It was a beautiful, sunny morning, with a cool breeze. Kara and I went for our daily walk in the meadow.

My poor meadow!

First, we hacked down most of it for hay.

Now, a few weeks later, I have covered it in (horse) poop! It definitely has a bit of "aroma" to it, but I don't find it particularly objectionable. I am in the process of moving the "muck heap" (the big pile where bedding and horse droppings from the stalls is collected through the year). It is all well  composted, but it still has a distinctive rich musky smell. Yesterday, I spread about half of the pile. Today, I'll try to finish it off.

I managed a few closeups of butterflies this morning (to be posted later), but otherwise the pickings were rather slim. On the way back to the house, along the path through the sugar bush, I scared up four grouse. They were awkward fliers, and not very big. I suspect that they are this year's babies.

We have a pair of house wrens living in the immediate vicinity of the house. I find them particularly delightful, especially when they break into their cheery warbling song. There was the pair of them yesterday afternoon on the clothes dryer rack outside, both bowing and shaking their wings. A courtship ritual? Territorial display?

A week or so ago, I had a telescope set up on the deck, and one of them came and perched n the dryer, about 30-40 feet away. I managed to get the scope (a Televue Pronto, awesome optics!) on him, and was treated to a really detailed close up view. Every feather popped out in full  detail. Lovely!

We have some phoebes hanging around the house as well. I'm not sure where they are nesting, but they met be nearby.

The flickers I saw and filmed this spring disappeared soon after. I did not see them again at their nest. Today, there was a pair on the lawn near the nest. Same ones? I wonder if their nest was raided. I did see them harassing a red squirrel in a tree near their nest back in the spring. Hmm.

We're well into summer now, and the greens are tinged with brown. The skippers and other small butterflies have largely disappeared from the meadow. There are a few newcomers, including some monarchs, but far too few. The milkweeds were in full bloom last week, and walking by them, you couldn't miss the sweet scent. The heat and dry weather has ravaged the blooms, however.

 I rarely encounter the monarchs. This fellow was quite wary, and really didn't let me approach. A fuzzy shot, but so far the only one I've managed this summer.

A sad looking fritillary (Great Spangled?). They are among the more common butterflies now, apart from sulphurs, in the meadow. Beside the maple bush, the main butterfly species is the wood nymph.

This cute little fellow was pumping his wings, trying to warm up in the morning sun. I believe it's a banded hairstreak.

The drama of life continues, with murder .... (robber fly and moth)

And an unknown predator  (another type of robber fly?) chowing down on a fly

There is also new life.

A cluster of teeny, tiny eggs. Whose eggs? A mystery.

There's also this - I couldn't tell if it was an egg or ?

And caterpillars

There were mysterious goings on, involving ants, a twig, and some flies that were harassing the ants. I suspect that the new growth was exuding some sap that was attracting the insects.

And, as usual, my assistant Kara was always ready for fun!

The weather hasn't been too cooperative recently. I blame myself. It's the ancient "astronomer's curse". When an astronomer acquires a significant new piece of equipment, it is guaranteed that the gods will send inclement weather, clouds, and haze for weeks afterward. Having bout a new mount for my telescopes, I should have seen it coming. Hah!

Anyway, I'll post more images from the past week, while it is raining yet again outside.

The wild black-eyed susans are starting to bloom, a sure sign that we're into real summer.

I found this smallish plant, that kind of looks like it is in the mint family - for now, its unidentified.

A few damselfly images: the first one is a new one, to be identified.

A new species of dragonfly has arrived, this one down near the wetland. I think it's a meadow hawk, but I haven't been able to identify the species. Possibly a ruby meadow hawk, though it is distinctly orange. It may also be a white faced meadowhawk. There are a great many species of dragonfly, and variability in colour, making it hard for an rank amateur like me to make an ID. They're still remarkably pretty, eh?

An unidentified katydid, possibly a Roesel's katydid.

 A classic fuzzy caterpillar, just hanging around ... probably a yellow bear.

And some drama - a dead fly, being devoured by a ????

(Sorry for the fuzzy image. I got a quick grab shot before the whole scene was knocked over by a mystery canid who shall remain nameless. Oh well ..)

Nearby, viewing the scene with horror (he he) or just watching me, was this fellow. My, what big feet you have! My, what big eyes you have!

Of course, there are many hunters out there. One dewy morning, as I was crossing the lawn, I saw a number of these very low webs ready to trap the unsuspecting. I managed to escape, though, lol.

And not only do insects struggle, but plants have their conflicts too.

Oops!

I haven't posted in a few weeks. It has been a conspiracy of events. The weather did not cooperate for much of the that time, with either really windy or rainy, wet weather. Not really conducive to wanderings with a camera.

A couple of big events occurred, though, on days that were better.

The first was the cutting of our hay field. It was a shock when I went out right after the hay had been cut! My lovely meadow, strewn with a palette of wildflowers, grasses swaying in the breeze, buzzing with life ... gone.

I know we are a farm, and I knew it was coming, but after a month or two of daily walks and close observation, it was a bit sickening to see it all disappear. Only a small strip of meadow was left around the periphery of the field. It was crowded with skippers, who rose in clouds as I walked past. Most of the dragonflies were gone, probably because there wasn't much left to hunt. Ah well, we carry on.

The second big event: My morning walk was rudely interrupted by the sudden appearance of a black bear, about 100 yards off.

I grabbed Kara's collar (I saw him before she did), yelled at him, and he/she just stared. Eventually, it wandered south to the property across the road. While I'm wary of bears, it's neat to have them here at Wildhart, reinforcing the appropriateness of the first part of our name.

A few days earlier, I had been photographing near the old house site when I looked up and realized I was being watched ....

She stood there for quite some time, but didn't wait for Cathie to arrive.

There have been some new insects at Wildhart . This is a golden backed snipe fly. It's remarkably pretty for a fly, no?

 I also spotted a pair of them doing something (ahem) ...

Some new dragonflies/damselflies spotted (including a small brown dragonfly that I haven't got a shot of). This is an eastern fork tail, a damselfly.

A new moth .. with orange pants!

 A stunning metallic beetle ...

A mystery object, possibly an insect built structure, made of small pieces of grass ..

A shield bug, just hang in' around

The grasshoppers are growing.

And in the plant world, I spotted this flower. If you look closely, you'll see that it is a Siamese twin.

 The wild strawberries are ripe

And the milkweeds are ready to bloom (they've developed since this image was taken)

We have seen the  occasional Monarch in the last 2 weeks, along with some swallowtails and mourning cloaks. While the skippers are here in clouds, and are remarkable for their sheer numbers, larger butterflies have been relatively rare. We worry about that.