8-3 Blue Curls

8-3
The delicate little mint family flowers known as Blue curls are starting to open.
Both red and white Baneberries can be seen in the woods. white baneberries are also known as doll's eyes.
John

Blue Curl

Red Baneberry

White Baneberry

8-2 Groundnut

8-2
The fragrant flower clusters of Groundnut drape riverside thickets.
Whorled Milkworts dot a grassy area near the river.
Spotted Coralroots - saprophytic member of the orchid family - are found in shady woods with deep layers of rotting leaf litter.
John

Groundnut

Whorled Milkwort

Spotted Coralroot

8-1 Black Knapweed

8-1
Black Knapweed is in flower and AMbush Bugs are lurking in Goldenrods hoping that an unwary insect comes within reach.
Also seen: two recently fledged Cooper's Hawks and a Goldfinch gathering nesting materials.
John

Black Knapweed

Ambush Bug

7-31 Water Lily

7-31
Sweet-scented Water Lilies float in quiet ponds, Swamp Roses color wet thickets and Dwarf Cinquefoil lurks among the grasses in lawns and other short grass areas.
John

Sweet-scented Water Lily

Swamp Rose

Dwarf Cinquefoil

7-30 Dodder

7-30
Dodder, which is parasitic on other plants, is opening its little white flowers as it drapes and twines through damp thickets.
Wild Cucumber swaths higher thickets.
The bright yellow flowers of Partridge Pea can be seen in waste places.
A Monarch caterpillar rested on a Milkweed pod while nearby two Monarchs laid eggs on tender young milkweed.
John

Dodder

Wild Cucumber

Partridge Pea

Monarch caterpillar

Monarch butterfly egg

7-29 downy Rattlesnake Plantain

7-29
The dense flower spikes of Downy Rattlesnake Plantain can be found in deep woods, and in pine stands.
Saprophytic Pinesaps are pushing up through the leaf litter.
Hickories seem to be having a great mast year - rodents should thrive.
John

Downy Rattlesnake Plantain

Pinesaps

Shagbark Hickory nuts

7-28 Pearly everlasting

7-28
The white woolly under leaves and stem of Pearly Everlasting make it easy to identify. Its white bracts remain tightly clasped around its yellow flower heads.
A Small Milkweed Bug was feeding on goldenrod.
Curled one-sided racemes of tiny white flowers rise over the insect trapping leaves of Round-leaved Sundew.
John

Pearly Everlasting

Small Milkweed Bug

Round-leaved Sundew

7-27 Agrimony

7-27
The yellow flower spikes of Agrimony arch over roadside weeds and thickets.
Spikenard is opening a few tiny white florets.
A pair of Small-eyed Sphinx moths rest on a roadside blade of grass.
John

Agrimony

Spikenard

two Small-eyed Sphinx

7-26 Orange Grass

7-26
Orange Grass, AKA Pineweed, is thriving on a rip-rapped slope.
Great Burdock is flowering along roadsides and in waste places.
In a patch of Black-eyed Susans a Crab Spider waited patiently for a meal.
John

Orange Grass

Great Burdock

Crab Spider on Black-eyed Susan

7-25 Tearthumb

7-25
Arrow-leaved Tearthumb which has vicious little recurved spines along its stem can indeed tear your thumb - if you try to pull it.
Boneset, AKA Thoroughwort, hosts a plethora of pollinators including bees, flies and beetles.
John

Arrow-leaved Tearthumb

Boneset

7-24 Northern Green Orchids

7-24
The little greenish-white flowers of Northern Green Orchids can be seen in moist woodlands.
The yellow-orange flowers of Velvet-leaf as well as their velvety seedpods can be seen in agricultural fields.
John

Northern Green Orchid

Velvet-leaf

Velvet-leaf seedpod

7-22 Pearly Crescentspot

7-22
Pearly Crescentspots are flying. Larval host plants for this species are asters.
Shrubby Cinquefoil, a member of the rose family, is in flower.
John

Pearly Crescentspot

Shrubby Cinquefoil

7-21 Wild Sensitive Plant

7-21
Wild Sensitive Plant has opened a few of its tiny yellow flowers.
Ditch Stonecrop is flowering, appropriately enough in ditches.
The caterpillar of a White-marked Tussock Moth - looking designed by committee - strolled along a Hickory twig while I took its picture.
John

Wild Sensitive Plant

Ditch Stonecrop

White-marked Tussock Moth caterpillar

7-20 Common Sunflower

7-20
Common Sunflower is starting to appear in roadside thickets and along riverbanks.
The globular flower clusters of Peppermint dot thickets and old fields.
A Robber Fly, aptly named the Bee-like Robber Fly, made lunch of the Bumblebee it mimics.
John

Common Sunflower

Peppermint

Bee-like Robber Fly lunching on a Bumblebee

7-19 Primrose Moth

7-19
Primrose moths are seeking out Evening Primroses where they rest for the day.
Black Nightshade is flowering. Look for it around agricultural fields and in ditches.
A coyote - probably a youngster - foraged mid-day while I snapped pictures.
John

Primrose Moth on Evening Primrose

Black Nightshade

Coyote

7-18 Hardhack

7-18
Hardhack, AKA Steeplebush, blazes brightly over weed patches and thickets.
Narrow-leaved Mountain Mint - along with an array of flower beetles - can be found in wet swales.
John

Hardhack

Narrow-leaved Mountain Mint

7-17 Northern Blue Iris

7-17
Northern Blue Iris, AKA Blue Flag, is still putting up fresh flowers in marshy areas.
Rough Bedstraw with its recurved prickles drapes over any available vegetation.
Double-flowered Meadowsweet, an escape from cultivation, is cropping up along riverbanks and in wet ditches.
John

Northern Blue Iris

Rough Bedstraw

Double-flowered Meadowsweet

7-16 Wild Radish

7-16
The lavender-streaked yellow flowers of Wild Radish mark disturbed areas.
Flat-topped White Asters are open in thickets and along roadsides.
American Germander, AKA Wood Sage, is flowering along riverbanks.
John

Wild Radish

Flat-topped White Asters

American Germander