It’s been a hot, wet month.  For a while we were getting thunderstorms nearly every day, often an inch of rain with each storm.  The birds were looking a little bedraggled.

Baltimore Oriole

 

Downy Woodpecker sheltering from the rain under the deck railing.

 

The beaver dams had been holding back the floods, but 3 1/2 inches of rain in 12 hours finally broke through the dams.  This is the flood over the dam where I have my trail camera.  Fortunately it didn’t reach the camera, and the water receded over the next few hours.  Also fortunately, there’s still a lot of the dam left so the animals and I can still walk across it.

 

I finally finished pulling the last of the Wild Parsnip.  I was able to go over most areas twice this year, so I don’t think I missed many stragglers.

This was one of the places I checked at the very end – a willow thicket with an understory of Stinging Nettle, Canada Goldenrod, Hog Peanut and (unfortunately) Garlic Mustard.  But not much Wild Parsnip.  The understory plants are nearly as tall as I am so it’s tricky to walk through – but shady and humid – feels a lot like a rain forest.

 

The wetland looks beautiful now – Oxeye, sunflowers and Joe Pye Weed are just starting to bloom.

 

The big sedge meadow has gotten much more diverse.  Instead of just sedges, now it has Joe Pye Weed, Boneset and Angelica mixed in.

 

Pine Point Prairie sloping down to the sedge meadow

 

This is the western corner of Pine Point Prairie.  For years it was a thick growth of giant bush honeysuckles, buckthorn, and Wild Cherry and Box Elder trees.  Erik from Kule Region Forestry mulched it with a forestry mower in the fall of 2022.   I planted prairie seeds that fall, but since the brush had only been cut, not treated, it all sprouted – and each trunk produced multiple stems.  I spent about a month late last summer cutting and treating those sprouts and weeds like Burdock and Mullein.   This year it looks wonderful – full of native prairie flowers.

 

Another big success this year is Sheep Hill Bluff Prairie.  This was an old field that had been heavily grazed, and probably cropped at one time.  We had it sprayed with roundup in the fall of 2021, and I planted it with prairie seeds that winter.  Mike mowed it several times in each of the next few years – mostly to control Queen Anne’s Lace.  This year Monarda, Oxeye and Yellow Coneflower are all blooming, and there’s almost no Queen Anne’s Lace. (Drone photo by Mike O’Connor)

 

The summer flowers have been spectacular this year –  especially Monarda – maybe a result of all the rain we’ve had.  This is Indian Grass Point with Monarda.

 

The Knife Edge Point with Monarda

 

Hidden Oaks Point with both white and purple Monarda

 

An earlier photo of Indian Grass Point with Prairie Coreopsis – before the Monarda started blooming.

 

Mike did several drone flights trying to capture the lushness of the flowers.  This is looking south over Indian Grass Point showing one of the big areas where we’ve been cutting and treating brush and small trees.  Nothing here was planted – Monarda, Coneflower and other prairie species have been coming back now that they get more light.

 

Drone photo of Buffalo Ridge (crop field planted with prairie seeds in the winter of 2004/2005) with Monarda.  The swallows like this prairie – especially when there are people or vehicles that make the insects fly up so they’re easier to catch.

 

Drone photo of Big View Prairie with Monarda.  This is a large remnant that we’ve been working to restore for many years.   Our friend Todd cleared some of the trees on top, Mike and I have worked on clearing the upper prairie, and Erik and Beth from Kule Region Forestry have worked on the lower savanna area.

 

Buffalo Ridge Prairie (planted prairie) flowers – looking north

 

Buffalo Ridge Prairie – looking southwest

 

Wood Lily with an Edwards’ Hairstreak

 

White Camas

 

Grooved Yellow Flax

 

Rough Blazing Star in the Knife Edge Prairie – almost ready to bloom

 

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail on Monarda

 

Silver Spotted Skipper

 

Mourning Cloak

 

The annual butterfly count was held here on July 13.   I had just had surgery, so I didn’t participate, but Mike and Karen found some other counters to help, and they had a good (hot) day.

Here are the counters, starting out.

 

And a few moth photos….

This is the caterpillar of an Unexpected Cycnia – a small moth whose caterpillars eat some of the small prairie milkweeds.  This one is eating a leaf of Green Milkweed.

 

For the second year in a row I found an Imperial Moth.  It’s a Giant Silk Moth – related to Lunas and Cecropias and about the same size – nearly as big as my open hand.

 

Luna – Some Lunas have two generations a year.  They mate and lay eggs in the late spring;  the caterpillars make their cocoons in July, and at the end of July some emerge and go through the cycle again – just barely making it into their cocoons before winter.

 

Here are two moths at the other end of the size spectrum.  This one doesn’t have a common name – it’s Caloptilia stigmatella – a leaf blotch miner moth.  Its tiny caterpillar eats between the surfaces of a leaf of willow or poplar.

 

Double-banded Grass-veneer – also tiny, its caterpillar eats grasses and possibly other low plants.

 

The other big event we held this month was our Moth Party.  This was the first one we’ve had since covid began.  It was a lovely evening – nice people, delicious potluck and interesting moths.  I photographed the moths – and other creatures that were attracted to the lights – and Mike projected the photos on a screen so they were easier for people to see.  Here’s a link to the full story of the party, with photos of all the creatures.

 

 

Me – busy photographing

 

Raccoon family – taken through our porch screen

 

A drone photo of the farm with blooming Monarda and distant thunderclouds.