The light in the woods has changed so abruptly. Last week, the trees and shrubs still wore their bright, light green spring coat, betraying the high quantities of nitrogen permeating everything as the land became suffused with life. Now, after all the heat, and with added rain — voila! — like the everyday sort of magic which it absolutely is, the forest is now shrouded in the cool, dark green of summer, its canopy filled in for the season, mysteries temporarily hidden by the mother’s verdant mantle. This time is the epitome — the very definition of — fecundity, of fertility. Following is just a partial list — a sample — of what is happening now and of what is yet to come.
Florid flora
This season never ceases to amaze us — nor should it be any other way. The leaves of the forest are fast unfolding now, fairly leaping out on to branch and limb. The spring ephemeral flowers are finished for the season. Other plants will take their turn, ones that are tuned to thrive in the newly-dark understory of summer (if they survive the over-browsing of white-tail deer).
Fawning fauna
More and more butterflies are showing up — captains, viceroys, skippers, sulphurs, tiger swallowtails, whites, as well as numerous moths, including spongy (formerly, gypsy) moths and an increasing dragonfly population. Also here now are fireflies, though not many (our overuse of lawn-chemicals may be affecting their population). Hopefully more will come — it is early for them. There are not enough bees, as well, which is disheartening. New milkweed plants are jumping up, preparing for their midsummer rendezvous with young monarchs now winging their way north from the mountains of Michoacan — a truly incredible, epic journey. Theirs is an ancient, beautiful, symbiotic relationship (see www.journeynorth.org and www.butterflylady.org ). Another record-breaking local migrator is the ruby-throated hummingbird. That this thimble-sized creature can wing its way 2,000 miles itself is amazing, but that it can make the 500-mile dash across the Gulf of Mexico from Yucatan is truly astounding. There are other birds that migrate further than hummingbirds, but none so efficiently and dauntlessly, existing — thriving, actually — on small amounts of nectar, as well as the occasional insect.
Humans have this tendency to think that everything happening around them is for their own benefit and enjoyment. Summers have happened long before people and will most likely continue on even if people disappear. The leaf unfolds to absorb light to support the main part of the plant. The shade and soothing green it creates is a byproduct of that and was not designed for people — though untold millennia of poets and writers (myself included) have always claimed otherwise. Their incredible blooms, as well, are made to attract pollinators and to perpetuate their species and people can (and always will) make of them whatever they may. Every form of life abounds right now, all rapidly on the increase, as every creature and plant jumps onto the band-wagon we call summer, ready to go on that wild ride we call life.
Thank you all for sharing the journey with me — “Ranger” Dave Holden / 845-594-4863 / woodstocktrails@gmail.com / Dave Holden on Facebook / rangerdaveholden on Instagram and to read this whole article and others please visit www.woodstocknytrails.com.
Remember, if you find a newborn fawn in the grass, it is best to leave it be. Its mother is most likely feeding nearby and being born virtually without scent the fawn is safe unless you touch it and imbue it with your scent. In contrast, if you find a bird’s egg or hatchling outside their nest, it is fine to pick it up and return it to the nest. Birds have no sense of smell and I’m sure its parents will appreciate it.
Join the family! 
