August 22nd. Turkey Tail mushrooms (Trametes versicolor) and a decaying log, just east of the tunnel under Route 66 in Cobalt.

 

 

 

I found Spotted Lanternfly adults (Lycorma delicatula),more than I'd seen there before.
Some were on young Ailanthus trees (Tree of Heaven - Ailanthus altissima).

 

Read all about them and the devastation they have caused elsewhere here: https://portal.ct.gov/caes/caps/caps/spotted-lanternfly---slf

 

A few drops of Dawn dish soap in a spray bottle of water will kill them, though not instantly. White vinegar works, but damages leaves the bug my be resting on. (Great for tree trunks though.)

 

They are very strong and fast jumpers. It's hard to kill them by swatting.

 

A brief stop at Cranberry Bog as it started misting. Bumble Bee (Family Bombidae) on Spotted Joe-Pye-weed (Eupatorium maculatum).

 

Common Burdock (Arctium minus).

 

Spotted Touch-me-not (Impatiens capensis).

 

August 23rd. Gloomy dark morning after rain - and before much heavier rain.

 

Turtlehead (Chelone glabra). Not often seen on the trail.

 

 

 

Very damp Red Clover (Trifolium pratense).

 

Very damp Common Reed (Phragmites australis) at Norton's Pond.

 

August 24th. The usual young Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus).

 

 

 

A walk east of Cook Hill Road in Lebanon. Pearl Crescent (Phyciodes tharos).

 

Red Clover (Trifolium pratense).

 

Monarch (Danaus plexippus).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Power lines are my turn-around spot.

 

Spotted Knapweed (Centaurea maculosa).

 

 

 

Looks like an Appalachian Azure (Celastrina neglectamajor) to me, but last I knew there was concern that it was among a group of closely related (and undescribed) species.

 

Nine Painted Turtles (Chrysemys picta).

 

Big bird overhead.

 

Velvet-leaf (Albutilon theophrasti).Growing behind the Cook Hill Road farm fence.

 

Next stop, the trail to the left of the railroad museum in Willimantic, preserved as a wildflower garden.

 

The museum is only open on Saturdays for a few hours each week.

 

 

 

New York Ironweed (Vernonia noveboracensis)...

 

...with an Inchworm (Family Geometridae).

 

Head is at the bottom, hidden by the stem.

 

Bumble Bee (Family Bombidae) on Joe-Pye-weed (Eupatorium maculatum).

 

Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle (Harmonia axyridis).

 

Past the wldflower gardens, you come to the junction of the Air Line and Hop River trails,

 

The Air Line is uphill at the left where it crosses the Willimantic River.

 

Nifty spider. American Nursery Web Spider (Pisaurina mira).

 

 

 

Black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia hirta).

 

Daylily (Hemerocalis fulva).

 

 

 

Last stop, Old Colchester Road. No change since Friday.