The Marsh Project Week #22

I know that summer is, for all intents and purposes, here.  I know this for several reasons besides the heat.  The stores are starting to put out the Memorial Day/4th of July décor.  The Son of Never Stops Eating is bouncing off the walls with excitement about "No school!". I'm starting to see graduation photos on Facebook. We're in the midst of "the lasts" with the Teenager; the last band concert is tomorrow night. Before I know it, I'll be another proud Mom posting the cap and gown photo on Facebook.  Her childhood went by way too fast, like everyone told me it would.

When I walk down the trail these days, I have a similar feeling- it seemed like summer was so long in coming, and now that it's here, the winter months seem so far away.  Was it ever really so cold out on the trails that my feet felt frozen solid despite wearing two pairs of socks?

The marsh itself is in full summer bloom; the dragonflies are buzzing around consuming insects and each other (they are ethereal and beautiful, but they are also cannibalistic, vicious little creatures).  The snakes are coming out to bask in the morning; I'm checking all the usual snake spots looking to see who's out enjoying the sun.  Except for the occasional mallard or American coot, the waterfowl seem to be gone, although I did manage to sneak up on one blue-winged teal pair this week and get one photo. They were surrounded by egrets, both great and snowy, and perhaps a juvenile little blue heron or two.  When the egrets sensed my approach they took off en masse but the teals seemed content to stick it out for a few minutes before they decided that they, too, should relocate somewhere untainted by human presence.

Flowers are blooming, too; in the past two weeks the wildflowers have started really showing up, along with the butterflies perching on the blooms.  I love them all but the monarch butterflies are among my favorites.

I'm always astonished at the myriad varieties of dragonflies I can see on my hikes.  This time of year, the common whitetails and Eastern pondhawks are everywhere; the green, black and white of the Eastern pondhawk standing out and blending in with the green vegetation at the same time.  I also see Halloween pennants, with their orange and black markings; the red saddlebags dragonfly- all red; the black saddlebags dragonfly- all black; the jade clubtail- green with brownish-red at the end of its abdomen.  Of course, the males don't always have the same appearance as the female of the species, and sometimes the immature dragonflies look different than the mature.  Like many things in life; learning to ID dragonflies is an ongoing effort.

Seen on the trail: Painted bunting, indigo bunting, black vultures, Northern cardinals, scissor-tailed flycatchers, great egret, little blue heron, great blue heron, snowy egret, dickcissel, monarch butterfly, hackberry emperor butterfly, question mark butterfly, Gulf fritillary, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Delaware skipper butterfly, funereal duskywing butterfly, dragonflies including jade clubtail, Regal darner, variegated meadowhawk, red saddlebags, black saddlebags, Halloween Pennant, snakes, including broad-banded water snake, cottonmouth, plain-bellied watersnake, red-eared sliders, and skinks.