The Marsh Project Week #27

It's been awhile since we've had any serious rain, and the trail vegetation is starting to look a little wilted and stressed. One of the ponds is starting to dry up, and it's become a haven for wading birds and raccoons looking for an easy meal; one night this past week, I saw four raccoons in one area, all busy wading through the muck and remaining water.  The lily pads by my blind are also looking a bit brown. The dragonflies, which were swarming and plentiful last week, seemed to have diminished in number- although there are still plenty of Eastern pondhawks, slaty skimmers, and common whitetails, I'm not seeing as much of a variety. 

I have a running joke with a hiking friend about how the birds need to come and sit on branches near us so that we can easily take great photos of them.  The birds almost never comply with this wish; if anything, they seem to move even further away in an effort to thwart our attempts at great bird photography. On rare occasions, though, a bird will land right in front of me.  It happened recently with this gorgeous green heron.  As I was walking down the boardwalk to the blind, it startled and then flew up- onto the branch of a tree right in front of me.  Even better, at least for my efforts, the branch had no foliage.  Thank you, green heron.  

I also have a mystery find.  For the last month or so, when I start walking on the trail, I've noticed these very large butterfly/moths flying down the trail.  The wings are much larger than those of a Eastern tiger swallowtail, and it is black.  Early this morning, one finally settled on the ground and I got a somewhat not-blurry photo of it.  I think it's a moth, but I can't find anything similar to it on the iNaturalist projects I belong to.  The photo isn't that good, so it may have to go ID-less until I can get a better one, if I ever manage it. 

The sad underwing moths have returned.  These moths always make their first appearance around the beginning of July, and to me they signify a transition- while we still have several weeks of summer ahead, the first six months of the year are over.  School supplies will start to appear in stores (if they haven't already), the high school marching band will soon begin practicing its Fall 2018 show (without The Teenager, this year) and at the Household of No, logistical planning for dorm room needs is underway.  The Son of Never Stops Eating asked me once why they're called "sad"; the answer is that I don't know.  They are exceptionally good at camouflage; you have to look at a tree for several moments to pick them out against the patterns of the tree bark. 

Seen on the trails: Sad underwing moth, slaty skimmer, Eastern pondhawk, Eastern ringtail, Comanche skimmer, spot-winged glider, widow skimmer, sulfur-tipped clubtail, cobra clubtail, four-striped leaftail, red-spotted purple, hackberry emperor, viceroy, cottonmouth snake, diamondback watersnake, pond slider turtle, Indigo bunting, painted bunting, Carolina chickadee, Carolina wren, Northern cardinal, White ibis, blue heron, green heron, great blue heron, snowy egret, great egret, red-shouldered hawk, Eastern phoebe, raccoon, armadillo.