I should say a walk along the disappearing Park Point Beach. With the high water levels in Lake Superior the beach is only a shadow of what it was a few years ago. My wife and I usually take a bag along with us and police the beach on the way back from our walks. We did receive a lot of compliments but noticed no one else was picking up.
I was going to call this blog slim pickings because most of the summer birds are gone, there are only a few stray butterflies around and most of the fall flowers are done blooming. I’ve been out in the woods this past week cutting firewood and as I looked around it appeared that there was not much worth photographing. This past weekend I finally decided to break out the camera and see if I could find anything to photograph. Turns out I wasn’t looking close enough when I was cutting wood. Once I had the camera out I started finding quite a few things to photograph.
Milkweed Beetles
The milkweed bugs are out in full force this time of year. I’m a little surprised to still find some baby milkweed bugs around with the adults. In some places the milkweed is all dried up but around the house it is still green and it is the green plants where I’m finding the bugs.
Woolly Bear
The woolly bear Caterpillar are also out in large numbers. I started to do some mowing in the prairie areas but decided to hold off because there are so many woolly bears around. I’ve tried to photograph them early in the morning but it is hard because they are usually spending the night under a leaf or a flower.
Wild Mint
I found a patch of what I think is Wild Mint. It has gone to seed but the seed head is interesting and I have been trying to get a photo of it covered with a heavy dew or frost.
The grasshoppers are out in large numbers but they don’t seem to be willing to pose for photos most of the time. I have managed to photograph a few of them..
Honey Bee
There are still bees around. I like to try and find them early in the morning when they are on a flower and not moving. Unfortunately they are usually hanging under the flower so it is sometimes difficult to photograph them.
Dragonfly
I have been see quite a few large dragonflies flitting about the prairie area but they don’t seem to be landing. I think they are migrating through. I happen to find this small one on some grass just before dusk one night.
As noted in an earlier post the Sumac is in full color now. Sumac is the first to turn and a sure sign of fall.
Canada Anemone
Finally a nice day after several weeks of cloudy and rainy weather. Friday, June 24th, I was out early for a six mile walk on the Red Cedar State Trail. It was windy out so I just took my camera and the 28-300mm lens along. This was my first walk on the trail in several weeks so I was interested in finding out what had changed.
Yellow Flag Iris
I think the pent up demand was evident as there were a lot of bikers out this morning since this was the first time we had seen the sun all week.
Bald Eagles
There were a variety of birds along the trail. Several types of sparrows, and warblers, Grosbeaks and Grey Catbirds were also abundant. Lots of bird calls but it was sometimes difficult to find them with all of the foliage on the trees. I did walk past the eagles nest at the 1.5 mile mark. Two fledglings were out on limbs above the nest. I suspect they will be leaving the nest in the next week or so.
Dragonfly
As the day warmed up more and more butterflies and dragonflies could be found along the trail. I counted five different types of butterflies and a couple dragonflies.
Prickly Rose
There were a few late spring flowers still in bloom and many of the early summer flowers were blooming all along the trail. It’s one of the reasons I like to walk the trail rather than bike so I can stop and smell the roses.
Philip Schwarz Photography Blog 