Along the Air Line...

Summer 2007, Part 5

July 21st. A lovely summer afternoon on the trail.

The resident Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) caught a large fish.

Down the hatch!

Gulp.

And a bath before perching to digest its meal.

Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) on Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis).

A Bullrush (Scirpus sp.). Despite the name, bullrushes are members of the Sedge family.

Green Frog (Rana clamitans).

A small Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina).

A Monarch (Danaus plexippus).

July 25th. Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodius) in the morning fog.

Queen Anne's Lace or Wild Carrot (Daucus carota).

Bumble Bee (Bombus sp.) on Spotted Knapweed (Centaurea maculosa).

July 27th. Another lovely summer afternoon on the trail.

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodius).

Flocks of Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) gathered to rest...

...and startled into flight by a passing cyclist.

July 28th. A Bumble Bee (Bombus sp.) on Meadowsweet (Spirea latifolia).

Sweet Pepperbush or Summersweet (Clethra alnifolia).

Evening Primrose (Oenothera biennis).

A Flatid Planthopper (probably Anormenis chloris).

Dayflower (Commelina communis).

July 29th. Foggy. Dew collected on spiderwebs.

Webs on New York Ironweed (Vernonia noveboracensis).

A Primrose Moth (Schinia florida) on Evening Primrose (Oenothera biennis), its host plant. An uncommon moth, it's typically seen just like this - head burrowed deep in a primrose flower and appearing almost as an extension of it.

July 31st. Spicebush Swallowtail (Papilio troilus).