We started the morning in the thickest fog any of us had ever seen. It lifted as we descended down towards Hunter, NY.
We couldn’t resist stopping in this former drive-in on Route 296 south of Windham, now claimed by a meadow. The gate proudly claims “we will be back,” but that seems unlikely. Meanwhile, this used to be a parking lot, now it’s all covered in flowers (to misquote the Talking Heads), including: 
Deptford or grass pink, Dianthus armeria. Wouldn’t you know it? Like the flower below, it’s a native of Europe.
Hieracium aurantiacum, also known as Pilosella aurantiaca, or orange hawkweed, devil’s paintbrush, etc.
An eastern phoebe nest, nestled into louvers of a window in the projection booth. Note the use of moss here. The meadow was also playing host to a troupe of cedar waxwings, a chipping sparrow, and an American goldfinch.
The fog returned at the village of Haines Falls. It was wonderfully eerie. We started to walk around the yellow-blazed path at North-South Lakes campground. 
The lakes are above Kaaterskill Falls and on the edge of the Escarpment, or Great Wall of Manitou, the sudden rise out the valley of the Hudson (from around 540′ above sea level to 2250′). Grand hotels of the mid-19th century were located in the area (all are gone now) to take advantage of the view. There was so much fog we didn’t even bother attempting to look out. Fog clearing over the water: 
The forest floor was full of moss and sprouting acorns.
The saturation of moisture made the many, many spider webs stick out.
This large ant was on the same tree as the web above.
On one of the camp ground buildings, I noticed this. It’s about 1.5″ in diameter, and I think it’s the start of a bald-faced wasp nest. The same structure was hosting another eastern phoebe nest, this one on top of the light above the men’s room.
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