July 11th. An Azure (Celastrina sp.).  There are four species in Connecticut and variable enough in pattern to be hard to tell apart.

 

Based of frequence, this is probably a Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta), but Cherry Gall Azure (Celastrina serotina) is a possibility .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spotted Wintergreen (Chimaphila maculata).

 

What an incredibly strange flower.

 

 

 

 

 

Pollen-covered Wasp on Goldenrod.

 

Selfheal (Prunella vulgaris).

 

 

 

 

 

Wild Lettuce (Lactuca canadensis) flower buds and seeds.

 

Male Ebony Jewelwing damselfly (Calopteryx maculata).

 

 

 

 

 

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodius).

 

A young bird I think.

 

July 12th.  First Highbush Blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum) are ripe.

 

Rabbit's-foot Clover (Trifolium arvense).

 

Buttonbush or "Honey-balls" (Cephalanthus occidentalis) with a Flower Fly (Family Syrphidae)...

 

...bumblebee (Family Bombidae)...

 

...and a Skipper (Family Hesperididae, probably a Northern Broken Dash, Wallengrenia egeremet).

 

An inchworm caterpillar (probably of the Common Pug, Eupithecia miserulata) on Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata).

 

A Lesser Maple Spanworm (Speranza pustularia).

 

Bumblebee on Sumac (Rhus sp.)...

 

...and on Meadowsweet (Spiraea latifolia).

 

Bouncing Bet (Saponaria officinalis).

 

 

 

Jewelweed or Spotted Touch-me-not (Impatiens capensis).

 

Flower Fly (Family Syrphidae) on Goldenrod (Solidago sp.).

 

American Hazelnut (Corylus americana).  The nuts develop inside each leafy involucre.

 

A small Orb-weaver spider.  (Web not visible, but it's there.)

 

A male Mosquito.  (Males have plumose antennae and maxillary palps as long as the proboscis.  They feed on nectar rather than blood which females take for the nutrients necessary to produce eggs.)

 

 

 

A slightly better picture of a Lesser Maple Spanworm (Speranza pustularia).

 

Ants tend aphids much like we tend dairy cows.  Ants receive sweet honeydew from the aphids and protect the aphids from predators.

 

 

 

The pale brown aphid in the center has been parasitized.

 

A bundle of snakes.  In this case Northern Water Snakes (Nerodia sipedon).

 

Judging by the cloudy eyes, these snakes are preparing to shed their skins.

 

 

 

July 15th. A Viceroy (Limenitis archippus) "puddling": males take minerals from soil or mud and pass them along to females in their spermatophores.  Females need these nutrients for egg formation.  This behavior represents a "nuptial gift".

 

 

 

July 27th.  Sweet Pepperbush (Clethra alnifolia) scents the marsh.

 

 

 

 

 

Bumblebee tongue.

 

Queen Anne's Lace (Daucus carota) seed head.

 

 

 

 

 

Groundnut (Apios americana).

 

Grape tendrils, reaching out to entwine.

 

Evening Primrose (Oenothera biennis).

 

Bumblebees like it, but their tarsal claws quickly damage the delicate flowers which wilt in day anyway.

 

July 28th.  Check any patch of Evening Primrose and you'll likely find Primrose Moths (Schinia florida) with their heads deep in the flower.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) resting together.  I hope this doesn't portend their heading south.