended from a tree branch, and watched the orange and black male as he attended to his duties. Later we also got a close up view of a female robin on her nest in the center of a pine tree. As we crossed the boardwalk, last years goldenrod galls were obvious on every stem of goldenrod we saw. These are formed when the tiny solidago fly lays its eggs on the plant’s stem. The eggs hatch and the larvae burrow inside. A ball shaped gall forms around them. The larvae chew an escape hatch in the winter, and emerge from it as adult solidago flies in the spring. On the far side of the park, the Nature Strollers were at the right place at the right time and were treated to the sight of a quick moving swallowtail butterfly as it nectared along the edge of the woods. It was hard to identify on the wing, but with large iridescent blue patched on the hindwings and dark black elsewhere, it was probably a Spicebush Swallowtail.

When Lynn and Kelly, also of the Orange County Audubon Society, joined us with tons of 4-Hers in tow, they brought with them a black and yellow, Flat-backed Millipede they had uncovered under a log. It was a wonderful find to share as none of us had ever seen this species before. While both the Nature Strollers and the 4-H peeked between the needles of the young pine trees to find eight preying mantis egg cases, the 4-Hers alone were treated to the sight of baby mantids emerging from the tan, Styrofoam-like case.

As usual this time of year the ponds were full to bursting with black toad tadpoles, huge Bullfrog tadpoles, dragonfly larvae, Backswimmers, Waterboatmen, and Waterstriders. The kids with nets went to work scooping out critters for observation. The 4-H kids were especially lucky that day because Kat spotted (right near shore) a young, brightly patterned, northern watersnake eating a Bullfrog tadpole, and I caught a male giant water bug who was covered with eggs that the female laid on his back. Golden Alexanders were flowering along the pondside and the skunk cabbage leaves were huge. A Great Blue Heron and a Belted Kingfisher flew overhead. Kids and parents dashed every which way, soaking up the sights and sounds of nature.