July 9th. Immature (but nearly adult) male Wood Duck (Aix sponsa).

 

Green Frog (Rana clamitans).

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A dried leaf in its mouth, a male Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis) displaying for a nearby female. (She was not impressed.)

 

 

 

Riders approaching Grayville Road.

 

Ramps (Allium tricoccum) bloom from long single stems long after the leaves have died back. Bruising the stem releases a strong garlic odor.

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July 10th. Amanita sp.

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Chicory (Cichorium intybus) east of Route 207. Most of it has been mowed.

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The Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodius) nest is empty.

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Four female Wood Ducks (Aix sponsa).

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Button stage of another mushroom. I won't guess the ID.

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A short walk east of Depot Hill Road in Cobalt. Great Golden Digger Wasp (Sphex ichneumoneus) on Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)...

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...plus a Bumble Bee (Family Bombidae)...

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...a Skipper (Family Hesperiidae)...

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...a Sweat Bee (Family Halictidae)...

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...and a Stilt Bug (Family Berytidae, probably Neoneides muticus).

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Bouncing Bet (Saponaria officinalis).

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Wild Red Raspberries (Rubus sp.).

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Grasshopper (Family Acrididae, Melanoplus sp.).

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Meadowsweet (Spiraea latifolia) with Tumbling Flower Beetles (Family Mordellidae).

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Ailanthus Tree or Tree-of-heaven (Ailanthus altissima) has a vast crop of seeds.

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Thankfully, no sign of invasive Spotted Lanternflies on the trees.

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Bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana) in the ditch through the rock cut...

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...and a Green Frog (Rana clamitans) not far away.

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July 11th. Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodius) on a taller stump than usual. All other pictures useless as humidity fogged the lens.

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A walk east from Cook Hill Road. A Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodius) where herons had 8 nests many years ago.

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Lots of Spotted Knapweed (Centaurea maculosa) blooming.

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Possibly a Spiney Assassin Bug nymph on the center bud.

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Bumble Bee (Family Bombidae).

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A Halictid Sweat Bee, I think, with a load of pollen on its hind legs. And a mated pair of Canada Thistle Bud Weevils (Larinus planus). Released to control Canada Thistle, it attacks many native thistle species.

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July 12th. Chatted with the Hebron staffer who cut back the Poison Ivy under the bench at the marsh. Yay!

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A female Wood Duck (Aix sponsa) briefly atop a wood duck box.

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One of the usual Eastern Cottontails (Sylvilagus floridanus).

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July 13th. A female Wood Duck (Aix sponsa) with 5 ducklings at the pond east of River Road.

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The first Monarch (Danaus plexippus) I've seen this year. It's a female and had just laid an egg - the little yellow spot to the left of her abdomen. Typically, they lay their eggs on the underside of leaves where they are somewhat protected.

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Then the Monarch rested on a nearby Atlantic White Cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides).

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Day-lilies (Hemerocallis fulva) took a beating in today's rain.

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