I saw a lot of dragonflies today darting back and forth on the road instead of by the pond, but I think the bright yellow of the Birds-foot Trefoil, which is lining many road banks, may be attracting them to the road edges. The Twelve-spotted Skimmer gets its name from the three dark spots on each wing, but for some reason, the white spots are ignored in the count.
Twelve-spotted Skimmer
After days of rain, my pond was overflowing this morning so some of my little fish may have been washed out again. I don’t even think the frogs are happy with all the rain since the sun hasn’t been out for them to catch some warm rays while floating on the water.
Just Floating
The pond level is higher after all the rain but the poor flowers, like these Blue Flag, look like they been through a wringer and many are laying on the ground from the strong winds and pouring rain.
Blue Flags Before the Rain
The weather and the clouds kept changing throughout the day and I had to rush to close windows multiple times when it started to rain again, but at least there was no hail in the storms.
Changing Clouds
The storms in the state have been bringing down lots of rain so some of the streams and rivers are running full again and that always makes the waterfalls roar to life like this twisty Snake Pit Falls.
A Twist in the Snake Pit Falls
The various critters in my yard slow down my mowing since I have to wait for all the little bunnies to get out of the way of the mower. And the toads, frogs and the little spotted fawn. And I even had to stop for a butterfly, Red-spotted Purple, when I saw it trapped in the window screen. It is mainly a black butterfly with iridescent blue with red spots and it is often found taking nutrients from gravel roads, roadsides, or scat.
Red-spotted Purple
https://youtu.be/SKQ846OQm3w&w=640&h=430&rel=0
A few more flags may have been flying in the air today to celebrate Flag Day, which commemorates the day when the flag’s design of 13 alternating red and white stripes and 13 white stars over blue was finalized on June 14, 1777. The origin of Flag Day has been accredited to different people, including several school teachers, but it wasn’t official until 1949 when Congress permanently established June 14 as National Flag Day.
Flag Day
To me, lupines used to mean vacation time, as before I only spotted them when I traveled closer to Lake Superior. But now they are planted in a patch just a mile away so don’t need to go very far to see the pretty blossoms.
Lovely Lupines
The other evening, a deer was eating grass on my yard and bumped into a rabbit who took off running and scared a squirrel who caused a robin to take flight. I may need traffic signals out in my yard. Both the deer population and the rabbit numbers seem to be high this year and this spring’s young bunny is growing up fast as it nibbles on my lawn.
Baby Bunny
Although not in the road ditches peonies, in a range of colors from dark red, pink and even white, can be seen from the road. You can smell them in the breeze even before you get close to the large blossoms. The ground under the flowers will be eventually turn to white when the petals drop but the white isn’t from cold snow.
White Peonies
