Three visits to Mud Lake in July. It is a quiet time of year compounded by the detrimental effect on the wildlife of all the construction with the trail and bridge rehabilitation.
The "highlight" of the month would be the hooded merganser ducks that were around. A juvenile resting in a secluded part of the lake and a female with two juveniles on the river.


Common merganser were still out on the river

Some quite young, for the time of year, wood ducklings, plus juvenile males paddling around and watching turtles.



Male wood duck in full molt, and a female


Three young mallards looked very comfortable on the rocks at the entrance, with another family having taken over the viewing platform


Black ducks are often overlooked as they resemble mallards

Early in the month some juvenile Canada geese had mixed down/adult feather coats


The turkey pullets appeared once, there were about 15 or so of them



A black-crowned night heron was hiding in a very secluded bay

A number of smaller birds were around. (Scroll over for ID)

spotted sandpipers

cardinal in partial molt

female downy woodpecker

male downy woodpecker

kingbird

great crested flycatcher
One of the turtles was playing King of the Castle



The bull frogs, large and small, were making themselves heard. The first one still had some tadpole tail left




A much smaller leopard frog hid under the plants

A variety of insects were busy doing their thing. (Scroll over for ID)

blue dasher

dot-tailed white face

hoverfly

hoverfly and bee

hickory tussock moth caterpillar
Lots of summer flowers were blooming. (Scroll over for ID)

purple flowering raspberry

swamp milkweed

swamp milkweed

morning glory

mountain pink

purple loosestrife

vervain

pickerel weed

pickerel weed

deadly nightshade

speedwell

monkeyflower

St John's wort

bird's foot trefoil

golden rod

mullein

agrimony

yarrow

meadow-rue

grass

Queen Anne's Lace

white waterlily

boneset

Indian pipe
Some berries/seed pods had developed

purple flowering raspberry

purple flowering raspberry

elderberry

baneberry

false solomon seal

honeysuckle

mapleleaf viburnum

milkweed
Two squirrels got in close for a photo, while a beaver swam by the viewing platform at mid-morning - a rarity



Two snails were off to the races


Fungi was enjoying the dampness of all the rain



