Wild Wild Woods

 A volunteer plant in the area around the pond - - Maltese Cross. Its really red flowers are welcome among all the purple, white, and yellow...

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 ...

Mountain Mint  Pycnanthemum virginianum   is blooming in the marsh around the pond.   It offers very fragrant leaves and many small flowers ...

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

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

Last year, only one Mullein Verbascum thapsus  plant bloomed in the riparian area.  This year, several have sent their tall blooming shoots ...

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

Sitting near the pond, one can gaze out at flowering plants among the green grasses, rushes, and reeds.  Mountain Mint, Swamp Milkweed, and ...

Small yellow wildflowers, brightening the green grasses and rushes around the pond now, are River Loosestrife Lysimachia hybrida, or Lowland...

  Perched on the windowsill.  Looking in at us.

 

The painted turtles who live in the pond love to sit in the sun, especially on rocks near the water. There, each can enjoy the warmth and (i...

Mallard female has been hiding her second clutch of eggs near the pond among grasses.  Today she led all 6 hatched ducklings to the pond, wh...

 

Scouring Rush Equisetum hyemale grows in the wetland around the pond.  It is also called 'horsetail'. This plant's ancestors ha...

  Now, in June, the typical insects are laying their eggs in the goldenrod stems.  The eggs will hatch larvae who will feed and grow inside ...

This dragonfly male 'Widow Skimmer' Libellula luctuosa shows off his handsome transparent wings with black and white structural col...

Mallards have 1 or 2 broods each year.  One is hiding her 2nd clutch near the pond among grasses. There are six eggs in her nest, nestled am...

Stealthily, this Great Blue Heron appeared on the shore this afternoon.  It stood still for only a little while, looking for prey; they eat ...

A creeping plant that was used in the past as erosion control on embankments and roadsides, Crown Vetch Securigera varia  is sprinkled among...

  Several Mullein plants are growing in the riparian zone around the pond. The plants are small rosettes of fuzzy leaves, close to the groun...

This bird is at it again!  The Green Heron visits the pond several times a week during this hot season.  They are year-around residents of F...

I was admiring the daisies.  A Squash Bug was also admiring it, close up!