These wildflowers are usually provide the last color before winter sets in, so I hope that doesn’t mean winter is approaching fast with them blooming now. The Butter-and-eggs, or yellow toadflax, is another flower introduced from Europe which is now common in North America and considered a weed which has a lot of other names including bunny mouths, calf’s snout, dead men’s bone, wild snapdragon and about 30 other names.
Butter-and-Eggs by the Pond
The common whitetail dragonfly can be seen hawking for mosquitoes and other small flying insects over ponds so I’m happy I have a bunch of dragonflies eating my bugs. But I’m also glad they aren’t as big as they were 325 million years ago when they had a 30 inch wingspan as that would be a little nerve–racking with as many as I see flying around my pond.
Common Whitetail Dragonfly
Last night the sun was the pinkish-red ball again, like the week of smokey skies, but at least there some clouds from the passing rain shower to the north to give a colorful sunset. Tonight the predicted storms will probably hide the sun as it sets although a rainbow would be nice.
Hot Summer Sunset
A small stream of water drops down a fracture in the granite wall 80 to 100 feet, making it the second highest waterfall in Wisconsin, before settling into small shaded pool of water running into Morgan Creek. Definitely not the widest waterfall or having a great volume of water, but Morgan Falls has it own unique charm as it twists and splashes against the granite wall. The very top of the falls isn’t in the picture and I didn’t wade across the creek to look for a different angle.
Morgan Falls
A short video of Morgan Falls.
The very long L shape barn has some interesting features and the dual silos by the door caught my eye. After the barn wasn’t used for farming anymore, it was family style restaurant having an all you can eat breakfast, and then used as shops with the last sign on the end of the barn advertising antiques. A third wing was added at some point to form a T shape barn but now the barn seems to be abandoned once again.
Dual Sentinels
The white blossoms of Common Yarrow looks pretty against the yellow backdrop of birdsfoot trefoil blossoms in the road ditch. Both are considered an aggressive weed. Common yarrow from Europe and Asia was originally introduced to America in colonial times, and has since naturalized throughout the U. S. primarily along roadsides, fields, waste areas and lawns.
Common Yarrow
The lawn still has spots of standing water, but these ducks don’t mind the water as they can move faster in the water than walking.
Baby Ducks Following Mom
Short video of the ducks.
With over seven inches of rain Sunday night in my county, I think all the wildflowers were thinking that they were in ponds instead of fields. Probably the only happy plants were the pond lilies, including the Yellow Pond-lily, which are used to being all wet but even those would have risen to a higher level as creeks and small ponds overflowed.
Yellow Pond-lily Blossom
Farmers in the area won’t need an old dump rake, or a new style rake, today as it is still raining and now dry hay to rake. And rained a lot overnight which has prompted a flash flood warning as some areas had seven inches of rain and rivers have raised five feet. Even my pond, which didn’t overflow this spring from the snow melt, is over its banks this morning.
Old Dump Rake
For almost a week, a thick haze has covered the skies from the smoke generated by the Canadian forest fires turning the sun and moon into reddish blobs with no pretty sunsets. And because of the smoke haze, I wasn’t able to see the spectacular Venus-Jupiter conjunction and now will have to wait until March 1, 2023 to have another conjunction as close to the one I missed.
The air quality was “unhealthy for sensitive groups” last night from the fires but also made worse from all the fireworks in the area. But fireworks can be pretty (as long as they aren’t going off after midnight) and they come in a range of colors, shapes and styles. This one reminded me of the wild bergamot or bee balm flower with its fuzzy flower heads.
Flower Firework
