June 17th. Good progress yesterday on the Route 85 pedestrian safety improvements.

 

Concrete pads poured where the trail meets the road.

 

Evening Lychnis (Lychnis alba).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cow-wheat (Melampyrum lineare).

 

 

 

Carolina or Pasture Rose (Rosa carolina).

 

 

 

Carolina Rose and Yarrow (Achillea millifolium). The feathery leaves are of the Yarrow.

 

Beardtongue (Penstemon sp.).

 

American Robin (Turdus migratorius)...

 

 

 

...not far from its nest.

 

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) in the marsh near where the Colchester Spur connects to the main trail.

 

Mid-afternoon. Another new pedestrian safety system. this one on Route 149 in North Westchester. Looking west.

 

 

 

Lots of Beardtongue (Penstemon sp.).blooming just east of Route 149.

 

Any doubt where the name Beardtongue comes from?

 

Bumble Bees (Family Bombidae, probably Bombus sp.) dive deep for nectar.

 

Note the glandular sticky hairs on the ouitside of the flowers. Just a guess, but perhaps their purpose is to deter bees from biting their way through the base of the flower for direct access to the nectar, versus following the intended course past the stamens where pollen can be transferred to the bee's upper surfaces where it isn't easily groomed away..

 

Note too the purple stripes. These are called "honey or nectar guides", directing pollinators deeper into the flower. Only when the pollen is depleted does the female stigma curve downward where it can receive pollen from a visitor. This prevents self-fertilization.

 

A male Lancet Clubtail dragonfly (Gomphus exilis).

 

June 18th. The first of two Great Blue Herons (Ardea herodias) at the marsh.

 

The second one. I had to hold the camera high above my head because the foliage near the path has gotten so tall.

 

 

 

Butter-and-eggs (Linaria vulgaris).

 

An afternoon walk east of Cook Hill Road. The only cattle I saw. Maybe the others were in the barn?

 

Swamp Azalea (Rhododendron viscosum).

 

Note the reddish sticky hairs on the buds and floral tube.

 

Bumble Bee (Family Bombidae) working the pollen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Plenty of Venus' Looking-glass (Specularia perfoliata) where the powerlines cross the trail.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Selfheal or Heal-all (Prunella vulgaris), a mint.

 

 

 

Rattlesnake-weed (Heiracium venosum), a Hawkweed with a basal rosette of leaves, an open panicle of flowers, and no leaves on the long slender stem.

 

 

 

A Halictid Sweat Bee (Augochloropsis metallica).

 

I don't know this fly but believe it to be in the family Xylophagidae (Xylophagid Flies) or family Empididae (Dance Flies).

 

Back past the barns.