Cedar Ridge preserve is located on Van Dyke Road in Hopewell.

Link to trail map.

August has begun to whisper, “Summer is coming to an end.” I detect a slight early morning chill and I am a little wistful, realizing that it will soon be too cold for short sleeves. The moon rises earlier and sets later and the days are cooler and shorter. August is bittersweet as summer reaches its peak and I must soon say “good-bye” to my favorite season of the year.

This morning, the air is cool and damp and the meadow is glowing with hundreds of spider webs. I intended to take photographs of butterflies, but I was soon entranced by all the different spider webs, the sheer numbers of them! Everywhere I looked, there were webs…some vertical, others horizontal and a few were funnel shaped. The owners were staked out on a couple of the webs, but others seemed suspiciously empty. I enjoyed observing their hunting strategies and wished I could have seen what happened when they caught their prey.

I really like this trampoline web! I didn’t see the owner, but I like to imagine the tiny spider bouncing up and down doing back flips!Who is hiding in there?There you are! A grass spider in the family, Agelenidae.These spiders do not have sticky webs. Instead they run very fast to catch their prey.A loose knitted spider web. I love the big loops, heavy with dew.A tight and symmetrical web. I wonder why the center is transparent but the outer circles are not? Perhaps to confuse their prey into flying towards the midpoint of the web?A Monarch Butterfly, Danaus plexippus! It was my oldest who informed me that the Monarchs are the “Kings of the Butterflies”. I then realized that the significance of the name, “Monarch” had eluded me! Children can be wonderful teachers.At first, I was frustrated because I could not get a picture of the monarchs flittering about.  But I really like this picture of the two Monarchs flying together with the background in focus. It adds to the whimsical beauty of this August morning.

Have you ever seen a swarm of Monarchs? It is incredible! When I worked at Liberty State Park, I once came upon a swarm of well over 100 Monarchs resting inside of the old train terminal. When they startled, they took off in a massive cloud spinning and twirling around each other, out of the building and into the blue sky. It was a moment of awe and wonder and I desperately hope to see it at least once again in my lifetime!This Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Papilio glaucus, kept teasing me. Every time I tried to get close for a picture, it would flit away.I persisted and finally got the picture I wanted! My oldest loves to tell me that butterflies have a proboscis.  I don’t think that he has actually seen a proboscis and he is unsure about where the proboscis goes when the butterfly is not eating. Now I can show him! Here is a short video about the Butterfly proboscis https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZZaaVV2nyM I believe that this Butterfly is a common Wood-Nymph, Cercyonis pegala. I was elated when I realize that wood nymphs are not just imaginary creatures in stories!Elderberry, Sambucus canadensis. Whenever I see Elderberries, I always giggle as I recall “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” and the French knight who said “I fart in your general direction! Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of Elderberries!”

If you are not familiar with this wonderful comedic film, please take a moment to watch the skit.These fruit were not ripe yet, but I still wanted to get a closer look…and to take a whiff in order to know what Elderberries really smell like 😉A side-view of Jewelweed/Touch-me-not, Impatiens capensis. Look at the vents and the tail on this flower! It is absolutely gorgeous!Common Yarrow, Achillea millefolium, dainty and quite beautiful this morning.Swamp Milkweed, Asclepias incarnata, both whimsical and tropical in their appearance. I was mesmerized by their charm.Heall-All, Prunella vulgaris, magnificent in this morning light!Queen Anne’s Lace, Daucus carota. A common name for this plant is “Wild Carrot”. Queen Anne’s Lace is a native edible. But BEWARE! There is a common plant that also grows in this area called “Poison Hemlock”, Conium maculatum, and is often mistaken for Queen Anne’s lace because it resembles it so closely.

Poison Hemlock is one of the most toxic plants growing in the wild in our country and it should be avoided.  Every part of the Poison Hemlock plant is poisonous and the toxins can be absorbed through the skin.Here is a picture of Poison Hemlock, Conium maculatum. It is often found growing in close proximity to Queen Anne’s Lace.

This article shows side by side pictures of both plants and will help you detect the differences.A second breakfast of Blackberries, Rubus allegheniensis, graciously provided by the forest.I spy with my little eye a very noisy little bird…A Common Yellowthroat, Geothlypis trichas. A college friend of mine who is a bird enthusiast helped me identify this little bird.  Slowly and through practice (and asking friends who dabble in ornithology), I am starting to expand my knowledge of native bird species and identification. 

A dog tick, Dermacentor variabilis. Ticks are in the class Arachnida, meaning that they are in the same class as spiders. Unlike male deer ticks, Ixodes scapularis, male dog ticks do feed on their host.

In my experience, I more often. find dog ticks on myself if I have been in grassy/meadow areas and deer ticks when I have been in the woods

Another species of tick now present in New Jersey is the Long Star Tick, Amblyomma americanum. All three of these species can transmit diseases to humans and their pets so it is important to make sure that you check yourself and your loved ones every time you have been outside.

Checking for ticks is part of our bedtime routine. Each night before bed, we do a tick check. There are times when I don’t want to sit for a tick check, but in all honesty, it takes less than 2 minutes to check a child and about 4 minutes to check an adult.

Some of these ticks in their nymph stage can be very tiny (about the size of the tip of a ball-point pen), so it is important to get a good look and investigate every unfamiliar “freckle”.