Come and eat those mosquitos please!
I know, I know, without the mosquitos we wouldn’t have the amazing array of bugs and birds we do have…sigh…as I scratch away….I know I’m like a big walking rib-eye to them but I hate that mosquito/blackfly hat! I can’t see a thing! Just wait until my friends the deerflies appear…0_0! So every new species I see of dragonfly makes me give a little cheer and yahoo! We had a massive hatch yesterday of Chalk-fronted Corporals ( who names these guys?) and Dot tailed Whiteface, OK, I get that one, they have a white face and a dot on their tail! These creatures vary by sex, age…and who knows what else!
It was a wild dragonfly sex kind of day yesterday! I saw one Whitetail as well and that big blue and green guy flying around in the swamp, a Common Green Darner I think, that never lands or stops! I’ll get a picture of you yet!
The swamps along the road are so full of life. I walk to get rid of the fallen sticks, clean out the grates on the culverts and recently an enterprising young beaver has made a new dam…always something to do, oh yes, and photograph everything that moves, and lots that don’t 🙂 I have been surprised by how few butterflies I’ve seen. I know we’re running a bit behind but still…all that spraying for Gypsy moths may have taken it’s toll:(
Lot’s of Pearl Crescents and Juvenal’s Duskywings. Our First Canadian Tiger Swallowtail stopped for a brief rest and I got it’s picture but otherwise very, very quiet. There are a few bugs you can’t miss. The tent caterpillar cocoons in the trees as I walk out the road, blue jay food! Those amazing fluorescent bright green Six-spotted Tiger Beetles, as well as the Giant Millipedes ambling along on those hundreds of legs, how can you miss them! The bumblebees, both the Common Eastern and two spotted, and lot’s of bugs and moths I don’t know, always learning! 🙂
The Trilliums are slowly dying away and other flowers and bushes are starting to take their place. The grasses grow so quickly and cover everything up that is small! Along the road it’s easier to see what is peeking out! Wild Sarsaparilla? I can see Sam Elliot’s face in the “The Dude“, OK, the Big Lebowski, every time I hear that word…:)
I stopped dead in my tracks a few days ago with a “What the F…art…is that!” Ha! It looked like some alien flower dropped here from outer space! I was memorized! The wind was blowing it’s top flap open, otherwise it sits slightly over the flower, like a hat! Arisaema triphyllum, the Jack-in-the-pulpit! How cool is that! I check on it every day I walk and makes me grin ear to ear!
There are always cool things in the swamp itself! A Calla lily of sorts and something called Big Bur-Reed?! I always stop to listen to the female Red Winged Blackbird singing there as well, so far no sign of the Swamp Sparrow.
Along the Long Lake road there are hundreds of blooming Red Columbines in the rocks flowering! I wandered past them when I checked our lady swan.
Now I can’t leave the Mewberries out can I?! Ha! They are so enjoying the sunny days. The chipmunks are out…dangerous thieving rodents Rocket says, stealing bird food and peanuts! While Sheriff Groot keeps an eye on things, this is hard work he says, his deputy is hard at work trying to round up the criminals! Gamora, The CAT FUN (Feline United Nations) negotiator is keeping an eye on the felon hunt!
To be honest, most mornings, Gamora makes a beeline for her happy place…the Mewberry Mobile! We are taking our time getting to know the A-class. It’s all different yet much the same as Myrtle the trailer only 8′ shorter! It has many of the same age issues but nothing that can’t be dealt with:) Mike made an appointment to get the suspension/shocks looked at next month with some guys that specialize in that and we’ll go from there. As it’s 2011, it’s not new but it has been well looked after! Before we take it on the road with the furry Mewberries we want to know everything is ticketyboo:) I promised some inside shots! a floorplan as well! Woohoo!
It is Mewberries approved! Even Rocket is warming up to it! We don’t have any fixed plans yet but a few trial runs to some Provincial Parks and maybe a tour of the East coast of Canada could be in order! Stay tuned. More bugs, birds and blooms…and did you know Perth has a taco truck?! We’ll cover that soon! In the meantime…it’s time for some R&R:) Gamora style!
