8-15

In my neighborhood, several fledgling Cooper's Hawks have been feeding on insects and making awkward attempts at catching the songbirds that will make up the bulk of their adult diet. Young Cooper's hawks can be distinguished by their brown backs, adults are a steely blue-gray, and by the incessant long, drawn out, raspy, shrill begging calls

they make.

Pine Cone Willow Galls, looking for all the world like pine cones, result when a gall gnat lays an egg in the tip of a willow twig. Each pine cone gall feeds and shelters on

e

gnat grub. I saw this one on a recent walk along the West River.

The first migrating Nighthawks are moving through the area. A Brattleboro birdwatcher reported several recently. Keep an eye on the sky.

John

8-122

Northern Walkingsticks - frozen in place on tree trunks or birdhouse posts - are starting to appear around my property. Walkingsticks are a bi-annual phenomenon, I see them almost exclusively on even numbered years. The insect shown is a female, heavier bodied and less stick-like than the males which will soon seek her out.

John

8-11

Today I have two more Dummerston wildflowers to report: Golden Hedge-Hyssop and Marsh Skullcap. I actually noticed these plants three days ago, but was unable to determine if they were in Dummerston or one step over the line into Marlboro. Finally - with the help of some tax maps - I learned that both are indeed dummerston residents!

Three Birds orchids strut their stuff after a rain.











Narrow-leaved Mountain Mint's purple-speckled flowers take their turns instead of all blossoming at once. Discovering this wildflower was a highlight of my day .

8-6

The Perseid Meteor showers which peak on the 12th fave me a heads up Wednesday when a single meteor blazed overhead. The Perseids can be a good late night show - if the night is clear. find a site with a good view to the North, spread out a blanket to lie on and watch the show.

Swallows are flocked and can be seen feeding over ponds and still stretches along the rivers. They have finished nesting and abandoned their nesting territories.

Pigeon Horntails use their ovipositor to bore through bark and lay an egg on the wood of deciduous trees. The egg is covered by fungal spores carried in a special pocket in the

female's abdomen. The grub which hatches from the horntail egg feeds on the wood softened by the fungus deposited by its then long-dead parent. The Pigeon Horntail pictured was depositing eggs -and fungus- on a downed beech on Black Mtn.

John

7-31

Sneezeweed Yarrow, Hug Peanuts and Common Dodder - a parasitic member of the Morning Glory family - could all be found in flower today.

In my kitchen garden a Hummingbird Moth known as the Snowberry Clearwing danced from flower to flower.

John

common dodder

7-28

A walk through a local woodlot today turned up three

varieties of Rattlesnake Plantain: Downy, Checkered, and Dwarf. Rattlesnake plantains are orchids that have low rosettes of checkered leaves and tall spikes of tiny white flowers.

John

7-26

Spotted Coralroot - an orchidaceous oddball with no leaves and no green pigment - held aloft its dull purple flowers with their red-spotted, lobed, white lips today.

John

7-25

Drab grayish-brown juvenile Red-Bellied woodpeckers followed their parents through my yard today, hoping to be fed. Young Broad-winged Hawks flopped awkwardly through the understory, hunting optimistically yet waiting for their parents to provide game.

Nodding Pogonia AKA Three Birds Orchid started to flower in wetter locations. Ten days ago I could find no trace of it! Rain seems to be the critical component.

John

7-23

Today on Park Laughton Rd, Bugleweed was in flower and Pearly Crescentspot Butterflies guarded every wildflower patch.

In a wet ditch the aptly named Turtlehead was in flower and for once I could see the rationale behind their name... I could see the turtles!

John

A baby lightning bug! About half an inch long.
So that's what those fireflies are glowing about in June.

7-20

Today in a swampy area, Palm Warblers flitted through the dense tangle. Purple-leaved Willow-herb and Ditch Stonecrop flowered along the muddy edges, and Virgin's Bower tied all together, ribbon-like. Along the drier roadsides Alsike Clover and Burr Dock made their first appearance of the year.

John

Blueberries are in fruit on top of Blueberry Hill officially called Prospect Hill. In addition to eating blueberries and blackberries Betsy Whittaker and I saw two turkeys.

7-19

Bluebirds have fledged a second batch of young. Foxes are killing small prey animals and leaving them along game trails and footpaths where their half-grown kits will find them: a first step toward eventual independence for the kits.

Along the West River, Spotted Knapweed, Bedstraw Bellflower and Dwarf St. Johnswort were in flower. On a dry roadside Spiny-leaved Sow-thistle with its shiny dark green clasping leaves and its bright yellow flower heads glowed as if it had been freshly enameled.

John

7-16

Today, along Beaver Pond Road, Hairy Willow Herb, Meadow Cranesbill and Spotted St. Johnswort were all in flower. In the shade, deer flies attacked viciously. In the sun it was Hot! Summer is here with a vengeance.

John

7-13

Today along the river I was surprised to find that Canadian Burnet is in flower. I was even more surprised to learn while reading about burnet that it's in the Rose family. A less rose-like flower would be hard to imagine!

John

7-12

Today the Morning-glory-like flowers of Hedge Bindweed dotted the roadside thickets. The odd little flowers of Galinsoga hid in the sparcer weed patches. Pale Jewelweed, a flower I've wanted to find in my neighborhood, smiled out at me from a wet ditch, and False Dragonhead with its spotted-lipped tubular flowers were an unexpected bonus.

John

7-11

This morning started with a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker fledgling hammering on my aluminum snow belt. Along Camp Arden Road Agrimony pointed spikes of tiny 5 petaled yellow flowers skyward, and Square-stemmed Monkey flower turned its lavender and yellow faces up from the rain soaked field.

John

7-9

Common Tansy with its nearly rayless yellow buttons is opening floral constellations along the roadsides, and in the fields Pale-spike Lobelia, in colors from sky-blue to white, splashes exclamation points onto ranks of their sun faded predecessors.

John

A scarlet tanager pecking dirt in the driveway (on Partridge Road) for a minute or two. Although i hear their chick-burr every day, i haven't seen one in 31 years.