I visited Green Point on a beautiful sunny Wednesday morning. The trail/road first travels through an old overgrown orchard allowed to grow very tall. There are still apples on some of the trees; this must be a great food source for lots of creatures!  There was bittersweet climbing some of the trees, and what might be old browntail moth nests at the ends of two branches.

The apple trees stand in a lovely field full of grasses, milkweed, various goldenrods, asters, Virginia creeper, Queen Anne’s lace, red clover still blooming, sumac, and other saplings.  It must get mowed every couple years or it would be a forest.

Past the orchard there are wetlands with cattails and a couple of ponds with open water. Red oaks, birches, and maples, winterberry and other shrubs with berries I wish I knew. A line of spruces (maybe Norway spruces?) along the left side of the road looks planted.

I heard lots of twittering and saw some bluebirds, and also chickadees and cedar waxwings. A chickadee was singing its spring love song, “Hey, Sweetie,” as well as the more usual deedeedee. Birders I met said they had been following a big flock of bluebirds and had also seen a purple finch. I saw a very active chipmunk.

Several lovely views of the water as you get closer to the point. The woods become suddenly coniferous, tall white pines and hemlocks in the understory. (“Green” point, after all). There are a few hardwoods mixed in: birches, oaks, big-toothed aspen turned a lovely yellow.  Wonderful bay/river views from the picnic table and benches at the point. Rice and other aquatic plants, and very loud geese.

Terry, I hope you are soon recovered enough to take this walk!