July Sightings

This post collects some interesting photos from our outdoor rambles of the last several weeks.

At Christmas Rocks State Nature Preserve...

The blooming buttonbush has its tiny flower petals down on the surface of the sphere, and at the end of 100 to 200 stemens are the reproductive parts.

A look through the eyes of the DeepDreamGenerator:

A different sort of bloom, as it were, the sporophytes or spore-producing bodies of these mosses.

Sporophytes in the sunlight.

Multiple environments atop, on the sides of, and below the rocks.

An arc of illuminated spiderweb; click to enlarge.

A pretty but deadly mushroom of the aminita family.

At the Franklin Park Conservatory ...

Dale Chilhuly glass in the Pacific Islands Water Garden.

Carnivorous plants in the 2-acre Childrens Garden (wetland area).

I've documented the Paul Busse Garden railway here.

At Home ...

We have discovered that catbirds are enthusiastic bathers.

Joan planted several native plant species in front beds this spring, including milkweed, the sole support of monarch butterflies for egg-laying and feeding the caterpillars. (In particular, she planted rose milkweed, a cultivar of swamp milkweed).

We hadn't anticipated such early success as we've received; soon there were monarch visitors and tiny egg dots under the milkweed leaves. Here are photos of some monarch caterpillars, which go through five instars, or skin-sheddings, as they grow. A first instar is tiny, a centimeter or less long and skinny as a sharp pencil lead. This is likely a second instar; note that the two sets of "horns" are about the same size front and back.

Third instar? The front horns are larger.

A hummingbird has established a nest in the pear tree a dozen feet or so behind the house.

Photo through double-pane glass with small spotting scope.

There are two babies in the nest, growing rapidly. For the next update on the hummers, go here.

 
At Clear Creek Metro Park ...

A blooming green adder's mouth orchid, with its single leaf, and an in-focus closeup of the blooms.

A surprise atop a bolus growing out of a tree ... click on the image to enlarge.

A spicebush swallowtail butterfly.

The beginnings of a dam just above Lake Ramona?

The spider webs stood out on an astonishingly humid early morning. Easy for the flying insects to avoid until the silks dried and ceased to glisten.

Hello, venusta orchard spider!

This one is all curled up, and so harder to identify. Just about everything building webs in the air is an orb-weaver of one sort or another.

This one is surely in the genus of spiny orb weavers. Click on the image to enlarge and note the projections.

Rattlesnake plantain, an orchid. We've seen many this summer.

Here we have Indian pipe, which lacks chlorophyll. Instead of generating energy from sunlight, it is parasitic on certain fungi that are in a symbiotic relationship with trees, so ultimately its energy comes photosynthesis, but two steps removed!

Shrubby St. John's wort. These blooms are smallish, between half an inch and an inch across. This bee favorite known for, among other things, its deer-resistance.

Joan and I recommend observing nature at least once a week for your mental health!