After a month (July) of rain with some storms approaching 6 inches the streams bordering the trail have flooded onto the trail and deposited silt and leaves. In Fearrington streams that are normally dry during the summer have flowing water, which for the most part is clear probably because sediments are caught by vegetation during the summer. This is exactly what is supposed to happen in a floodplain forest and accounts for the fertile and rich soils which nourish the growth of trees and other plants. Now near the middle of August with high humidity it feels like a lush tropical rain forest. But the sturdy enclosure withstood the rainstorms well. A tree did fall on one corner, but has been removed and a minor breach was repaired.
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| Cranefly Orchid |
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| Cranefly Orchid leaf |
It is now gone and replaced by the flower stalk. Another late summer grape fern has appeared quite unlike the earlier but related rattlesnake fern. The fall flowers are still a few weeks away but the yellow-flowered bearsfoot is flowering now (photo)
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| Yellow-flowered Bearsfoot |
Mushrooms of various colors including orange and white are everywhere and centipedes are crawling through the leaves. Warblers are singing in the trees. Even the painted buckeye, which is one of the first shrubs to flower and leaf out is now fruiting (photo)
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| Painted Buckeye |
Chuck Racine
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