Late July

The WILD Trail is full of life in July.

The bluebirds hatched and will be flying in another week.  How many do you see here?

The Monarch butterflies have discovered our milkweed and laid their eggs. It's possible that this is the generation that will begin migrating south to Mexico. 

July has been a rainy month and lots of animals have been trecking through the wetland parts of the WILD Trail.  What tracks can you spot here?

And, someone's been playing with the bones in the bone pile.

Flowers in bloom right now include:

Blue vervain

goldenrod

unknown 

Monkey flower

New York iron weed

Teasel

coreospis

Also noted but not photographed were Culver's root and Northern bugleweed.

Flowers in July

The WILD Trail is full bloom.

The trail leading into the WILD Meadow

While all the flowers are beautiful, some are invasive, especially Canada thistle and wild parsnip, which are both visible in this picture. The parsnip is the yellow flower and the thistle is the one with downy tops.

Other flowers blooming right now include;

Common St. John's Wort

purple clover

chicory

Virginia rose

Joe Pye Weed

Blazing Star Liatris

Swamp milkweed

yarrow

Queen Anne's Lace

Deptford pink

Ox-eye daisy

purple milkweed

 In addition to flowers, some creatures are enjoying the WILD Meadow including

White tail deer

American bluebird

an unknown snail

Late June, early July is also the time for invasive control. We are spraying Autumn Olive right now and expect to have to do it again next year.

The method

The result