Is it warm enough for you? Hello June:)
How do we go from winter, to scorching hot, humid summer in Spring? Welcome to Ontario 🙂 Thunderstorms, torrential rain, we’ve had it all this week so far and it’s only Friday;) NO frosts…ha!
Everything explodes! The grass, the flowers, the bugs, not literally, mind you, that would be messy:) The only thing that has been quiet is the invasion of swallowtails we usually get this week, maybe they are running late! So many other flying things!
The Chalk Fronted Corproal Dragonflies are everywhere! So many, no complaints! Eat those mosquitoes! They seem to come in waves depending on the temperature! The warmer it is, the more dragonflies there are!
The beautiful green Eastern Pondhawks showed up yesterday as well as the Common Whitetails and Blue Dashers, who aren’t blue yet! Ha! Sometimes the shadows their wings make are wild! The walks down the road are an exploration in what is flying…or crawling past me!
The millipedes are so interesting! One gentleman on a Facebook bug page I belong to: Insects and Arachnids of Ontario, warned me to wash my hands after picking up the 2nd guy. “They secrete a (nicely-scented) fluid containing cyanide compounds for defense!” he said…I did not pick any of them up! Ha! I watch, photograph, and move along! The first reddish one, Rudiloria trimaculata is a species of millipede as well. A recently proposed common name for this species is Bob’s Yellow and Black Millipede. Who’s Bob is my question? The last one is an American Giant Millipede Complex…OK, they are the most common here and curl up tightly in a ball if disturbed! One was trying to get into the house much to Gamora’s dismay as she stood in the doorway…”Ugh!” she said…worm! Ha! It’s not all dragonflies and multilegged creatures… butterflies of course!
I saw my first Monarch and Red Spotted Admiral yesterday. The small brown Little Wood Satyrs are everywhere you look! Fighting, resting, flying! Ha! The Swallowtails I have seen are on the move. Not stopping to chat, a quick sip of a flower and off they go! Hopefully they will slow down and give me a chance to take some more pictures!
Sometimes I get a really lovely surprise in the first small swamp! The mother Hooded Merganser took off flapping/flying across the surface to the right as she heard me and the babies swam in that direction:) Sometimes something bigger is swimming around!
Did you know: Adult muskrats weigh 1–4 lbs), with a body length (excluding the tail) of 20–35 cm (8–14 in). They are covered with short, thick fur of medium to dark brown color. Their long tails, covered with scales rather than hair, are laterally compressed and generate a small amount of thrust, with their webbed hind feet being the main means of propulsion and the unique tail mainly important in directional stability. Muskrats spend most of their time in the water and can swim underwater for 12 to 17 minutes. They live in families of a male and female pair and their young. They build nests to protect themselves from the cold and predators, often burrowed into the bank with an underwater entrance. Muskrats feed mostly on cattail and other aquatic vegetation but also eat small animals.
This one has a mouthful of some vegetation! Thanks Wikipedia:)
So, you do know the real reason I walk out the road this time of year right? It’s not just to check the mail that never is there;)
Just to catch a glimpse of these beautiful Trumpeter swans. I spied them June 3d for the first time! I keep walking back for more!
A mother’s touch:) Watching them feed while the cygnets are trying to figure out where Mom and Dad went was a hoot!
It’s such a treat to watch these guys! Hopefully, they will come back to the mailbox swamp for another visit! I think they went back behind to the larger swamp!
I wasn’t the only one watching the swans;)
So much life along the road and constantly changing as one set of flowers blooms, fades, and then another series starts.
And that is just what I see, I wonder what I miss! The torrential rain we had should be enough to get the mushrooms going! I hope! That is my quest today! Only 30°…62% humidity. If I go out with the camera, it is sure to rain again! I’ll catch up tomorrow on our yard birds and bugs! Yes! More bugs! I’ll leave you with this beautiful “maraquita” ladybug in Spanish. I had a ride on 4 wheeled plush one as a kid, and we called her Catarina. For the longest time, I thought that was ladybug in Spanish, nope…just me;) The things you remember from your childhood, I always did like Ladybugs! Here is a Spotted Pink Lady Beetle (although we have discussed she looks more orange, was that name taken?) on a gorgeous Northern Blue Flag Iris blooming in the swamp:) Saludos amigos:)
