A few nights ago, we noticed a large moth at dusk, but it was flying high and not landing for us to see it well enough. Today this beautiful moth was found lying on the ground, similar in size to what we think we saw. It's a native Polyphemous moth, Antheraea polyphemus, which only lives about a week, enough time to mate. It doesn't need to eat during this short lived life stage.
Isn't it a beauty!
I set off in my kayak to pick blueberries on an island I know is full of opportunities to do so, and was gone for almost 5 hours! This time, in trying not to be too late like last year, I was way too early for wild blueberries. I must have come home with 3/4 cup worth only. I must say though, that there was so much to see and enjoy, that I didn't mind coming home almost empty-handed.
I beached on the narrow stretch of dry land between lily ponds.
and proceeded to look for dusty-blue berries, but most were still green. I watched a heron watch me though, and I reveled in the Loon and Bald Eagle cries that punched through the persistent red-winged blackbird trills. A Barred Owl called as well - what a day!
This little caterpillar caught my eye in the lawn - it's the larval form of a moth species I photographed in June 2023, the pink-striped oakworm moth, Anisota virginiensis, another welcome native.
I noticed this very different looking dragonfly on the steps as I was carrying my groceries from the car. I dropped everything to get my phone out before it flew off.
It's a damselfly that is native to eastern North America, a Slender Spreadwing, Lestes rectangularis. Its wings are distinctively short, which makes it stand out from the rest.
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A Dun Skipper visits a Daisy Fleabane |
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A Progressive Bee Fly (Exoprosopa decora) visiting a Coneflower |
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A Skipper on Stokes' Aster |
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What can this be?
Celery sticks? Peppermint candy canes? A kaleidoscope?
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Bur-reeds act as important filters at the interface between land and water. Like other wetland plants, they absorb nitrogen, phosphorus and other particulate pollutants in runoff and sediments before they're washed into the water body. Wetland plants have adapted to survive in these areas of low soil oxygen.
The infertile parts of the plant are usually submersed and resemble a grass, but the reproductive structures stand up out of the water in a bold display.
Joe Pye Weed stands regal and tall in the afternoon sun after a heavy rainstorm.
I found this small dark snail on a piece of rope in our lake, and it was a new species to me. It appears to be a bladder snail, an air breathing snail that lives in freshwater, common throughout the Americas. They have a small chamber between their shells and their body, in which air becomes trapped and oxygen is assimilated. They must therefore climb plants or float to the surface for air on a regular basis.
Oh wow! I was looking closely at the seeds on an aquatic plant in my water tray, using a magnifying loupe, when this amazing and unknown miniscule little blob floated by. When I saw its structure under magnification, it of course sparked a major inquiry and investigation into what it could be ... and it got me really enthused!
The most plausible explanation and photos I could find, was that it's likely a Bryozoan statoblast, an asexual mass of cells that is shed from the parent colony. It can remain dormant for quite some time, but is able to develop into a zooid and start a new colony when conditions become favorable. This clonal technique is unique to freshwater bryozoans.
Here is a close up of the hard core, and the little spines around its edges
They breed in lakes and ponds, and feed on aquatic larvae.
Some of my plants are looking quite heat stressed this summer, so I decided to photograph some of the different manifestations of it, when this cute little critter inserted itself into my shot, quite by accident. I was aiming at the black-edged Wild ginger leaf.
This poor Sensitive fern is taking some strain in the burning heat we've had this summer - but it's made a pretty pattern of it!
Burnt to a crisp! Poor Coneflower
The flowers of our aquatic bladderworts look so much like snapdragons, gracefully held above the water by a long flower stalk. This is the Common Bladderwort, Utricularia vulgaris, amongst the floating leaves of another yellow beauty, Spatterdock.
The rigid flower stalk of Spatterdock (Nuphar lutea) needs no assistance, but the pinkish, less robust Watershield flower benefits from the supportive, protected spaces that Spatterdock's floating leaves provide.
My native rose (Rosa virginiana) had a single flower this year, but it looked magnificent against the green foliage surrounding it, even though it was past its peak by the time I took this next photo.
Though this flower looks exquisite, I recognized it as an introduction (not native to the U.S.) that is known to be 'vigorous and free-flowering' (Dianthes), so I decided to remove it after I'd taken some photos. Yes, I'm ruthless that way!
Sometimes it's hard sticking to natives only ...
I'm very pleased that my native Purple Flowering raspberry (Rubus odoratus) is doing its thing and looking pretty showy - the ghostly-looking bug on the faded bloom caught my eye, too.
The insect is an immature snowy tree cricket (Oecanthus fultoni), a North American native. There are tiny black marks all along its antennae, if you look closely.
There were quite a few fireworks displays on our lake over the July 4th weekend, which is not unusual. We decided to kayak across to Bay Cove to see the annual display that residents put on. When we set off, it was still light, but we had equipped our kayaks with lights for the return trip.
We sat and waited, along with all the other boats and residents, for darkness to settle in.
