Along the Air Line... 2013 - Summer, Part 2
The Air Line Trail in Eastern Connecticut - Stan Malcolm Photos

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July 7th.  A female Meadowhawk dragonfly (Sympetrum sp.).  Dew drops on its eyes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A male Blue Dasher dragonfly (Pachydiplax longipennis).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This guy has been around awhile given the tattered wings.  Remarkable that he hasn't already become bird food.

 

 

Great Blue Herons (Ardea herodius) are more frequent visitors to the marsh recently.  Perhaps nesting season is over.

 

 

 

 

 

Showy Tick Trefoil (Desmodium canadense) lines the marsh with color...

 

 

...and spreads its "ticks" (sticky seeds) on passersby through the summer.

 

 

Blossoms are pretty though.

 

 

 

 

 

Bees like it.

 

 

Goldenrod (Solidago sp.) has just started blooming.

 

 

Can you guess what this is?  Scroll down for wider and wider views.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, it's Queen Anne's Lace (Daucus carota).

 

 

Wild Indigo (Baptisia tinctoria).

 

 

A few Canada Lilies (Lilium canadense) have escaped the ravages of the red Lily Leaf Beetle - an invasive species from Europe.

 

 

Fringed Loosestrife (Lysimachia ciliata).

 

 

 

 

 

Morrow's Honeysuckle (Lonicera morrowii) berries have ripened.

 

 

Pasture or Carolina Rose (Rosa carolina).

 

 

Asiatic Dayflower (Commelina communis).

 

 

Potter Wasps (Family Vespidae; Subfamily Eumeninae) make these small mud nests and provision them (typically) with caterpillars.  The top nest is complete and has been sealed.  The lower one is still in progress.  These were on a maple leaf.  Oh, note the Springtail (Order Collembola) in the upper left corner.

 

 

July 8th.  The Potter Wasp (Family Vespidae; Subfamily Eumeninae) has completed pot 2 and constructed pot 3.

 

 

A Flatid Planthopper nymph (Family Flatidae).  Very difficult to photograph as they are covered with highly reflective white wax filaments.  It took a lot of editing in Lightroom to see the insect even this poorly.

 

 

Thanks to UConn's Cera Fisher for ID help.

 

 

Chicory (Cichorium intybus) is blooming where the trail crosses Route 207.  Best viewed in the morning as by afternoon the color bleaches to white and the flowers shrivel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

July 9th.  The Potter Wasp (Family Vespidae; Subfamily Eumeninae) has completed pot 3 and begun to construct pot 4.

 

 

An ornamental double Day Lily (Hemerocallis sp.) has begun blooming near the marsh.

 

 

July 10th.  The Potter Wasp (Family Vespidae; Subfamily Eumeninae) has completed pot 4 and soon should provision and seal it.

 

 

July 11th.  The Potter Wasp (Family Vespidae; Subfamily Eumeninae) has sealed pot 4 and moved on.  (No new pots at that location in subsequent days.)