July 20th.  Wood Ducks (Aix sponsa).  Mom and the "teens".

 

 

 

Backlit Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodius).

 

Frontlit and on the hunt.

 

Eyes postioned to look forward and down.

 

Very intense concentration.

 

It missed.

 

 

 

Is it possible for a bird to convey disgust?

 

Cabbage White or European Cabbage Butterfly (Pieris rapae).

 

A hovering male Horse Fly (probably Hybomitra sp.).  Males hover in sunny patches on woodland trails, vying for access to females.

 

Green Frog (Rana clamitans).

 

 

 

The Purple-bloom Russula (Russula mariae).  Thanks Terry for confirming ID.

 

 

 

July 21st.  Buttonbush or Honey-balls (Cephalanthus occidentalis).

 

 

 

A Bolete, but I don't know which one.

 

 

 

July 22nd.  An afternoon walk east of Cook Hill Road, past the former heron roost marsh.

 

Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) is invading the muddy soil of the marsh.

 

Lots of Spotted Knapweed (Centaurea maculosa), an early colonizer of the disturbed trail margins.

 

The same flower, using flash with no background vegetation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lots of insects visiting the knapweed.  This is a Cabbage White or European Cabbage Butterfly (Pieris rapae).

 

A Hummingbird Hawkmoth (Hemaris thysbe).  Even a fast shutter speed couldn't stop its wing motion.

 

 

 

A Red-spotted Crab Spider (Misumena vatia).  A near-perfect trap when the body is in shadow and the legs extend to insects' landing zone.

 

A Skipper (Family Hesperiidae).  Species ID is best left to experts.

 

Another Red-spotted Crab Spider (Misumena vatia).  This one on goldenrod is more yellow and has captured a Metallic Bee (Family Halictidae).

 

A Small Milkweed Bug (Lygaeus kalmii), nectaring on goldenrod.

 

A Northern Aerial Yellowjacket (Doloichovespula arenaria).  Larger than our common ground-nesting yellowjackets.

 

A female Gasteruptiid Wasp (Family Gasteruptiidae Gasteruption sp.).

 

Females deposit eggs in the nests of wood nesting bees or wasps.  When the larvae hatch, they consume the host egg and its stored food supply.

 

A pair of Ambush Bugs (Phymata sp.).  Note the "muscular" looking raptorial front legs.

 

If not actually mating, the male may be "mate guarding" post-copulation.

 

A Lobelia, probably Indian Tobacco (Lobelia inflata).

 

 

 

Square-stemmed Monkey Flower (Mimulus ringens).

 

 

 

Bifid Hemp-nettle (Galeopsis bifida).

 

 

 

Nightshade (Solanum dulcamara) in the tomato family.

 

Groundnut (Apios americana).

 

Pokeweed (Phytolacca americana).

 

July 23rd.  Fifty-eight degrees and mist rising from Distillery Pond on the Colchester Spur.

 

An Ambush Bug (Phymata sp.).