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. 

 

senna

Wild Senna Cassia hebecarpa or Senna hebecarpa grows in the riparian area around our pond. The seeds may be eaten by wild turkeys, wandering through, and the flowers attract bumblebees who are looking for pollen. The plant also has "extra-floral nectaries" which are a nectar source separate from the flowers; they are adjacent to flower buds on the stems. Read more at 

https://xerces.org/blog/plants-for-pollinators-wild-senna.

blue lobelia and goldenrod

 

August wildflowers

In the middle of August, the birds that nested here near the pond are busy teaching their young to hunt. Or maybe they are hiding while they molt into new fresh feathers.  

Meanwhile, the late blooming native plants have grown tall and display their splendid blossoms.  

Ironweed Veronia fasciculata blooms purple and Swamp Milkweed Asclepias incarnata grows next to the pond.  They both attract pollinators, including bees and butterflies.

summer blooms

Yellow Loosestrife Lysmachia blooms among the grasses in the wetland around our pond.  

summer native bloomers

Blossoming among the grasses and rushes around the pond are Blue Vervain, Culvers Root, Wild Bergamot, Evening Primrose. Seed heads of Penstemon stand as they dry in the sun.

green heron preening

The logs are favorite perches for all the creatures in or near the pond - - turtles, ducks, herons, frogs, song birds. The Green Heron Butorides virescens finds it a choice place to preen his feathers while staying close to his hunting area, in case a meal appears nearby.

tiny toad

On a patch of gravel a toad, the size of a quarter coin, was hunting for breakfast among the spider webs.

young blackbird showing epaulets

This young male Red-winged Blackbird was begging his mom to give him food from the seed feeder. I can tell he is a male because he's already starting to get his bright colored 'epaulets' on his shoulders.  She has been putting food in his mouth whenever he gapes since he hatched out of his egg.  But now that she is hoping he will find his own food!

vervain

Blue Vervain is blooming profusely in the wetland surrounding the pond. Verbena hastata is also called Swamp Verbena, Blue Verbena, Simpler's Joy; it is a perennial herbaceous plant that blooms every summer. The stiff erect square stems remain standing all winter, providing seeds to the birds in cold snowy months. In the growing season the plant has opposite, simple leaves which have double-serrate margins.

The family name for genus Verbena is Latin for "sacred plant" because it has been used for hundreds of years in various health remedies. The Latin specific epithet hastata means "spear-shaped" and describes the leaves of this plant.

The family Verbenaceae includes herbs, shrubs, and trees; among them, teak trees -- highly prized for its furniture wood.

 

turtle chases ducks off favorite rock

Mallard was sunning her ducklings on the favorite rock in the pond. Turtle appeared a few feet away, nosing his way toward the rock, also his favorite. When turtle got to the rock, ducklings jumped off. 

monardas - bee balm - bergamot

Wild Bergamot Monarda fistulosa starting blooming last week all around the pond and in the meadows near here. (left)

The Scarlet Beebalm Monarda didyma started blooming a few weeks ago. (below)

Both plants are in the mint family. 

green frog looks like . . .

. . .  like a rubber toy in rocks near the pond.  But it sounds exactly like a frog!

The Green Frog is widely present in the eastern half of Minnesota.  

Typically greenish-brown on top, and males have yellow throats.

seed pods

Northern Blue Flag Iris versicolor bloomed in June at the edge of the pond. Now, in July, seed pods have formed. When they are ripe, we'll sow the seeds.  These were only tiny foliage two years ago, and now they can propagate new flowering plants.
 

culver's root

Culver's Root Veronicastrum virginicum is found growing in wetlands and wet prairies.

The individual flowers are comprised of four fused petals up to a half an inch long. A main spike at the top of the plant is surrounded by several other spikes of flowers. The flowers bloom from the bottom of the spike up.  Culver's Root is not bothered much by leaf-chewing insects or mammalian herbivores. The seeds are too tiny to be of much interest to birds.  However, many varieties of insects visit the flowers to collect pollen or drink nectar. 

(above left)  Culver's Root just before it blooms.

(above right) A Black Wasp drinks nectar from the flowers while hunting for prey items; their bodies are covered in fine hairs that also collect pollen.

(below) A Bumble Bee with bulging pollen pockets stops for just a few more from this blooming Culvers Root.

merganser with 4 young

 

spider silk

Hot, foggy morning.  Dewpoint is high enough to form beads of water on each and every

strand of spider silk in this beautiful web.

 

large turtle, medium turtle, small turtle

mallard families

Female Mallard came out of the grasses with her 3 young ducks (upper right).  Then, another Mallard appeared with her 8 younger ducklings. They were all intent on eating duckweed and other aquatic plants growing in the pond.

nest box peek - Tree Swallows