Registrar: Frederica Miller
Participants: 5
Weather: Warm, humid, cloudy, rain showers, rainbow, then sunny with temperatures ranging from 72 – 82 degrees
We met on the western tip of Staten Island at Conference House Park at 11 a.m. and walked to a DEP/Blue belt bridge, where we saw Fragile Forktails (damsel flies), and two species of dragonflies, Slaty Skimmers and Blue Dashers. We circled back through the forest and saw five or six American Bullfrogs and Green Frogs sitting motionless on stones in a small stream. The path was sprinkled with tiny white-capped mushrooms called Trooping Crumble Cap, Coprinellus disseminatus. We were caught in a brief downpour, but the rain stopped by the time we walked back to Conference House Park.
Our next stop was Mt. Loretto Unique Area (unique because it contains five different habitats, including grasslands, maritime forests, freshwater wetlands, tidal wetlands and a marine shoreline). At Mt. Loretto pond, we saw more dragonflies, including Needham’s Skimmer, Eastern Amberwing, Common Whitetail, Blue Dasher and Eastern Pondhawk. We also saw several Monarchs and Clouded Sulphurs.
Our last stop was Blue Heron Park where we had lunch and enjoyed seeing Eastern Pondhawks and Black Saddlebags. We finished the trip with sightings of Silver Spotted Skippers, Eastern Tiger Swallowtails, Spicebush Swallowtail, Juvenal’s Duskywing, Peck’s Skipper, Summer Azures and a Red Banded Hairstreak. It was another great adventure on Staten Island!
Species List:
Odonates
Eastern Pondhawk
Blue Dasher
Green Darner
Slaty Skimmer
Needham’s Skimmer
Eastern Amberwing
Common Whitetail
Black Saddlebags
Fragile Forktail
Butterflies/Moths
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
Spicebush Swallowtail
Cabbage White
Clouded Sulphur
Monarch
Juvenal’s Duskywing
Summer Azure
Red Banded Hairstreak
Silver Spotted Skipper
Peck’s Skipper
Dogbane Tiger Moth
Insects
Eastern Bumblebee
Carpenter Bee
Honeybee
Sweat Bee
Blue Winged Wasp
Tiger Bee Fly
Stink Bug
Large Milkweed Bug
Milkweed Weevil
Juvenile Grasshopper
Two Striped Plant Hoppers
Small Robber Fly
Daddy Long Legs
Keeled Tree Hopper
Lantern Fly
Birds
Chimney Swift
Great Blue Heron
Osprey
American Crow
Carolina Wren
European Starling
Grey Catbird
American Robin
American Goldfinch
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Yellowthroat
Northern Cardinal
Indigo Bunting
Amphibians
American Bullfrog
Green frog