Summer at the Wetlands

After weeks of humid, hot weather we finally had a nice weekend. We celebrated it by going for a hike at the wetlands trail at Raccoon Creek State Park. We enjoyed many butterflies - mostly Eastern Tiger Swallowtails, Black Swallowtails, and Questionmarks - and the wildflowers of summer: Joe-pye weed, various sunflowers, jewelweed, and the very popular thistle. The trail was often overgrown and we were thankful for our hiking staffs, which we used to blaze our way through the wilderness. We watched a female mallard and her grown chicks on the lake and listened to numerous bullfrogs. Countless catbirds made it clear that they did not like us being around. After ducking under several fallen trees we came to a challenging tree and decided it was time to turn around. We observed the following wildlife: a blue heron at the spillway, catbirds, a hummingbird, mallards, a water snake, and a shorebird (possibly a juvenile Greater Yellowlegs).

At the Marsh

Yesterday morning we headed to Independence Marsh for the first time this year. Besides seeing plenty of wildflowers, here is a list of birds we saw: Canada geese (naturally); killdeer; mockingbird; house sparrows; one female wood duck; hummingbird; great blue heron; hawk; turkey vultures. Of course, we also saw plenty of dragonflies and a bullfrog.
Apparently, the wood duck tried to lure us away from her nest, since she stopped chattering once we were gone. Seeing the duck took me back to the photo workshop I attended in Ohio last fall. Observing one on a local lake was quite a treat. We did not spot a male duck or any chicks.
While we could do without biting insects, a trip to a wetlands is almost sure to offer plenty of opportunities to observe wildlife and wildflowers.