maltese cross

 A volunteer plant in the area around the pond - - Maltese Cross.

Its really red flowers are welcome among all the purple, white, and yellow.

It has naturalized in some parts of Minnesota. It can be found along roadsides and other disturbed areas, as well as open woodlands, in the northern United States and Canada.

convivial ducks

This summer has been very scant on rainfall so far.  The pond water level is currently low, and there is plenty of algae floating.  But the rocks are always good places for sharing the sunshine.  Female Mallard and Hooded Merganser have raised their young broods here, and shared the big rock today.

mountain mint

Mountain Mint Pycnanthemum virginianum  is blooming in the marsh around the pond.  

It offers very fragrant leaves and many small flowers that attract bees, wasps, flies, butterflies, and beetles.

evening primrose

The flowers of Evening Primrose Oenothera biennis close in the daytime when sunlight would heat them, and open later when dusk falls.

This plant is food for several butterfly and moth species larvae.

The seed pods that form along the stem are an interesting shape and structure, especially when dried.

Oenothera species are 'roadside' plants -- they grow well in disturbed soil like along railways, roads, and waste areas.

ladybug on milkweed

royal catchfly

 

Royal Catchfly Silene regia makes its bright red flowers stand out among the white and purple wildflowers now blooming. 

This family of plants was named 'catchfly' because it has a sticky seed pod behind the flower.  Little flies, gnats, and other tiny insects get stuck on the sticky pod or stem.

Butterflies also pollinate this wildflower.

mulleins

Last year, only one Mullein Verbascum thapsus plant bloomed in the riparian area.  This year, several have sent their tall blooming shoots up among the grasses and rushes. This large one is sending out branches. It is very hairy plant and has many common names alluding to that characteristic - - 'wooly' 'feltwort' -- 'old man's blanket'. Mullein derives from and French word meaning soft.  

Note: This is a non-native plant that can compete with native wildflowers.  Letting it grow here will reduce the good quality wildlife habitat in the natural wetland around our pond.  We will be removing its seed heads to prevent proliferation.

barn swallows

 

Barn Swallows hunt over the pond, where they catch flying insects mid-air. To do this efficiently, they fly with their wide beaks open.  

This pair found a good amount of food here, and decided to make their nest nearby. They gathered mud from the shore to paste pieces of grasses to a vertical surface in a barn, outbuilding, or nearby structure.

When their eggs hatch, the pond area will be a resource for mosquitoes and other flying insects to feed to their chicks.

white wildflowers

Sitting near the pond, one can gaze out at flowering plants among the green grasses, rushes, and reeds.  Mountain Mint, Swamp Milkweed, and Queen Anne's Lace are among the ones blooming now. 

yellow loosestrife

Small yellow wildflowers, brightening the green grasses and rushes around the pond now, are River Loosestrife Lysimachia hybrida, or Lowland Yellow Loosestrife. This plant bloomed last year, and came back stronger with more stems this season.  Lysmachias produce floral oil rather than nectar.  These plants are also pollen hosts for Macropis bees; the bees specialize in using a mixture of pollen and floral oil to produce offspring.  read more at U of MN Extension 

damselfly

 

Perched on the windowsill.  Looking in at us.

swamp milkweed and vervain