green heron resting on log

hummingbird on salvia

goldenrod and asters

sneezeweed

Sneezeweed Helenium autumnale, a late-summer bloomer, will feed bees and butterflies and unfold their blooms continuously until the first freeze here.  Sneezeweed can be identified by the wings in each stem; the base of the leaf extends down the stem to the next leaf.  

very green heron

The taxonomic name for Green Heron is Butorides virescens.  It translates to the bird "resembles bitterns" and the color is "greenish".  Green Herons hunt from shore rather than wading like other herons who have longer legs, so they like to stand on the log to hunt for food.  Today he spread his wing out fully so we could admire the green.

turtle tower

Painted Turtles Chrysemys picta of all sizes live in the pond.  They are oval shaped, and the carapace (top)  can be almost black to dark olive green.  The plastron (bottom) varies from red to orange with differing amounts of black patterning.  The older ones are as big as ten inches long, with the females being bigger than males.

These two 10" turtles are starting a 'turtle tower' on their favorite rock.

vivipary = seed heads sprouting

This wildflower was finished blooming and was forming seeds. But its seed head sprouted green leaves!  Fascinated, I looked closer.  Some of new seeds were actually germinating and sprouting while still in the seed head. Usually, they wait until they are in the perfect place (soil, moisture, temperature, sunlight) to begin new growth.  Sometimes you see this while seeds are still inside the fruit, like a tomato or green pepper.  In plants, it is called vivipary (Latin for 'live birth') and involves seeds germinating before their determined time.  I first learned about this a few years ago when my grandson sent me a photo of a sunflower seed head that was doing the same thing.

scouring rush 'horsetail'

 

Scouring Rush Equisetum hyemale grows in the wetland around the pond.  

It is also called 'horsetail'. This plant has coarse fibers and silica deposits in its stems, so herbivores don't eat this plant.  

For more about this plant, see blog posts on 7/23/2020 and 6/25/2021.

hummingbirds sitting still

Ruby-throated Hummingbirds have been enjoying the red trumpet flowers on the lonicera vine all summer.  Finally, we saw them sitting still!

 

baby snapping turtle

We found this baby Snapping Turtle on a street curb in the neighborhood. We relocated it to the wetland around the pond, hoping it would find enough to eat there.  Snapping Turtles Chelydra serpentina eat water plants as well as insects, worms, snails, small fish, and anything edible that it can find.