
July 1st. At the Route 207 crossing, a Great Spangled Fritillary (Speyeria cybele) on Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca).
|

Next a walk east from Cook Hil Road past the dairy farm.
|

Cabbage White (Pieris rapae) on Red Clover (Trifolium pratense) way past its prime.
|

Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria).
|

Northern Bush-honeysuckle (Diervilla lonicera). Possibly the first time I've seen it on the trail.
|

It's not exactly showy.
|

A lousy picture of an Eastern Comma (Polygonia comma). Likely a male picking up minerals to pass to a female during mating. The behavior is called providing a "nuptial gift".
|

A Flower Fly (Family Syrphidae) on Daisy Fleabane (Erigeron annuus)...
|

...joined by a parsitic wasp, likely family Braconidae.
|
.

Carolina or Pasture Rose (Rosa carolina).
|

Least Skipper (Ancyloxypha numitor).
|

Two Plant Bugs (Family Miridae, probably Neurocolpus nubilis group) on Bouncing Bet (Saponaria officinalis).
|

UConn's Invertebrate Collections Manager and Miridae specialist, Dr. Katrina Menard, confirmed my tentative ID. She wrote, "Yep, they are correct. Well done! There really isn’t a whole lot species of that group up here besides the nubilis group. Their highest diversity is in the SW."
|

At Cranberry Bog, the Canada Geese (Branta canadensis) hang out in two separate groups, both away from the trail human traffic.
|

I was able to count 29 birds in total.One group of 14 (the two families with 5 goslings each), plus 15 unattached adults.
|

Adults and goslings all look the same now.
|

I also saw a female Wood Duck (Aix sponsa) with one duckling.
|

Lots of Daylilies (Hemerocallis fulva) blooming.
|

July 2nd. A distant Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodius).
|

Queen Anne's Lace or Wild Carrot (Daucus carota) has just started blooming.
|

Goldenrod (Solidago sp.) has als just started blooming.
|

Looking up into a Canada Lily (Lilium canadense) blossom.
|

Carolina or Pasture Rose (Rosa carolina) with a male Flower Fly (Family Syrphidae).
|

First ripe Highbush Blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum).
|

I hadn't seen a Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) in the Wood Duck house for several weeks. Refuge from last night's rain?
|

July 3rd. A young male Wood Duck (Aix sponsa) - or an adult male in eclipse plumage.
|

Four more young Wood Ducks, female and male.
|

Berries of Morrow's Honeysuckle (Lonicera morowii) are deep red now.
|

At the Route 207 parking area, Pokeweed or simply Poke (Phytolacca americana) is blooming now.
|

Canada Geese (Branta canadensis) and goslings at the fish and game club pond east of Route 207.
|

Lots of Fragrant Water-lilies (Nymphaea odorata) blooming.
|
|