May 28, 2012

Lake Wicwas enjoyed a fabulous Memorial Day weekend - it's so hard to believe it's only May with the kind of weather we've had these past two weeks.  There was a bit of wind, but in the calm moments the pollen is collecting and starting to clump up.  I think we still have several weeks of tree pollen to go.

One never knows when an interesting bit of nature will just walk by.  I was out working in the yard on Saturday when this Yellow Spotted Salamander crawled right by me on the walk way.  These amphibians are usually pretty secretive, and this was in the middle of the afternoon, so I don't know what he was up to.  The Yellow Spotted  is one of the largest salamanders; this one was about six inches long.

Yellow Spotted Salamander

At the other end of the spectrum of visibility is the Red Squirrel.  They are acting especially territorial right now, chasing each other all around in the dry leaves and up and down the trees.  They don't seem to have any fear and will stare you down if you're near "their" tree.

The Lady Slippers are now joining the wildflower collection, though this pair seems a  little pale.

Lady Slipper

Linda's mother's day flowers were attracting the Tiger Swallow Tails which have been quite abundant this week.

The black stripes and blue dots show this is a male of the species.

Tiger Swallow Tail

Dragon flies have been out for quite a while, but are now getting very numerous.  There are a few damsel flies emerging as well.  This one must have just come out of its larval stage, as it has almost no color yet.

Humming birds are also numerous at this point.  Even though there are lots of fresh flowers around, they still seem to favor the easy meal from the bird feeder!