Along the Air Line...

Summer 2006, Part 2

Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa)

Question Mark butterfly (Polygonia interrogationis); summer form with dark hindwings

Canada Lily (Lilium canadense)

A young Northern Water Snake (Nerodia sipedon)

Wild Indigo (Baptisia tinctoria)

Leaves of Tall Meadow Rue (Thalictrum pubescens)

Spiked Lobelia (Lobelia spicata)

A Plume Moth on Yarrow (Achillea millifolium)

July 8th.

Spotted Wintergreen (Chimaphila maculata)

Blue Toadflax (Nuttallanthus canadensis)

Caterpillar of a Question Mark butterfly (Polygonia interrogationis)

Meadowsweet (Spiraea alba)

Mourning Cloak butterflies (Nymphalis antiopa) attracted to seeping tree wounds (old beaver damage)

I've been walking this stretch of trail for nearly five years - and it still has surprises.

Limber Honeysuckle berries (Lonicera dioica)

Fringed Loosestrife (Lysimachia ciliata)

Peppergrass or Poor Man's Pepper (Lepidium virginicum)

Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)

Deptford Pink (Dianthus armeria)

Large Lace-Border moth (Scopula limboundata)

Berries of Morrow's Honeysuckle (Lonicera morrowii)

July 9th. A Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) has joined the Mourning Cloak butterflies at the "seep" on the damaged oak tree.

Typically, the butterflies land a foot or two away from the seep and approach on foot.