Farmscape Ecology Program at the Hudson Valley Farm Hub
How can nature benefit from farms? How can farms benefit from nature? For the past ten years, these are questions that have inspired the work of the Hawthorne Valley Farmscape Ecology Program, an LEP grantee partner that will be bringing its unique perspective on farms and natural environments to the Hudson Valley Farm Hub over the coming months. This gallery includes a selection of photos and captions from the Farmscape Ecology Program team’s visits to the Farm Hub.
One of the most notorious weeds of frequently cultivated soil, such as that in vegetable fields, is Galinsoga or Quickweed. It is native to North and South America, but has been spread all around the world. It is a troublesome weed because it has the capacity to go from seed to seed in three weeks and to quickly cover any open ground. Photo courtesy of the Farmscape Ecology Program.
A Tawny Emperor. The Farmscape Ecology Program team told us that in Columbia County they had never seen this butterfly in over 10 years of surveys. In Ulster County, it is apparently more common, although it is still a nice sighting. The caterpillars feed on the leaves of the Hackberry tree. Photo courtesy of the Farmscape Ecology Program.
An Orange Sulfur rests in the thistle. The orange is much more apparent in flight; when the egg-yolk orange of the upper wing shows up.
An American Lady shows its cobwebby underwing. Caterpillars eat a wide variety of field plants. Photo courtesy of the Farmscape Ecology Program.
Notice how the damselflies hold their wings closed above their bodies. Photo courtesy of the Farmscape Ecology Program.
The non-native Canada Thistle (Cirsium arvense) is probably one of our worst agricultural weeds. These flowers were abuzz with insects during a July visit, however, and the patches that had already gone to seed were visited by large flocks of American Goldfinches who were eating the seeds. Photo courtesy of the Farmscape Ecology Program.
A Red-tailed Hawk soars above the Hub, An increase in mice and small birds will likely encourage more hawks to visit. Photo courtesy of the Farmscape Ecology Program.
A species of crab spider poised to snare a passerby. These spiders do not use webs for hunting, relying instead on wait-and-grab tactics.
A mating pair of Viceroys. These look like Monarchs, but that arching line in the hindwing sets them apart. But despite not being Monarchs, they're mere no consolation prize - these are beautiful, native wetland butterflies. Since their caterpillars feed on willows and cottonwoods, amongst other things, we're sure they're finding some 'good stuff' along the Esopus.
This mature Stream Bluet has much brighter colors than the young damselfly shown earlier. It probably spent its youth deep in the Esopus, transforming into this winged adult only days before this picture. Photo courtesy of the Farmscape Ecology Program.
This is a young damselfly (also known as a tenerel), fresh out of the water. At this stage, they're pale colored, weak in flight and hard to identify.
Photo courtesy of the Farmscape Ecology Program.
We were happy to see so many Great Spangled Fritillaries. These large, orangy butterflies are sometimes mistaken for Monarchs, but their patterning is much more speckled and their orange less reddish. We did see our first Monarch of the year in your fields, but weren't able to get a photograph.