wrens nesting

The House Wrens Troglodytes aedon built a nest in one of the boxes near the woods.  The male carried twigs to fill the box, and the female found fluff to line her nest cup.

stream bed through the woods

Record rainfall in June so far!  During one downpour, the swale and the dry stream bed down through the wild wild woods was running full.  Good moisture for the wildflowers growing in the woods.

The neighborhood uphill from the woods feeds runoff water into a swale where cattails, blue vervain, bulrush, blue lobelia, and winged loosestrife grow.

Winged Loosestrife (Lythrum alatum)

Blue Lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica)

last winter's snack

These galls are the "packages" left after winter birds pecked through to get at the treats inside.
Last summer, an insect laid eggs at the tip of the plant stem.  Each hatched egg became a larva that burrowed into the stem.  The larva chewing and its saliva caused the plant to build a gall.  This became shelter for the larva as it expected to survive winter and emerge in Spring.  However, winter birds often peck the gall to extract the larva.  This is one way birds find food in winter.