Summer blooms…OK, and a few bugs too!
It seems to be a tradition to go to the Purdon Conservation area every Fathers day. Mike suggested it, I was in an every joint hurts funk and he succeeded in making me smile and we got to buy some Mississippi Strawberries in Balderson! Win, win! Nom, nom!
These orchids are stunning! They were about 95% in bloom someone said, with so many more about to bloom!
You know when you live in a small town when you run into folks you know! Great to see Brenda and Richard, and Owen snuck up on us as a woman was telling us what a certain mushroom was! It was busy but not crazy so it gave us a chance to look at things carefully as we walked along!
Of course we had to look for bugs, not many, as for bird song, actually pretty quiet. I was expecting more dragonflies but it wasn’t overly warm so quiet there as well. Some weird little mushrooms on a log called Common Eyelash (Scutellinia scutellata). The fruiting bodies are small red cups with distinctive long, dark hairs or “eyelashes”! We did see a lone butterfly! It did get me moving which always makes you feel better!
Back on our road the blooms are coming and going! Many are going to seed in some places! The Milkweed is just starting! Add raindrops and it’s magical!
Our Crab spider is still guarding his/her Oxeye daisy! I check on it twice a day:) In the woods I came upon a huge shrub of Sweet-brier I think! I would never have noticed it if it wasn’t in bloom! The bugs were enjoying it! It is invasive though, I think:(
I love the Yellow Salsify blooms and the giant dandelion like seedheads!
Out on the road by the mailboxes the chicory is blooming, as well as the water lillies!
Always something to see, no matter how small! And now all the Milkweed is going into bloom as well, the normal, and the swamp variety! That wonderful smell! Did you know like most other milkweeds, it has latex containing toxic steroids, a characteristic that repels many species of insects and mammals, but not the nectar!
There were several bumblebees having a fight over a Purple Flowered Raspberry, that was fierce! “This flower is mine, all mine, hear me…and don’t come back! They don’t call me Pollen Legs for nothing!” Two Perplexing Bumble Bee‘s fighting it out? I’m perplexed by that name;) Or they could be Common eastern Bumblebees:)
Bugs…I think this one could be a miniature Dragon! Spotted Thyris Moth(Thyris maculata)
Not many Swallowtails or Monarchs yet, a few flit by, none stopping for even a moment. It seems we are bug lite so far this year, we’ll see what the heat brings! A few Butterflies feeding along the road, so beautiful!
We’ll try and walk out later this week, hat and bug net in place, as well as gloves, buggers of deer flies bite my fingers! Get on the job Dragonflies, and they were this morning, catching gnats and flies over our heads! Yeah!
Skimmers and Whitefaces and Bluets…you go guys! I’ll let you know next week how the battle of the bugs goes;) Right now, it’s going to be a heat battle…Rocket panting after a bout of chipmunk chasing…Stay cool amigos! Hasta pronto!
