20170713 Hwy 522 Highbush Cranberry, Tachinid fly, European Skipper, Red Admiral, Northern Spring Azure, Bristly Sarsaparilla, Tansy, Chicory

Above photo:  Sweat Lodge frame at Portage Lake

 

We stopped in at Portage Lake to see the wigwam and sweat lodge frames left from the Summer rituals celebrated at Solstice.

We also went for a short trip to see the sights along Hwy 522:

It looks like a good crop of Highbush Cranberries this year.

 

This looks like a Tachinid Fly which is visiting the last of the Common Yarrow for nectar…

Unknown beetle(?) up close and personal with what’s left of a Common Vetch flower.

Looks lie a European Skipper nectaring on a Common Vetch.

Tamarack cones are slowly changing colour from purple to brown …

Evening Primrose, Oenothera, are starting to bloom in earnest now …  we’ll be keeping an eye out for its pollinators since …”the bees which visit Oenothera are generally vespertine temporal specialists: bees that forage in the evening.”

And the  Great Mulleins are starting to bloom also, especially when close to a south facing rock, like this one:

 

Another of the many Red Admirals that we’ve seen this year, leading us to wonder if this year’s migration resembles the huge migration of 2012.

 

A newly seen tan, fuzzy, bee fly …. but which one???

A Northern Spring Azure  (there is some debate about this genus, Celastrina, in Ontario)

A nice simple Inuksuk:

Pale Corydalis still blooming!

Bladder Campion is starting to release  its seeds…

Bristly Sarsaparilla are starting to form their characteristic dark blue fruit..

Bombus is finishing the nectar in the florets of the Ox Eye Daisy.

Moss spore capsules are releasing spores…

Three different fern species in these two photos? …

Tansy is starting to bloom along the roadsides …  this one with a visitor…

 

So is Chicory ( aka blue daisy, blue dandelion, blue sailors, blue weed, bunk, coffeeweed, cornflower, hendibeh, horseweed, ragged sailors, succory, wild bachelor’s buttons, and wild endive.)…. related to these yummy edibles: endive, radicchio, radichetta, Belgian endive, French endive, red endive, sugarloaf, and witloof (or witlof).

 

Have you noticed the new Gallery up there in the Title Block?

Try clicking on Selected Winter Photographs (in a menu under Gallery) to see a start to a new project.  Or you can just click here.

 

Save

Save

20170609 Grackle, Chalk Fronted Dragonfly, Cinnamon Fern, Tamarck, Wild Calla, Common Yarrow, Pitcher Plant, Blanding’s Turtle, Tachinid fly.

Grackle, Chalk Fronted Dragonfly, Cinnamon Fern, Tamarck, Wild Calla, Common Yarrow, Pitcher Plant, Blanding’s Turtle, Tachinid fly.

Common Grackle preening …

Yellow Pond Lily with visitor …

Male Chalk Fronted Corporal

Unknown Odanate

Fern ID exercise

Hmmmm.  Nice little flower about a 2 cm in diameter, occurring in some damp roadside ditches ….

Three unknown Lepidoptera ….  If you can ID any of these unknowns please give us your thoughts by commenting.   Thanks.

EDIT:   I think that the above is not a butterfly but the Common Gray Moth aka Anavitrinella pampinaria.  (I’m still working on the two below!)

Tamarack cones are maturing …

Cinnamon fern

Calla palustris (bog arum, marsh calla, wild calla, and water-arum)

Common Yarrow are starting to blossom, providing nectar for visiting pollinators …

We went back to the site of the Pitcher Plants on Hwy 529 to find some visible “pitchers”.   All were hidden by dense tangles of grass, sedges, and various leaves.  I decided not to disturb any as they provided places for insects to drop into the “pitchers” thereby feeding the plants.   At this time of flowering they need all the nutrient they can get.

Species at Risk:  Blanding’s turtle.

Tachinid fly on first day of a blooming Ox Eye Daisy.