Prairie Smoke just about ready to plume

Mohican Viburnum and Columbine also in bloom this week.  Red Winged Blackbirds extremely active.

Found four tiny monarch caterpillars on a single Swamp Milkweed blossom

Wild Rose, Carlos Avery

Prairie Ninebark in the front yard

The local bees and butterflies seem to love it.

Prairie Smoke Exploding into Bloom out front.

Black Cherry Tree in Bloom

Tiger Swallowtail seen feeding on some nectar-rich serviceberry blossoms down the road.

Sandhill Cranes Spotted in Carlos Avery

Sandhill Cranes

The Sunrise River Prairie Smoke growing in native garden.

Mohican Viburnum starting to bloom

A shot of one of the several humminbird moths hanging out, sipping nectar, and pairing off in the native garden out back. They seem particularly drawn to the islands of swamp milkweed blooming in the sea of bergamot, boneset, and joe pye weed.

Canada Anemone
False Indigo

False Solomon's Seal, a woodland plant known for its spiky 'crown' of star-shaped white flowers. Bears speckled berries in mid/late summer. 'True' Solomon's Seal is closely related, but has hanging, bell-shaped flowers. Not sure how it got its Biblical-sounding name.

Prairie Smoke, a rather unusual native named for its pink, filamentous bloom

Cool. Columbine going absolutely crazy this year. Wild Bergamot clusters starting to pop up. Glade mallow foliage coming up in clumps.

Currently in bloom:

• Columbine


• Jacob's Ladder


• Marsh Marigold


• Mohican Viburnum


• Wild Geranium
  

Prairie Smoke

Trees just starting to bud. Red-winged blackbirds draining feeders on a weekly basis.

Maples are flowering.

Monarchs sometimes choose odd places to coccoon.

Humid again -- and rainy. Low 80's. Butterfly weed and Wild Berhamot have both petered out. Milkweed beetle eggs and young seen on Swamp Milkweed. Turtlehead and Showy Goldenrod almost ready to pop. Sandhill Cranes heard in the fields.

High 80's, very muggy. Almost like a broth outside. Storms yesterday, light rain today.

Lots of Monarch caterpillars on the milkweed outside, and loads of small, plain yellow butterflies seen all over the cities. Glade Mallow finally petered out, while Butterfly Weed is still holding on.

Loons heard on the local lakes, and wife spotted our first hummingbird. Counted eight young tree frogs on the window in the evening.

Both Creeping Charlie and Crabgrass are rampant this year. Have had to use chemicals to try to get rid of them.

Muggy, raining. Woodland Goldenrod coming into their own; the golden clusters blazing into bloom and rolling like a fire slowly inwards towards their tall stems.

Saw turkeys out with their young along Stacy Rd, and several Sandhill cranes out in the fields along 61.

The name is almost unromantic

Cooler, less humid, 80's.

A number of native wildflowers coming into their own this week, including Sweet Joe Pye Weed, Ironweed, Sneezeweed, and Tall Boneset. Bumblebees seem prevalent this year. Have seen more of them than wasps and yellow jackets combined. Monarchs remain common. Though I haven't seen any Red Admirals lately, my wife spotted a Tiger Swallowtail.

Wildlife Spotted this week:

• American Toad
• Baltimore Oriole
• Black-capped Chickadee
• Blue Jay
• Canadian Goose
• Chipmunk, Eastern
• Cottontail Rabbit
• Downy Woodpecker
• Eastern Bluebird
• Goldfinch
• Gray Tree Frog
• Green Frog
• Grey Squirrel
• Hairy Woodpecker
• Loon
• Monarch Butterfly
• Monarch Caterpillar
• Nuthatch
• Purple Finch
• Red-bellied Woodpecker
• Red-winged Blackbird
• Squirrel, Grey
• Tiger Swallowtail

Natives in Bloom:

• Brown-eyed Susan
• Butterfly weed
• Dotted Blazing Star
• Glade Mallow
• Harebell
• Ironweed
• Purple Coneflower
• Purple Prairie Clover
• Sneezeweed
• Spiderwort
• Swamp Milkweed
• Sweet Joe Pye Weed
• Tall Boneset
• Wild Bergamot
• Woodland Sunflower

Blazing star and Purple Prairie Clover both exploding into bloom this week. Wild Bergamot going strong. Swamp Milkweed and Butterflyweed starting to slowly peter out. Joe Pye Weed and Forest Goldenrod is just about ready to pop. Heavy seems to have brought on the early maturation of many of these plants; remember years back that Joe Pye Weed was not blooming until late September.

Monarchs seen almost all daylight hours on the various milkweeds. Seen several caterpillars as well, and assuming there will be a second generation population boost in the following weeks. Seem to be many more bumblebees than in past years.