Bona Dea Update

Bona Dea received almost one half inch of rain today. Hooray!!! We really need it. I have been watering got a bit at home and am doing so right now even though we got the rain. It has also cooled things down quite a bit today. As shown in the post below. Mr. Paul Ray and I went to the Disc Golf Course and Bona Dea Sanctuary on 06-21-11. These photos and text is in regards to the Bona Dea visits. We went there first and then returned there for another excursion. On our first visit, we went on the North end of Swinging Bridge Trail. Right off the bat we saw this momma or pappa Blue Jay, Cyanocitta cristata, bird feeding a lone baby. In this photo the baby is on the right with its wings open ready for a bite. Just a few feet down the trail we saw this pretty yellow and black Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Papilio glaucus, butterfly. We went on down to where the old Swinging Bridge used to be and on Prairie Creek and saw several dragonflies.This is a Great Blue Skimmer (Libellula vibrans). In the exact same place was this Viceroy butterfly-Limenitis archippus. The smaller orange one. We left that area and went over to Waldon Way Trail. By the way, no Alligator seen on this day. We traveled down the trail a short ways and there were several beautiful Red-winged Blackbirds-Agelaius phoeniceus-male-on Black Water Swamp. Paul went crazy with his camera. This is a very pretty mature and excited male. It was absolutely showing out. It must have had a nest close by and was making his lover jealous. It was turning somersaults and tumbling and flying in all kinds of positions. A great shot of it flying and coming in for a landing. Then a really neat sight. There was a family of Red-bellied Woodpeckers on a nearby tree. One photo shows the father on a trunk up above the baby with its mouth open on a lower limb. Then the other photo showing the mother coming up the trunk to join the others. We then left and went to the Disc Golf Course for the info. showing in the post below. Then we came back here and went to the west parking lot and went on Serendipity Trail. First of all we saw this Black-and-white Warbler-Mniotilta varia. I thought it was a Nuthatch at first but the photos shows it otherwise. This is the black and white striped small bird. Then in the same place and actually right across the trail was this Carolina Wren-Thryothorus ludovicianus. This is the small brown bird with mostly a head shot. We then turned and went the other way on the trail and Paul took this shot of a Prairie Lizard-Sceloporus consorbrinus on a tree trunk. The blue under belly indicates a male. Out in the water close to this area in Black Water Swamp's west side were 3 female Wood Ducks-Aix sponsa. Wood ducks are the main and sometimes only ducks here this time of year and in the winter there are several varieties. A little further down the trail I spied this Northern Rough Greensnake -Opheodrys aestivus aestivus. At first I thought it was just a green vine growing out into the trail. It was frozen still and I had to touch it pretty hard before it moved. This was after Paul took some photos. But this days outing had its toll. We took a short cut down to the park on the first visit and went through some waist high weeds. We got absolutely covered in chiggers. Click on the chiggers highlight to see what these very small critters look like. I feet have been red and swollen for days. I think I have learned a lesson. Paul had some bug spray and used it on his sexy legs but not his feet. I used it on my arms but they were not in the weeds. But we had a wonderful time and saw a lot of interesting things you find in nature. If you get a chance, get outside and enjoy some of it every once in a while.