A month-end walkaround at Sawmill Creek/Wetlands/Storm water ponds produced a number finds.....
Canada thistles were everywhere and in one area, some nodding thistles.
Milkweed was in bud or blooming.
Queen Anne's Lace was also in bud and various stages of bloom.
Up to and including a full bloom
A few daisies were still blooming and a look-alike as well.
(Scentless chamomile,/scentless mayweed) Second and third picture.
Black-eyed susans were coming into bloom.
St John's wort was plentiful.
White campion, a new one to me, and bladder campion.
Bindweed and hawksbeard
Tufted vetch and purple crownvetch
Purple crownvetch
Nannyberry was ready to bloom
Anemone
Viper's Bugloss
I only found a single mullein, perhaps 20" tall.
They often grow 6 feet tall. This one was showing a few buds ready to burst.
The wild roses were in bloom and some raspberries had produced fruit.
Serviceberry bushes had produced berries and the pine trees had new cones.
The swallows that were using the many birdhouses seemed to have raised their families and left. But a good number of male goldfinches in full breeding colours were about. Two Canada geese were laying low in the grass.
Mallards were swimming in the third pond; pairs, singles and families. The adult males were in molt, one of the ducklings was preening on a branch for over an hour.
Looking more closely produced a selection insects.
(mouse over for identification)
Japanese beetle
Eastern elderbox bugs
Red-belted bumble bee
Hoverfly
Milkweed bug
Ants on milkweed blossoms
And finally (I suspect I missed more) a toad and a land snail.
While not a nature thing, the (re)construction of the rail transit alongside Sawmill Creek has seen a variety of machinery used over the construction. A "rail stabilizer" was parked next to the Creek that day.
