Along the Air Line...

Summer 2006, Part 3

July 16th. A deer browsing by the marsh.

Antlers developing.

The buck and a doe cooling off and avoiding deer flies.

Selfheal (Prunella vulgaris)

Probably Russula sp.

Touch-Me-Not, or Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis)

Touch the Touch-Me-Not seed pods and they "explode", sending seeds in every direction.

Spring Peeper (Hyla crucifer)

Bouncing Bet, or Soapwort (Saponaria officinalis)

Monkey Flower (Mimulus ringens)

Wild Leek, or Ramps (Allium tricoccum)

Lettuce flowers (Lactuca canadensis)

Lettuce leaves.

Selfheal (Prunella vulgaris) with a Flower Fly (Family Syrphidae)

Selfheal (Prunella vulgaris) with a Skipper butterfly (Family Hesperiidae).

Knotweed (Polygonum sp.)

Inchworm caterpillar hanging by a silken thread. (Family Geometridae)

A Robber Fly (Familiy Asilidae) that mimics a bumblebee. It even sounds like a bee in flight.

A Flower Fly that mimics a wasp. (Family Syrphidae)

The first of many mushrooms seen today in the rain-dampened forest. (July 23rd) Tentative ID as an American Caesar's Mushroom (Amanita caesaria)

Cinnabar-red Chantarelle (Cantharellus cinnabarinus) These mushrooms were barely an inch tall.

Scaly Vase Chanterelle (Gomphus floccosus) The tallest of these was about 3" tall.

Possibly Tacky Green Russula (Russula aeruginea)

Possibly a Chantarelle.

Indian Pipes. (Monotropa uniflora) Although they look like mushrooms, these are flowering plants. However they lack chlorophyl, instead living as parasites on plant roots.

July 27th. A female Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus columbris) on Evening Primrose (Oenothera biennis).

July 30. Several hummingbirds are working the primroses.