May 26th. A female Ebony Jewelwing damselfly (Calopteryx maculata).

 

A Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) gathering sticks for the nest in the nearby Wood Duck house.

 

Maybe... a Palm Warbler (Dendroica palmarum).

 

A Horse Fly (Family Tabanidae, Hybomitra sp.) on the back of my hand.

 

A male Assassin Bug (Zelus luridus). Males have a dark upper side. Female upper sides are brown.

 

Yarrow (Achillea millifolium).

 

May 27th. Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodius) at Raymond Brook Marsh.

 

Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura).

 

A walk east from Depot Hill Road in Cobalt. Dame's Rocket (Hesperis matronalis)...

 

...also comes in several other colors.

 

 

 

Ox-eye Daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare).

 

I'm pretty sure this is a Cellophane Bee (Colletes sp.).

 

Note the little red mite on a ray flower at the right.

 

Nightshade (Solanum dulcamara).

 

Zabulon Skipper (Poanes zabulon).

 

I believe this is a Horace's Duskywing Skipper (Erynnis horatius).

 

Northern Crescent (Phyciodes cocyta).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Atop the Lyman Viaduct, a Carolina Grasshopper (Dissosteira carolina).

 

Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca). will be blooming soon.

 

One of the yellow Hop Clovers (Trifolium sp.).

 

Powder Moth (Eufidonia sp; maybe E. notataria)

 

May 28th. A female Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus) and four ducklings .

 

Make that seven ducklings. A week or more ago, there were ten. The other three might have been nearby.

 

A well hidden Barltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula) nest near the beaver dam.

 

A Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) on a nest, a bit further west.

 

Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta) on a favorite perch.

 

A Northern Water Snake (Nerodia sipedon) with a bulging gut. Something just got eaten.

 

Frog maybe?

 

May 29th. Nannyberry (Viburnum lentago).

 

 

 

Yesterday's recently fed Northern Water Snake (Nerodia sipedon) in essentailly the same spot.

 

 

 

One of three "Stinkpots" or Common Musk Turtles (Sternotharrus odoratus) I saw late morning.

 

Another one.

 

All tucked in.

 

Yesterday's Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) or its mate. Is that a chick's head at the left?

 

A couple of Blue Flag Iris (Iris versicolor) still blooming.

 

The first open Multiflora Rose (Rosa multiflora) flowers this year.

 

Lesser Stitchwort (Stellaria graminea).

 

The last of the Pink Lady's Slipper Orchids (Cypripedium acaule) still blooming.

 

At the pond east of Route 207, no birds on any of the three Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodious) nests.

 

May 30th. A White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) down towards Old Colchester Road.

 

Time to retreat.

 

Another day, another Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) nest picture. Looks lik a chick's wing and tail at the left.

 

East of Route 207, no herons at any of the nests again.